Architecture & design / Auto industry
Bill Mitchell
1912–1988 · automotive designer, GM vice president of design
Harley Earl's successor as GM's design chief, the man behind the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and Buick Riviera.
- Born
Cleveland, Ohio- Died
Royal Oak, Michigan
aged 76- Birth name
- William Leroy Mitchell
- Also known as
- William L. Mitchell
- Detroit years
- 1935–1988
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Mitchell studied art in Pittsburgh and New York and drew racing illustrations before Harley Earl hired him at General Motors in 1935. Within a year he was chief designer at Cadillac, where he shaped the 1938 Cadillac Sixty Special. He succeeded Earl as head of GM Styling in 1958 and worked from the GM Technical Center in Warren until his retirement in 1977. Credited with influencing the design of some 72 million GM cars, he favored sharp, tailored lines over chrome and fins. A shark he saw while diving in the Bahamas inspired his Stingray racer and the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, largely drawn by Larry Shinoda under his direction; the same year brought the elegant Buick Riviera, and later came the 1970 Camaro and the boat-tail Riviera. His last design was the 1977 Pontiac Phantom concept. He died at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak in 1988.
Highlights
- Head of GM design, 1958–1977
- 1938 Cadillac Sixty Special
- 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and 1963 Buick Riviera
- Corvette Hall of Fame, 1998
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1956–1977
General Motors Technical Center
The Saarinen-designed campus where he ran GM Design for two decades.