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Gerald Paul Hirshberg
Born(1939-07-01)July 1, 1939[1]
Cleveland, Ohio
DiedNovember 10, 2019(2019-11-10) (aged 80)
San Diego, California
NationalityAmerican
Other namesJerry Paul
Occupation(s)Lead designer, Nissan Design International, 1980–2000
Known forAutomotive and industrial design
WebsiteOfficial website

Gerald Paul "Jerry" Hirshberg (July 1, 1939 – November 10, 2019) was an American automotive designer, industrial designer, musician and painter.

Early life and education

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Hirshberg studied mechanical engineering at Ohio State University and received a degree with honors in Design from the Cleveland Institute of Art. After graduation, he continued to study in Europe on a Mary C. Page Fellowship. During college, under the stage name Jerry Paul, he released the hit single "Sparkling Blue" in 1959 and opened for well-known musicians such as Bobby Rydell, Fabian, and Frankie Avalon.[2][3] Hirshberg's first automobile was a Volkswagen Beetle.[4]

Automotive design

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Hirshberg started his career in automotive design with General Motors in 1964, where he created designs for the Pontiac and Buick divisions under Bill Mitchell,[3] notably the 1971 "boattail" Buick Riviera, where he interpreted Mitchell's original concept.[5] By the time he departed GM, he was the Buick/Pontiac chief designer.[6] Regarding his time at GM, Hirshberg recalled in 1999 that "[the car design trend] was certainly sexual, but it was the sexual fantasies of men. When we lapsed, we were doing design pornography."[7]

In 1980, Hirshberg left GM after being recruited to join Nissan, where he served as the founding director and eventual President of their first design studio in the United States, Nissan Design International (NDI), based in La Jolla, California.[2] In 1982, NDI had thirty employees, which Hirshberg called an "experiment in intercultural creativity."[8] NDI, along with Toyota's Calty studio, were some of the earliest California-based automotive design studios established by foreign and domestic manufacturers throughout the 1970s and 80s.[9]

I never wanted to be interviewed later, saying, 'If you had seen what we really wanted to do ... '

— Jerry Hirshberg, 2008 interview with Mark Rechtin[10]

NDI took on several commissions outside automotive design in order to stay creative, including the commercially successful "Bubble Burner" golf club line for nearby TaylorMade,[3] a yacht, and a computer for RDI Computer Corporation.[11]

In 1999, Mickey Kaus attributed Nissan's poor sales performance throughout the 90s to the "loser designs" produced by NDI under Hirshberg.[12] However, earlier in 1999, Hirshberg said Nissan had been directing conservative designs from Japan since the early 90s, after the market failure of the Infiniti J30.[13]

By the late 90s, approximately 75% of Nissan vehicles marketed in the United States were designed at NDI.[10] In 1999, Hirshberg served as the spokesman for Nissan advertising in America.[14] He retired from Nissan at the end of June 2000,[3] turning down a potential promotion to Nissan's global design chief,[1] and continued to pursue artistic interests in retirement.

Credited designs

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Hirshberg is credited with creating or assisting with the following designs:

Death

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On November 10, 2019, Hirshberg died at his home at the age of 80 after a year-long battle with glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer.[10][22]

References

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  1. ^ a b Rechtin, Mark (March 20, 2000). "Nissan's Hirshberg lays down his pen". Automotive News. Retrieved January 23, 2018. Jerry Hirshberg, the loquacious and controversial designer who penned some of Nissan's most distinctive vehicles during a 20-year career, will retire as president of the company's Southern California studio June 30. ... His last day as president of Nissan Design International will be his 60th birthday, the same day the Z sports car will be a finished design.
  2. ^ a b c d "Jerry Hirshberg". HarperCollins. Retrieved November 7, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Patton, Phil (June 30, 2000). "Autos on Friday: Design; A Last Chord From Nissan's Rocker-Designer-Spokesman". The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  4. ^ Meredith, Robyn (January 4, 1998). "With New Beetle Come Wistful Hints of Old Flame". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "History". buick-riviera.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Fourie, Louis F. (2016). On a Global Mission: The Automobiles of General Motors International, Volume 3: GM Worldwide Review, North American Specifications and Executive Listings. Victoria, BC: Friesen Press. p. 1490. ISBN 978-1-4602-9690-5. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  7. ^ Meredith, Robyn (May 16, 1999). "Ideas & Trends: Hey, Nice Headlights; In Detroit, a Sex Change". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  8. ^ Holusha, John (November 14, 1982). "The Americanizing of Japan's Cars". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  9. ^ Levin, Doron P. (May 7, 1990). "Motor City in California for Japanese". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d e Rechtin, Mark (May 1, 2008). "Jerry Hirshberg". Automotive News. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e Bryant, Adam (May 11, 1992). "Breaking the Mold at Nissan Design". The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  12. ^ Kaus, Mickey (November 27, 1999). "Who Stole Nissan's Cojones?". Kausfiles. Slate. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  13. ^ Passell, Peter (June 6, 1999). "Private Sector; Creating a Comeback at Nissan". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  14. ^ Rechtin, Mark (April 12, 1999). "Nissan's chief designer to star in new ads". AdAge. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  15. ^ Cheetham, Craig, ed. (2006). Classic American Cars: An Illustrated Guide. Chartwell Books. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-7858-3273-7. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  16. ^ a b c d e Patton, Phil (June 30, 2000). "Pages in the Hirshberg Sketchbook". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  17. ^ Gromer, Cliff (September 1990). "Dream Haulers". Popular Mechanics. p. 34. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  18. ^ Doo, Jack (February 25, 1990). "Nissan hopes concept truck will appeal to women buyers". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  19. ^ "Nissan Z Concept Goes 'Back to Basics'" (Press release). The Auto Channel. January 6, 1999. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  20. ^ Dean, Paul (May 13, 1999). "Maxima Gets a Dose of, Well, Viagra". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 13, 2024. But Maxima was too far into its design cycle for the healing hands of the freshly empowered Hirshberg to become really inventive. He did supervise the concept.
  21. ^ Swan, Tony (May 2000). "Nissan Sentra: Enhanced anonymity". Car and Driver. Retrieved March 13, 2024. Nissan says that in addition to creating a sense of solidity and substance, a key design objective for the new Sentra was avoiding flashy "look at me" styling. Judging by our initial encounter with the first small car to come from California-based Nissan Design International, we'd say director Jerry Hirshberg's bunch nailed it.
  22. ^ "Jerry Hirshberg, who opened 1st Nissan design center outside Japan, dies". The Los Angeles Times. November 14, 2019.
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