60 Years ago: Something radical came along.

The post-war Detroit automotive community produced so many gorgeous, icon designs throughout the 50s (basically 1949 to 1960) that it gets difficult to point out just a few highest of the high points along the way. Many would argue that General Motors led the way with the largest number of beautiful models on these years, as Harley Earl had the teams of Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac all competing with each other in an all out war for success, rather than sharing resources. The benefit for the customer was a wide range of radical designs from 5 unique makes that shared little or no parts and were refreshed completely year after year. Just imagine a car company doing that today! When I tried to sum up my top 10 designs for the entire US car market in the 1950s, GM took half the list all on their own.

One automobile on that list turns 60 years old in 2014: The 1954 Buick Skylark convertible. Many don’t know the back story that Buick built the Skylark because its general manager Ivan Wiles was impressed by chief stylist Ned Nickles custom 1951 roadster convertible, probably using cues from the XP-300. In my opinion, it’s one of the most radical, pure Motorama designs to ever come out of Detroit. There were other offerings with Italian bodywork or coach-built specials, but the ’54 Skylark was a true production vehicle, directly inspired by a previous show car (Wildcat II), with over 830 examples sold. If you shaved the badges, door handles and lowered it to the ground, she would pass for a Barris Kustom to many an untrained eye! The coved wheel arches, chrome fender fins, and fine tooth grille were really high style from a company like Buick in that era.

So, happy birthday to a radical girl from Flint…