“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”—Theodore Roosevelt / Anthony Hopkins “World’s Fastest Indian”
Dean’s Garage is dedicated to an age of optimism that is long since past. To the dreams and hopes of a bygone era. Perhaps the posts on this blog have stirred something within and revitalized an old spirit of creativity.
If you have something that you think would be appropriate to post on Dean’s Garage, please contact me.
I grew up in Riverside, California a few miles from the Riverside International Raceway. It was bulldozed in the late ’80s and the property now supports a shopping mall. Shame. That was the only thing Riverside had going for it.
I graduated from Art Center College of Design when it was still in Los Angeles.
I worked at General Motors as an Exterior Designer when it was called Design Staff. That’s after it was called Art & Colour Section and Styling, but before it was renamed Design Center. I worked under Bill Mitchell, Irv Rybicki, and Chuck Jordan. I worked in Pontiac, Buick, Olds, and Cadillac studios. Dave Holls picked a sketch of mine off the wall that became the 1992 Oldsmobile Achieva. Studio Chiefs I worked for include Ron Hill, John Schinella, Jerry Hirschberg, Wayne Kady, Bill Porter, John Perkins, David North, and Dick Ruzzin. If you’d like to see some of my work when I was at GM, visit CruiZart.
I have been freelancing as Performance Design since 1988. Visit the site to see my portfolio. Graphic design, book and publication design, illustration, and transportation/industrial design.
Thanks for stopping by.
Gary D. Smith
P.S. I have a bunch of cars. Too many, probably. And a tractor.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”—John 5:24
Hi Gary; This is a new look to your site ?
Also I was curious as to the history of your logo mark, The red white and blue circle with the jet in it? I think I saw that on a GM display somewhere.Thanks, Don.
Don,
The old WordPress theme was heavily modified but no longer compatible with the new version of WordPress. So the whole thing needed to be updated. This new theme is very flexible and allows for 3 columns, although I prefer a design that is more of a design statement in itself. But to develop a new theme is prohibitively time consuming. As far as the logo goes, I “borrowed” it from GM; it is the old GM Firebird logo that first appeared on the tail fin of the Firebird One. It is used on the helipad at the GM Tech Center. Copy and paste this 42.512121,-83.044796 into http:www.maps.google.com.
Gary
Hi Gary, I really enjoy your site and often share it with my car enthusiast friends. I was just reading your note about the site being dedicated to your father. I have often look at the photo on banner noting that I recognized Dean at the wheel of the Corvair GT (?). Should I assume this is the same Dean? I worked at GM Photographic in the 60s before coming to Design and sometimes would chat with him about the time he spent photographing in Styling before Mitchell created his own photo group. Your dad was a grand guy. Jim Brady
Jim,
My dad always indulged my sometimes misplaced car enthusiasm, took me to the Riverside International Raceway, helped me get through Art Center, was co-driver on the trip to Michigan when I was hired by GM. On my first day at Design Staff, Chuck Jordan took us both on a tour. His middle name was Dean, same as mine. But he wasn’t in the photo of the Monza GT. He retired in the ’70s from Alcan Aluminum in Riverside, California and died in 1980.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Gary
Gary–
This is my first perusal of your site, and it’s a bulls-eye as far as my personal interests are concerned. I’m going to have lots of fun wading through this assemblage of automobilia, and my car design students (many of whom are sadly lacking in historical perspective pre-1980 or so) will be eventually assigned written reports on historical topics, with your site being a primary reference and jumping-off point.
My enthusiasm is once again refueled!
–Paul Wilczynski
Academy of Art University