# Hey Buick! Why Don't You Bring Back THIS Design of Harley Earl's? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162 "2004-03-14T00:57:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/1 "2004-03-14T00:57:47Z")
Dumbshit bastards. Really. You guys are so desperate to sell cars that you’ve ripped off _Tucker: The Man and His Dream_ for some of your commercials and have paid some poor actor to pretend to be Harley Earl so he can hawk your wares with an air of remembering the genius who helped make Buick and GM famous. Of course, you guys wouldn’t be in such trouble if you weren’t turning out such ass ugly vehicles as the [Aztek](http://www.pontiac.com/aztek/index.jsp?source=hmlnav), the [Aveo](http://www.chevrolet.com/aveo/), or the [Rendezvous](http://www.buick.com/rendezvous/), to name but a sampling of the four wheeled abortions GM’s been turning out in recent years. However, in all your pomposity of Buick’s “heritage” you _fail_ to mention [Harley Earl’s SUV design](http://www.carofthecentury.com/buick_had_the_first_suv,_ever.htm) with [_this_](http://www.carofthecentury.com/buick_22.jpg) interesting accessory. I don’t know _why_ you fail to mention it, since it’s as ugly as anything you’ve guys got on the road now. Shit, learn **your** history, before you start making commercials claiming that the vision of the man who made you great (and then promptly forgot all about until your sales took a steep slide) is still running things. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/2 "2004-03-14T01:00:45Z")
Preach it, Brother Tucker!! Good god, those are some of the ugliest vehicles known to mankind. After reading your post, I wonder if the reason they are showing these commercials is so that they can power their plants using electricity generated by Harvey Earl spinning in his grave 😃 ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/3 "2004-03-14T01:23:58Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Harley Earl’s SUV design with [_this_](http://www.carofthecentury.com/buick_22.jpg) interesting accessory. Something makes me think Ralph Nader and/or MADD would not sit idle while GM sold a car with a Scotch & Soda dispenser. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/4 "2004-03-14T01:29:46Z")
> [@schplebordnik](#): > > Something makes me think Ralph Nader and/or MADD would not sit idle while GM sold a car with a Scotch & Soda dispenser. No? You really think that? Whatever for? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/5 "2004-03-14T01:34:30Z")
> [@schplebordnik](#): > > Something makes me think Ralph Nader and/or MADD would not sit idle while GM sold a car with a Scotch & Soda dispenser. What? Me worry? Why would Alfred E. Newman care? ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/6 "2004-03-14T01:41:26Z")
Oh, so Harley Earl WAS a real dude, huh? ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/7 "2004-03-14T01:44:03Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Oh, so Harley Earl WAS a real dude, huh? I wouldn’t mind seeing Harley Earl ask that GM design hottie in the ads to “make the back seat nice and wide, so I don’t crush my hat while I’m banging you back there” and then tinkle the ice in his Scotch & Soda. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/8 "2004-03-14T04:34:06Z")
I don’t know anything about cars or what you’re complaining about, but to heck with the scotch and soda - I wanna know why you can’t buy a car with a “Wrangler seat” on the hood anymore. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/9 "2004-03-14T05:25:25Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > I wanna know why you can’t buy a car with a “Wrangler seat” on the hood anymore. 😃 Yeah! If John Wayne could use one, why can’t we? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/10 "2004-03-14T06:28:34Z")
Apparently, the entirety of Harley Earl’s legacy can be boiled down to portholes and hat racks. I weep for automotive design. My recent trip to Disney World included a spin around the ride “Test Track,” which dumps you into a bit of a Buick showroom at the end. The floor had a few cars on it, and there were curtained-off stages that swept open at intervals while a Harley Earl thing showed on the TV screens. With any sense, Buick would’ve used those curtained-off bits to show the Earl originals that inspired their new cars. Of course, since the new cars ARE NOT ACTUALLY INSPIRED by any Harley Earl-era originals, the stages just held more stupid ugly modern crap with no flair. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/11 "2004-03-14T06:31:02Z")
> [@schplebordnik](#): > > I wouldn’t mind seeing Harley Earl ask that GM design hottie in the ads to “make the back seat nice and wide, so I don’t crush my hat while I’m banging you back there” and then tinkle the ice in his Scotch & Soda. At least they’re giving him slightly louder suits now. He looked like a film noir gumshoe in the first commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/12 "2004-03-14T07:40:37Z")
Given that Harley is played in the commercials by John Deihl, I’m just waiting for the GM car with the big hood ornament of a scowling Mickey Mouse designed to assist in running over nonwhites and Northern liberals. ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/13 "2004-03-14T14:38:37Z")
I’ve always wondered about those Harley Earl ads. Ninety percent of people don’t know who he is, and the ten percent who do would not buy one of those ugly cars. While I feel that Harley Earl was the pioneer of auto design, I always thought the cars in the fifties were hideously ugly. I know I may be in the minority, but to me all the excess chrome and continental kits and whitewall tires looked like a six year olds idea of what a car should look like. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/14 "2004-03-14T14:53:04Z")
Anyone else thinking of [The Homer](http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PY4000)? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/15 "2004-03-14T15:00:06Z")
Admitted, those commercials are stupid. The only way they could get worse if they hired Celine Dion to sing at the same time. But, I’ve always like the Aztec & Rendevous. ---
**Author:** ![htns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@htns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/htns)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/16 "2004-03-14T17:41:22Z")
The Chevy Carryall came out over 60 years ago. What year was that Buick invented? [http://www.classictruckshop.com/clubs/earlyburbs/history.htm](http://www.classictruckshop.com/clubs/earlyburbs/history.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-buick-why-dont-you-bring-back-this-design-of-harley-earls/234162/17 "2004-03-14T19:05:10Z")
> [@mike1dog](#): > > I’ve always wondered about those Harley Earl ads. Ninety percent of people don’t know who he is, and the ten percent who do would not buy one of those ugly cars. While I feel that Harley Earl was the pioneer of auto design, I always thought the cars in the fifties were hideously ugly. I know I may be in the minority, but to me all the excess chrome and continental kits and whitewall tires looked like a six year olds idea of what a car should look like. Obviously, you’ve never seen a [1950s Studebaker](http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/Shows/UMVZoneMeet2003/Im000100_jpg.html). Not enough chrome on that baby to make a bumper for a Buick. (It does have white wall tires though.) **htns** , the Buick dates from 1949.