The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/08/08
For old-car folks, there couldn't have been a more fitting winner of the 50th annual Daytona 500 last month than Ryan Newman.
For the golden anniversary of NASCAR's showcase race, the Harley J. Earl winner's trophy was made in gold instead of silver. And Newman, a lifelong classic car lover, undoubtedly has more appreciation for Earl than any other driver in the garage. Most of his peers, when polled last month by the Palm Beach Post, had never heard of Earl, a pioneering automobile stylist known as the "daVinci of Detroit."
 Nell Redmond / AP | ||
| NASCAR race car driver Ryan Newman, left, and Don Miller work on Newman's 1957 Dodge Super D 500 in his garage.. | ||
 Gary W. Green / Orlando Sentinel | ||
| Ryan Newman celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach last month. | ||
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Earl created some of the cars and style features that are found on cars in Newman's growing collection of classic cars.
Earl's contributions to the automobile industry are almost beyond measure.
He grew up in an automotive family. His father started as a coach builder, then branched into making custom parts for early automobiles.
Harley Earl was hired by General Motors, and his first project was the 1927 LaSalle, one of the first cars to have as much emphasis placed on its appearance as its function.
In the late 1930s he created the Buick Y-Job, the industry's first concept car, one built to gauge the public's reaction to new features and designs.
In the 1940s he introduced tail fins, in the '50s the Corvette.
Before leaving GM in the late 1950s, he was credited with introducing clay modeling of automotive designs, the wraparound windshield, the hardtop sedan, factory two-tone paint and on-board computers.
He also was known for setting a precedent by hiring females to work in his design group, and for a time he served as NASCAR's commissioner.
It was one of his concept cars, the Firebird 1, that became the basis of the Daytona trophy.
"Harley Earl was a friend of [NASCAR founder] Bill France Sr.," Newman said. "They first built a clay model of a car they wanted to go fast. They designed the trophy after that model."
Don Miller, the retired president of Newman's Penske Racing team, said Newman, a Purdue-educated engineer, has long been interested in Earl's work.
"Ryan always talks about the Buick Y-Job," Miller said. "He looks at Earl's work from the engineering side and appreciates what the man did. He just likes the cars Earl designed — the Buick Y-Job and the LaSalle."
Miller said Newman's interest in classic cars has played a role in his success at Penske's team, beginning with the first day he ever visited the shop. That's where he saw Miller's 1939 Hudson sitting in the parking lot and inquired about it as soon as he walked inside.
"Ryan said, 'I have a '53 Plymouth back home that I drive all the time,' " Miller recalled. "I thought, 'This guy can't be all bad.' "
Miller, whose accomplishments in NASCAR include creation of the roof flaps that keep cars from becoming airborne after spins, said he and Newman spend as many hours as a NASCAR driver's schedule allows working on and talking about their old cars.
"As time went by we talked more and more about classic cars — early performance cars, different engines," Miller said. "Ryan really started opening up. He's very inquisitive. We've had long conversations about different engines and the designs of engines and transmissions.
"And he's got a very good eye for design. He loves the flowing lines and the overall look of cars from the '30s."
Miller said Newman's time spent with his cars helps him cope with the pressures of his profession.
"It's a therapeutic endeavor for him," Miller said. "It helps him calm down ... And we've solved a [racing] problem or two over the years while working on cars."
Miller recently collaborated with Newman's wife, Krissie, to give Ryan a special surprise birthday present, a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible. It was one of three cars used in one of Newman's favorite movies, "Rain Man."
Miller found the car in Washington state and talked the owner into parting with it.
"We kept it from him for nine months," Miller said.
Then, on Newman's birthday, at a surprise party with about 300 people in attendance, the secret was revealed. The reaction of Newman and the assembled crowd was predictable.
"It was wild," Miller said.
