About My Research

This site serves as a reflection of my graduate thesis work in automotive textile design at North Carolina State University.  I began this site in January 2009 and plan to maintain it until my graduation in December 2009.  I have been in the graduate program at the College of Textiles for 1 year of a 2 year program.  During this first year, I have focused on the automotive industry, design, and sustainability.  Now at the half-way point, I have selected my thesis topic and made plans as to how to approach my research so that my work is complete by October 2009.  In the right column of this blog, I have posted my personal timeline to ensure that I am meeting my deadlines.  Please take time to look through all the information included in the right hand column, especially if this is your first time visiting this site.

The purpose of this site is 3-fold.
1) Most scholars are only given 1 chance to write a thesis, and 2 years to learn how to do so.  Sure there are books on research methods and databases of theses to form a background or starting place for your work, but no one really explains to us exactly what this process is like from start to finish.
2) Over the past year, I have learned beyond my expectations about the automotive industry, past, current, and future.  Throughout my next year of study, I have access to resources that would be coveted by any designer in this industry and plan to uncover valuable correlations between design and success.  I will post many images and articles which I find the most enriching.
and 3) Writing my thoughts and progress where it is publicly available will encourage me to meet deadlines and provide a clear platform to keep my committee informed.

My Topic
I will be examining the history of automotive bodycloth development and aligning this with outside factors such as the economy, increase in mass production, increase in technical standards and regulations, the importance of fashion and color, along with what at this time is an unpredictable number of additional variables.  The ultimate question I aim to answer is if there is a concrete way to measure and predict success in order to save time, money, and resources.

7.20.2009

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance tickets are BOOKED!

Today is a VERY happy day!

I'm sure most of you know by now that the reason I am a car girl is because of my dad.  While I like new and shiny, I have the nostalgia of a 70-year-old when it comes to cars (and music).  Vintage will never go out of style and this is proven by the thousands of Antique Automobile Clubs, Classic Car Clubs, and Society of Automotive Historians across the globe.  Any car enthusiast knows that the creme de la creme of "car shows" in the world is the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance!

This annual affair has raised over $12 million for charity since its initiation in 1950 and includes a series of related events such as the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance, Pebble Beach RetroAuto, the Pebble Beach Auction,

Each year only 175 of the most prized collectors cars in the world are invited to appear on the famed eighteenth fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links each year.  To contend in the Concours d'Elegance, an automobile must be a well preserved or accurately restored vehicle still quite capable of doing what it was meant to do- be driven.  It will almost certainly have some historic value- perhaps in its day it served to debut new technology or new styling trends or it has an amazing racing record.  And it will be rare- possibly a singular example of a special chassis bearing a respected coachbuilder's art.  After all these criteria have been met, a concours car must be one thing more.  Above all, it must be elegant.  And elegance is a matter of the eye and heart.

“There is no such thing as a score sheet for elegance. It’s largely a matter of taste, recognition of design advantages, and knowledge of the performance and quality of the total architectural concept.”
– Strother MacMinn, Renowned Automotive Designer and Former Chief Honorary Judge at Pebble Beach

“From a strictly personal point of view, my definition of an elegant car would be ‘the kind of car I would like to be buried in.’” 
– Ansel Adams, Photographer and former Honorary Judge 
at Pebble Beach

Please be sure to check out the Concours website, notably the History page, which scrolls through a timeline of notable cars and events since the shows initiation in 1950.


Oh...and by the way....the Chairman the show since 2002...is a woman: Sandra Kasky Button.  Now that's a job I could have fun with!


All images and information are provided by the Pebble Beach Concours website: http://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/


And in a side note: Congratulations USA!  40 Years since our first steps on the moon!

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