Rare muscle car designs to be featured at Saginaw Art Museum exhibit

Have you ever wanted to meet the people responsible for designing the Corvette, Camaro, and Trans Am?

In mid-August, you'll be able to meet some of the people behind the designs of the muscle cars that defined an entire era of American automobiles at the Saginaw Art Museum.

"Designing an ICON: Creativity and the American Automobile"  will feature rare, original designs of several cars made in the 1960s and early 1970s. The exhibit -- which will feature ninety-four drawings eight photos from twenty-six designers from General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler -- will be at the museum from Aug. 13 through Oct. 3. The exhibit then will travel to Northwood University, where it will be displayed from Oct. 15 through Nov. 12.

As part of the exhibit, there will be a panel of designers ready to answer questions from exhibit-goers on Aug. 28 following a 10-mile car cruise that will begin at 10 a.m. at the Crooked Creek Golf Course on Gratiot Avenue and end at the museum.

"The public can actually come in and meet these people," says Lindy Morley, board member and vice chair at the museum. "It's such a rarity for these people to share their knowledge."

Car designs like the ones featured in this exhibit are rare, says Lindy Morley, board member and vice chair at the museum. During the Cold War era, the Big Three did not want designs or proprietary information about their cars falling into the wrong hands. As a result, the companies destroyed most of the designs.

Car designers actually risked losing their jobs if they removed their designs from the companies, she says. But a few took the risk, which is why the Louisville Visual Art Association was able to organize the exhibit in the first place.

The designs also are rare because they represent the era of cars designed before the oil embargo of the 1970s.

"That was the end of this era of cars," Morley says. "This generation of cars literally formed this industry today as we know it."

For more information about the exhibit, call 989-754-2491.