Jam Handy takes us inside GM Design in the late 1950s

By now, just about anyone who is into vintage cars and has visited the Hemmings Daily knows who Henry Jamison "Jam" Handy was. We've frequently featured various selections from his treasury of automotive documentary, educational and marketing films, and Kurt Ernst did a detailed biographical piece on Handy in May of 2014—Documenting the documentarian: New film project examines the work of Jam Handy.

American Look presented by Chevrolet "In appreciation of the stylists of America," is another Jam Handy gold nugget now in the public domain that can currently be found on the Internet Archive as part of the Prelinger Archives. Divided into three parts, it's the third that takes you inside GM's Design Center, a section of the GM Technical Center campus in Warren, Michigan. The state-of-the-art Tech Center opened in 1956 and this film was completed in 1958.

Highlighted is the development of the 1959 Chevrolet, and for 10 minutes and 59 seconds, you'll be immersed in all things late 1950s, from the mid-century elements of the Design Center itself, to the timbre of the voice-over and the music of the orchestra.

For those who desire the crib notes, bullet points of the process of designing the Chevrolet—according to this film—are listed below.

• "Basic concepts of the design problem are defined and outlined."
• A design theme and its limits are established.
• Multiple stylists create renderings that embody the theme, yet adhere to the limits.
• One or two concepts are "chosen that combine the best styling features of all the efforts."
• The chosen designs are refined into a harmonious actualization of those features.
• Smaller sketches are translated into full-size renderings.
• Full-size renderings are converted to full-bodied forms.
• A clay model is developed and three-dimensional body contours are established.
• Even emblems are added.
• The completed clay model is presented to management for approval.
• Interior themes reflecting complementing colors and patterns are also developed.
• Interior and exterior concepts progress from clay to plaster to fiberglass.
• "Full-scale components [are] modeled in fiberglass."
• Finally, the concept is realized "in metal, glass, fibers and fabrics."

Along with all the intriguing 1959 Chevrolet passenger car designs and components we see, there are also a few other interesting sightings in the film, including a taillamp rendering at 3:29 that somewhat resembled those of a 1960 Pontiac. At 9:39, GM's Firebird II concept car is shown driving on the road. Also, near the end of the film, what appears to be GM's XP-500 free-piston engine concept car (the nose does look a bit different from the XP-500 we've seen previously, however) is shown parked out in front of the building. The Firebird I parked ahead of it then pulled away.

If you appreciate late-1950s automotive styling, you'll find this film entertaining.

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