Crayon to Cad

Crayon to CAD: A History of Post-War Automotive Design in Australia

By Paul Beranger. Review by Gary Smith.

Paul Beranger’s epic work covers the entire history of the Australian auto industry from its fledgling beginnings to the present day. For those who may not be familiar with how cars are designed, he also devotes an entire chapter describing the process, from the time-consuming methods of the past, to current CAD design systems.

Paul builds his history on the lifestyle and needs of the Australian people and the attempts of the automotive industry to meet those needs while balancing corporate interests, often from the other side of the world.

Australia’s geographic isolation, world and local economic fluctuations, and wars also influenced car design and manufacturing.

Seven out of forteen chapters are devoted to decades from the 1940s to the present day and describe design studios, production facilities, and designers that shaped Australian design. Each chapter describes the development of GM Holden, Ford, Chrysler/Mitsubishi, BMC/Leyland, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, during that decade. Harsh realities often shaped design criteria that determined a model’s success or failure.

Also in the book are twenty-three interesting biographies of influential designers that were personally interviewed by the author. The biography of GM’s Leo Pruneau, who was influential at Holden from 1969 to 1983, is included.

Several designers familiar to Dean’s Garage readers are mentioned in the book including Harley Earl, Chuck Jordan, Leo Pruneau, John Schinella, and Bunker Bradley.

There are many interesting FYI sidebars including this 1956 quote from Motor Magazine, “Pasta and Barolo:”

“Although the new General Motors Technical Center was a spectacular demonstration of the determination of the company to design and engineer the world’s best cars, not everyone was convinced. According to the highly respected English Motor Magazine in 1956, the unattributed quaint observation of the new facility reflects a colonial perspective of the relevance of design in the modern world.

‘Styling Division at General Motors is contained in a separate building that has all the mechanical aids that an artist and craftsman could wish for. The surrounding gardens and softly lit corridors lined with modern paintings and sculpture are aimed at providing an inspirational atmosphere. The chaste and clean luncheon room is supplemented by a lounge where the intellectuals can relax with games of chess or the like. On the mechanical side there are full facilities for the buildup of full-size models and in detail study fabrics that can, for example, be examined under variable artificial lighting which can simulate anything from bright sun of a June afternoon to the modest glow of winter moonlight. But both Hodkin and I felt that it as merely dogma that a man with all this apparatus who took milk and salad for lunch would necessarily produce better work than a rival fortified by pasta and a bottle of Barolo who was working in a shed.’“

Paul also introduces us to a number of independent Australian automakers. I had no idea there were any.

The last chapters are about developing technologies, and Motorshows and Concept Cars (some of which are quite well known like the Holden EFIJY and Holden Hurricane RD001). Paul concludes the book with a chapter about the future.

The book is especially interesting because Paul gives us a unique inside look at the country, people, and culture that shaped Australian car design.