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Styling is a given today for selling cars. How did that come to be?
Printed in a large 12″ x 12″ coffee table book format with 296 hardbound pages, Detroit Steel Artists is the first comprehensive story about the avant-garde artists of the automotive business—the industries’ outcasts who changed Motor City forever and made styling an important selling point in the early 1920s.
Societal changes, including the modernization of business and the women’s movement, were powerful factors for styling’s rise in significance. The forward looking semi-custom car designs, from companies such as Le Baron and Dietrich, became a key strategy for styling’s acceptance in Detroit for production cars—before Harley Earl.
Inspired by Edsel Ford’s vision, Ray Dietrich, Tom Hibbard, and Ralph Roberts battled with engineers and executives in drafting rooms and board rooms over design. Packed with lively first-person stories supported by extensive research, Detroit Steel Artists relates the successes and failures of these fascinating pioneering steel artists. With more than a hundred period and modern images, Detroit Steel Artists takes readers on a panoramic tour of some of the most beautiful cars of the Classic Car Era—the zenith of automotive design.
“I think you will find this book a refreshing change from the usual books about coach builders and their cars.”
JAY LENO
“I had greater training than Harley Earl ever had so I’m looking for his job.”
RAYMOND H. DIETRICH
“Detroit Steel Artists by Matthew Kilkenny is a revelation. Those of us at the Automotive Hall of Fame, who have spent decades studying the origins of automobile styling, will reference this book for years to come. The research is thorough, the conjecture is well supported, and most importantly, the colorful personalities of Ray Dietrich, Tom Hibbard, and Ralph Roberts are brought to life with the use of period interviews and firsthand descriptions. Edsel Ford’s sophisticated sense of style and his battle with his father over the value of styling are well known. Kilkenny puts the pieces of this struggle together in a comprehensive timeline.
This is a must-read text for fans of the coachbuilt era. It explores how the successes and failures of the Le Baron and other steel artists paved the way for Harley Earl, Virgil Exner, Gordon Buehrig, and others, who also brought high fashion to American automobile manufacturers. The book contains a decade of research that brings these colorful players into perspective. Thank you to Mr. Kilkenny for applying your passion for this era to reconsider how we record this amazing time in history!”
BRIAN BAKER, Principal Historian, Automotive Hall of Fame
“Fantastic! Absolutely wonderful! Kilkenny is going to have one heckuva hit on his hands!”
MICHAEL LAMM, Author of A Century of Automotive Style
More Accolades:
“Detroit Steel Artists is a masterpiece of automobile historical research. Kilkenny has uncovered material about the great designers of the custom body era that will tickle the heart of every automobile aficionado.”
HENRY DOMINGUEZ, Author of The Last Days of Henry Ford
“This book is a must read for all students of the era of the zenith of automotive design. The author leads the reader through the evolution of the importance of design in producing and selling automobiles, especially the grand marques of the 1920s and 1930s, and the incredible influence of Ray Dietrich and Tom Hibbard on that process.
Explained in amazing detail are the relationships between engineers and designers, between body builders and body stylists, and the growing importance of the input of women on automotive design. The depth of research and the emphasis on placing automotive history in the greater context of the times make this book irreplaceable.”
CHRIS BOCK, Chief Judge Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
Detroit Steel Artists 