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Object Timeline

1956	Work on this object began.
2017	We acquired this object. We photographed this object.
2018	We photographed this object.
2024	You found it!

Drawing, Roofline Concept

This is a Drawing. It was designed by Pete Wozena and from the office of General Motors. It is dated 1956 and we acquired it in 2017. Its medium is color pencil, brush and gouache on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

This roofline concept drawing by Pete Wozena demonstrates one of the designer’s many experiments with this distinguishing feature of an automobile’s silhouette. Abundant windows, particularly at the rear windshield, would have allowed for panoramic views, and the gentle downward slope of the fastback design creates a sporty feel. Wozena echoes the roofline form in the sloping design of the detailing on the side of the automobile’s body, producing a cohesive look. Wozena went on to design the popular roofline of 1964–72 Vista-Cruiser Buick and Oldsmobile station wagons.

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of Paul Herzan and from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.

Drawing, Concept Car
color pencil, graphite on paper.
Museum purchase through gift of Paul Herzan and from General Acquisitions....
2017-18-6

The colorful advertising poster is for a sleek aero- car. Fantasy inspired vehicles were commonly used as a marketing tool during the middle of the 20th century to inspire and awe consumers. This poster is made up of several key images. Prominently placed horizontally in the foreground occupying most of the lower segment of the poster is a long missile shaped vehicle, above it and to the right is a large pierced spherical globe which is balanced at the base by two diagonal supports and lastly in the background and slightly to the left is an obscured low-rise building block with an attached slim rectangular tower reaching upward and off the pictorial space. Overall, the aero car has a tapered elongated front, reminiscent of birds’ beak, it appears to be in motion at high speed, pointing toward the left of the frame. The body is a deep red hue with two silver torpedo shaped engines on the underside, one has a bright whitish yellow flame emanating from the rear. An individual dressed in a hat and coat is presented from the waist up behind a transparent curved windshield. Wires are faintly apparent below the vehicle, supported by inverted V-shaped struts with oval openings, giving the illusion of a fanciful horizontal launching platform as the aero-car is poised to take flight. Swirling fog fill the lower half of the dreamlike image, and stylized letters, widely spaced, spell the designer's name, W-O-Z-E-N-A, barely perceptible along the border.

Drawing, Concept Car
color pencil, brush and gouache on paper.
Museum purchase through gift of Paul Herzan and from General Acquisitions....
2017-18-8

Its dimensions are

35.6 × 43.2 cm (14 × 17 in.)

It is signed

Signed in black color pencil, lower right: WOZENA / 11 - 1956

Cite this object as

Drawing, Roofline Concept; Designed by Pete Wozena (American, 1918–2006); Office of General Motors; color pencil, brush and gouache on paper; 35.6 × 43.2 cm (14 × 17 in.); Museum purchase through gift of Paul Herzan and from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund; 2017-18-7

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2FYT1K/
Accession Number 2017-18-7
Object ID 1108797991