Gordon Buehrig
Gordon Miller Buehrig ( born June 18, 1904 in Mason City, Illinois; † January 22, 1990 in Grosse Point Woods, Michigan) was an American automobile designer who in the 1930s, a number of classic cars for Errett Lobban Cord 's automotive brands designed. Among his best layouts are the Cord 810/812 and the Continental Mark II
Life and works
Buehrig 1924 began an apprenticeship as a panel beater in the Gotfredson Body Company in Grosse Point Woods, produced the Wills Sainte Claire for bodies, Peerless, Jewett Motors and other automakers. In 1927 Buehrig to the body manufacturer Dietrich in Detroit, then to Packard and finally to General Motors. At GM Buehrig first worked as a designer; Here he was involved in the design of Buick models in the vintage 1929. 1929 Buehrig briefly working for Stutz; for the sports car manufacturer from Indianapolis, he designed the vehicle with which the company participated in the 24 - hour race at Le Mans in 1929.
1929 Buehrig was chief designer of the luxury car manufacturer Duesenberg, the Errett Lobban Cord was the contractor for three years. His first work for Duesenberg was the design of the bodies for the newly presented Duesenberg Model J.
Five years later moved Buehrig to Auburn, which was also part of cords automotive group. For Auburn Buehrig designed, among other things, the 1935 Auburn 851 series, whose version Boattail Speedster attracted the most attention.
Buehrigs last Errett Lobban Cord was working for the design of the bodies for the Cord 810/812, a newly designed front wheel drive car, which used the first production vehicle in the world pop-up headlights. Buehrigs design of the Cord 810 is one of the most innovative and elegant designs of the prewar period. Regardless of the Cord 810 was a commercial failure. Hupmobile and Graham - Paige was later used by Buehrigs body design for technically simpler, cheaper to manufacture vehicles with rear wheel drive (Graham Hollywood and Hupmobile Skylark ); However, a mass production foundered in the face of the impending Second World War.
After the war Buehrig first worked in the design office of Raymond Loewy. From 1951 to 1965 he worked for Ford. Here he designed among other things, the Continental Mark II, which is considered a milestone in automotive design.
After he had gone into retirement, Buehrig worked for several years as a lecturer in automotive design in California; in addition, he worked as a freelance designer. His last design was a held in retro style coupe for Buehrig Motor Car Company in 1979, which was not produced in series.