Pete Wozena | People | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Peter Wozena grew up in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1937, the same year that his car model won first prize in Michigan at the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild Competition. Wozena soon started working as a clay sculptor for Briggs Manufacturing Company, working on various automobile bodies that Briggs supplied to many American automobile companies. Wozena won another Fisher Body Contest in 1939 and was quickly hired by General Motors (GM) to work in the Pontiac studio. He served in the Navy during World War II, designing bomb sights and military hardware before returning to GM in 1946. There, assigned to the Cadillac studio, Wozena worked alongside designers Carl... more.

We have 4 objects that Pete Wozena has been involved with.

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.

Pete Wozena has collaborated with
General Motors.

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Person ID: 1108800145
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