How auto art can be more than idle entertainment for bored retirees

I just added two new entries to the “Bibliography of Links.” The first one is Cars as Art, which is a Facebook public group that focuses on “conceptual art and cars.”

The site has pretty specific guidelines about what it won’t post: “Stock vehicles in artistic settings will generally be removed. Advertising art will be removed unless it contains a concept car as part of the ad. Customized cars will generally not be allowed unless they reflect a vision towards ‘concept’ vs. change for the sake of change. Cartoons which do not advance the idea of car design (conceptual thinking) will be removed. Rat rods and Rat customs will be removed.”

Also see ‘Proposed car designs, auto history timeline and old magazines’

What does that leave? High-quality artwork that offers interesting takes on automobiles. For example, Steven Erler recently posted an illustration of a two-seat Packard Caribbean concept that appears to be based on the Studebaker Hawk body. Very nicely done both in terms of the artwork as well as the thoughtfulness of the concept.

Erler’s ‘what if’ designs deserve greater visibility

Erler has his own website called Auto Visuals: Classic Auto Art. He has posted some outstanding “what if” images, such as a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado with a Chevrolet Nomad-like two-door wagon body style, a 1963 Lincoln Continental two-door hardtop, and a 1966 Ford Thunderbird four-door with suicide doors.

It’s too bad The Daily Drive doesn’t commission “what if” designs from Erler, whose work is a big step above that produced by ongoing contributor Frank Peiler, who is also the publisher of Collectible Automobile magazine. The problem with Peiler’s illustrations is that his basic schtick — applying the styling cues of other brands to a classic car like the Continental Mark II — has gotten rather stale (2014). The artwork is okay but the concepts don’t add anything substantive to automotive history.

Also see ‘The unbearable liteness of a Rambler Marlin ad story’

As a case in point, Peiler’s Nash-like Mark II is rather pointless, whereas Erler’s two-seater Caribbean addresses a plausible direction Studebaker-Packard could have taken if it had more resources.

What does it look like when automotive history strives to be more than idle entertainment for bored retirees? Cars as Art and Auto Visuals provide a partial answer to that question.

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RE:SOURCES

• Peiler, Frank; 2014. “What If…1956-1957 Continental Mark II.” The Daily Drive. Posted April 1.