Peter Barrett Davis (born 1958) is an American automotive designer. He is especially known for designing car interiors, mainly at General Motors and Fiat Auto.
Peter B. Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | Peter Barrett Davis 1958 |
| Occupation | Automobile designer |
After finishing his education in 1981 at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA, Davis started his career in the European branch of General Motors: at Opel in Rüsselsheim, he worked on the interiors of the Vectra A, the Omega A and the Corsa B. From 1985 until his departure end of 1989, Davis was Assistant Studio Chief for interiors at Opel.[1]
From 1990 until 1999, Davis worked for Fiat Auto in Turin, amongst others on the interiors of the 1993 Punto, Bravo/Brava, Barchetta, Seicento and 1998 Multipla. In 1993 Davis became Design Director at Centro Stile Fiat and Lancia.[2] For the Multipla, of which he oversaw the total design and of which he was named as one of the spiritual fathers,[3] he followed the MAYA philosophy of Raymond Loewy: 'Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable'.[1][4]
In July 1999, Davis returned to GM in Detroit.[5] Soon after, he became studio design director with responsibility for designs for global use, and later also for performance and prestige cars. He worked on interiors for Cadillacs, Pontiacs, Chevies, Buicks, Saturn, GMC and Suzuki. During the General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization, together with thousands more, Davis was made redundant. Among his next employers were Tata Motors and Bordrin.[1] Currently, Peter Davis is Adjunct Faculty/Lecturer at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.[6]
Davis specialized in car interiors because he sees them as a bigger challenge than exteriors.[1]
Gallery
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Dashboard Fiat Punto I -
Dashboard Fiat Barchetta -
Dashboard Opel Corsa B -
Fiat Multipla centre console
References
edit- ^ a b c d Robinson, Peter. "A chat with Peter Davis". www.motorheritage.org.au. Archived from the original on 2024-10-29. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "La storia: Il design della barchetta (1990)" [The story: the design of the barchetta (1990)] (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2024-09-08. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ Vis, Vincent (1998). "Multipla, eerste compacte 6-zitter" [Multipla, first compact 6-seater]. Fiat Actueel (in Dutch) (44): 4-9.
- ^ "It could have been nicknamed "the unglamourous cleverness"" (in English and French). Car Design Archives. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "The men behind the car". www.fiatbarchetta.com. Archived from the original on 2023-10-01.
- ^ "CCS Detroit". Retrieved 19 December 2024.