Directly below is a 1927 Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express news story; notice caption's last sentence, "His car is a special sports job." It truly was, for right along with Mr. Earl's custom roadster body design, this Cadillac La Salle chassis also sported a higher performance engine. From day one entering into Detroit's auto world, this engineer's main push was to raise the excitement level of all GM's cars...And, naturally this meant improving (modernizing) what was under the hood, too.

Putting into motion an order of "evolutionary not revolutionary" principles would go on to create a much more innovative type of car company. By the mid-30s a dynamic new General Motors began taking shape...and naturally, this auto maker's products started heralding the dramatic changes. In the years directly following the hiring of Harley Earl, GM's most powerful leaders quickly commenced in eradicating the old ways and steered GM in a 180 degree opposite direction of the pervasive "Henry Fordism" mantra so prevalent in Detroit at that time. More than Alfred P. Sloan (GM's long time CEO), Earl played the most significant role as the chairman of change who would end up cementing GM above Ford for decades of time...  

Sadly, Ford Motor Co. just surrendered the No. 2 auto maker in the world position to Toyota (week of January 26, 2004). For the last 75 years, uninterrupted, the American based Ford Motor Co. of Dearborn, Michigan had been locked in the second running place position following behind General Motors No. 1 status.

Detroit News story, below, addresses Harley's early "Hollywood hot-rod shop" influence.