Ford Styling brochure, 1956

Dan Picasso sent these images from a Ford Story of Styling sales brochure of 1956.

1. "From the beginning the styling of your new car's interior parallels the development of it's exterior. These two styling phases must proceed together to assure pleasing integration of inside and outside appearance--so necessary now that glass areas are larger and cars are lower, making interiors more visible than ever before. Fashion and color specialists, textile designers, plastics and paint technicians and craftsmen in many fields constitute the interior styling team"


2. "Seat contours are developed for both comfort and smart contemporary effects. Arrangements of fabrics, leathers, carpets and plastic and metal ornamentation are planned fro dramatic tasteful harmony.Color beauty and high interest are everywhere in the studio where your car's interior is designed. Scores of artists are seen sketching, painting and modeling their concepts of the advanced comfort, convenience and and safety features that will lend still greater pleasure to your motoring."


3. "On display are groups of textures and colors that may never before have been combined, but are strikingly beautiful together. the best of these new ideas will find their way into the car that is being designed for you. + In the interior studio the styling process is much the same as the exterior studio. Design ideas are developed as full-size clay interiors, modeled in fine details by studio sculptors and either painted to simulate new fabrics and trims or covered with the fabrics themselves. Stylists keep always in mind the specifications set forth in the original plan and 'package', for their are certain critical interior dimensions that allow no deviation. These include basic seat and instrument panel measurements to assure that you will have ample head, shoulder and leg room. The "package" further specifies the locations of door handles, window regulators and arm rests+ Periodically each detail is double-checked, to make certain that the instruments will be visible to the driver, that the steering wheel and controls can be comfortably used and that no annoying reflections will be caused by the sun or by the headlights of other cars."

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