William Porter brought a thoughtful approach to his design work at GM

May 19, 2025 Steve History 0
1972 Pontiac Firebird

I can be quite critical of Automotive News, so in fairness I should note when they do good work. A case in point is a feature story by David Phillips (2025) about William L. Porter. He was a longtime General Motors designer and instructor who recently died at the age of 93.

Part of what I like about the story is that it doesn’t just walk through Porter’s considerable portfolio of design work. Phillips (2025) also discusses Porter’s theory about innovative design: It is most likely to emerge during times of crisis and least likely when profits are strong.

For example, Porter pointed to the Great Depression of the 1930s as a time of crisis that resulted in iconic designs such as the Lincoln Zephyr, Cord 810 and Cadillac Sixty Special. By the same token, he didn’t think that the 1986 Ford Taurus would have emerged if Ford had not been under the gun financially. And that the affluent 1990s spawned the bland Toyota Camry and Honda Accord (Phillips, 2025).

I can see some truth to Porter’s theory. However, if we tested it out with a detailed chronology of U.S. automotive design, we could very well see plenty of contradictory evidence. For example, the iconic 1953 Studebaker “Loewy coupes” came about when the independent automaker was near the peak of its early postwar success. And what of the 1968 Pontiac LeMans and GTO, which came about when that brand was one of the hottest in the industry?

I bring up the LeMans/GTO partly because this was one of the first GM designs that Porter played a major part in. His (2025) website says that he was involved in “(a)dvanced studio pre-production development.”

1995 Buick Riviera
Robert Tate (2020) of Motor Cities argued that the last-generation, 1995 Buick Riviera was “Porter’s most significant design in his career.” Really? It has character but the proportions don’t strike me as being quite right (Old Car Brochures).

Porter applied an intellectual approach to his work

Putting aside the rigor of his theories, Porter appears to have applied an unusually intellectual approach to his design work. He was credited with the design of Pontiac’s honeycomb wheels, which were inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes (Phillips, 2025).

At least to car enthusiasts, the most famous design on Porter’s resume may be the 1970 1/2 Pontiac Firebird. Once again Porter had a theory about why the car turned out so well, which he told to Hot Rod writer Rocky Rotella (2007):

“Somehow, and this is a theory of mine, a car design, like any work of art, embodies the feelings and emotions of the designers who create it. When the chemistry of talent, experience, intelligence, and enthusiasm all come together at the right time, the car begins to take on a life of its own and emits certain vibes. Some designs are like fads — their vibes are transient, but others continue to have appeal over a long period of time and become classics. Needless to say, I am very grateful that I was at the right place at the right time to contribute to a car that still gives enjoyment to people many years after it was created.”

This quote suggests that Porter had significant people skills that helped him to navigate GM’s decline in the 1980s and 1990s. He ascribed his amiability to his Kentucky upbringing, which he said fostered “a more calm and gentlemanly manner” (Phillips, 2025). Porter retired from GM in 1996 after spending 39 years at the automaker (Payne, 2025).

In an interview for Clasiq (2020), Porter talked about the multiple challenges of getting the second-generation Firebird to production before concluding: “I have a place in my heart for these cars that make it through the system without getting ruined. A lot of them get ruined.”

Porter’s passing has resulted in a wave of tributes

For example, a former student of his stated that Porter “collected Olivetti typewriters and Frank Lloyd Wright bedroom furniture. He taught many design students to love all design and architecture” (talinseven, 2025).

Meanwhile, George Barta (2025) reported that fellow designer Jon Albert had said of Porter, “I am extremely privileged to have worked with a guy who knew the history of design in general (not just auto design) and who possessed such a keen sense for good design as well as what makes sense for compelling styling.”

Also see ‘Is the decline in distinctive national approaches to car design a bad thing?’

I don’t think that one has to be enthralled with every design Porter influenced to appreciate the value of possessing broad knowledge about design. Indeed, I have criticized some aspects of Porter’s favorite car, the second-generation Firebird (go here for further discussion).

Even so, I also respect the intelligence — and sense of history — that he brought to his craft. And I wonder: What are today’s current head designers thinking when they green light such atrocities as the Toyota bZ4X (go here)? Has aesthetically coherent design become as passe as habeas corpus?

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