Top Auto Designers Pay Tribute to Their Teacher—with Sheetmetal
Bill Robinson died over a year ago but his legacy lives on as his students drive the industry’s automotive design studios.
The weather was better last year for the first annual Bill Robinson Memorial Car Show in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, but this year the stars came out—namely, the automotive designers who studied under him or knew his work well. Robinson died in February 2022 at the age of 96 after starting his automotive design career some 74 years earlier.
As a young man after World War II, he worked for Kaiser-Frazer and designed Packards while working for Briggs Manufacturing in Detroit. When Chrysler Corp. purchased Briggs in 1953, Robinson moved to Chrysler and remained an integral part of the design team until the 1980s, having led work on the 1957 and 1959 Plymouths and creating the concept for the minivan in the 1970s, years before its introduction in 1984. He worked on the original Charger and the Omni/Horizon, among many others.
He worked until the early 1980s and then began teaching the next generation of car designers at what is now Detroit's College for Creative Studies. Some of his top students came to the show this past weekend at his beloved church, Kirk in the Hills, to celebrate Robinson, including Ralph Gilles and Mark Trostle from Stellantis; Craig Metros, formerly of Ford; Richard Vaughan, formerly of Rivian and Visteon; Joel Piaskowski from Ford; Scott Ferrier from Stellantis; and Paul Snyder, who is now the chair of Transportation Design at CCS.
Robinson was the lead designer for the 1957 Plymouth Fury.
Robinson was proud of the 1957 Plymouth Fury, with its prominent tailfins.
Robinson also worked on the original Dodge Charger. This heavily customized SpeedKore "Hellucination" 1968 Charger with a carbon-fiber body was commissioned by Ralph Gilles, chief design officer for multiple Stellantis brands.
Gilles (left) talks about his custom Charger's 1000-hp 7.0-liter Hemi “HELLEPHANT” supercharged V8 crate engine.
Designers have a chat alongside the 1949 Cadillac Club Coupe owned by Moray Callum, Ford's former global head of design.
Moray Callum, Ford's former global head of design and a board member at the College for Creative Studies, brought his 1949 Cadillac Club Coupe to the show. He was not a student of Robinson's but knew his work well.
Ford retiree Callum brought two cars to the show, including his 1967 Mustang Fastback.
Callum's Mustang Fastback.
Also a student of Bill Robinson, Craig Metros retired from Ford Design after working on the GT. He drove his 2017 model to the show.
Automotive designers who brought cars in paying tribute to Robinson included Ralph Gilles (Stellantis), Richard Vaughan (formerly of Rivian), Mark Trostle (Stellantis), Joel Piaskowski (Ford Blue), Craig Metros (formerly of Ford), Moray Callum (formerly of Ford), Scott Ferrier (Stellantis), and Paul Snyder, who is now the chair of Transportation Design at Detroit's College for Creative Studies.
Bill Robinson, in May 2021, with his 2010 Dodge Challenger, which he drove up until a month before he died.
Robinson's Challenger had a prime spot at the show this past weekend, next to the burgundy 1953 Packard Patrician with a back end he designed.
Picture boards of Robinson's work were on display, including the 1959 Plymouth Fury.
Robinson also designed the Plymouth Belmont concept car of 1953.
View from the Kirk in the Hills bell tower, after rain chased away some of the cars.
1953 Jaguar XK120 owned by Dave and Lori Wathen of Bloomfield Hills.
1953 Jaguar XK120 owned by Dave and Lori Wathen of Bloomfield Hills.
Richard Vaughan, who brought his 1957 Bentley Series S, said Robinson taught every car designer who came from CCS in the 1980s and ‘90s. “It’s not hyperbole. He literally designed the design community. Every design executive working today who was at CCS in that time owes something to Bill and we all adore him.”
Vaughan drives his 1957 Bentley regularly, in warm-weather months.
Stellantis designer Mark Trostle brought his 2017 Dodge Viper GTC.
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