Eyes on Design 2003

Originally started as a low-key, exclusive fund raiser for the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, situated first on a parking lot, then on the well-manicured lawns of the Eleanor and Edsel Ford manor in Grosse Point, near Detroit, it has grown into what, this year, was the world’s largest collection of concept cars and design classics.

From the granddaddy of them all, the 1938 Buick Y-Job, to some of the the most recent Geneva-debutantes, the public could view 250 concepts – never before seen together – as well as 200 other one offs, specials, custom-bodied, experimental cars, prototypes, classics and modern vehicles.

The possibilities were numerous. You could take a walk through automotive history chronologically, you could compare sober Italian design with phony and flashy US-dreamcars of the fifties. You could follow the last 10 to15 years of the concepts cars that have made the Detroit Auto Show into one of the world’s greatest. You could have the complete Mustang/Corvette/Corvair history through their concepts. You could follow individual designers’ careers.

Or you could just stroll around, meet people who told you ”I worked on that” and young design students heading for their summer placements at one of the big studios, and enjoy both the cars and the general athmosphere. Plus, as a very special bonus this year: you could visit the GM Technical Center, designed by Eero Saarinen, normally sealed off to the general public. But since GM celebrated their 75 years of design they hosted the event this year and did it on a very Grand Scale. Bill Mitchell would have been proud.

The whole area around the lake was an exhibition area for the cars, representing all US manufacturers, down to the likes of Crossley and Scarab. A lot of GM's own historic collection, which is much bigger than most people know, (Dear Mr. General, when are you going to unlock the doors of Custom Automotive so I can see all the 350 nearly forgotten old ghosts resting there?) were driven around the compound with paying public on board, collecting even more money for the DIO.

And the doors to the Technical Center were open so people could see the receptionist’s famous desk, the ”Teacup” – remade by GM's own craftsmen after the old one started to crack, and enjoy the ambience with the original custom designed furniture (still being made my Knoll by the way). The vice-president's office was closed, however, so one of the most interesting interiors in the US motor industry will still be fairly unknown, at least until the complete restoration process is finished and the Tech Center becomes a National Monument.

General Motors had actually made this occasion into a long weekend occurence. Staring with a Friday evening reception where Ron Hill, former Chairman of the Transportation Department of Art Center College, was honoured. Saturday saw several events, exclusively for a select group of the world’s automotive media some thirty of the most important concept cars were brought out to be driven by the journalists on the lanes around the Tech Center. The evening closed with a black tie reception at the recently (two days before) opened Engineering Center – with more tickets being sold for the DIO.