Art Fitzpatrick, an automobile designer, artist, and Pontiac advertising legend, died in Carlsbad, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 16 after a brief illness. He was eight days shy of his 97th birthday.
Mr. Fitzpatrick (Fitz to all) lived in Stamford from 1947 to 1960 and in Greenwich from 1961 to 1975—his tenure here coinciding with the golden age of advertising illustration in New York.
Fitz had several careers spanning eight decades, but he is best known for his long career in automotive art and automobile advertising illustration. He and creative partner Van Kaufman produced the artwork for the 13-year run of the Pontiac “wide-track” campaign of 1959 to 1972, the longest and arguably the most successful ad campaign in American automobile industry history.
During these years, Pontiac sales went from seventh place overall to third, displacing the Chrysler Corp. Thus one division of GM alone became part of the “Big Three” in this era. While Pontiac was making superior automobiles, the unique Fitz/Van marketing approach played a huge role that Pontiac and GM executives fully acknowledged at the time. Generally, Fitz drew the distinctively wide cars and Van drew the people and scenery surrounding the car. With a unique and instantly recognizable look, the campaign is still studied as a teaching subject in automotive design and advertising curricula.
According to Mr. Fitzpatrick’s obituary in Advertising Age, “The work was so impressive that Pontiac’s general manager at the time, John DeLorean, banned the use of pictures and decreed that only Fitz and Van drawings could be used in Pontiac ads.”
“I’ve always maintained that a picture of a car moving doesn’t mean a thing,” Mr. Fitzpatrick told Motor Trend in 2007. “They all move. You have to convey something about the car psychologically. It’s all about image. That’s the reason people buy cars.”
Earlier, Mr. Fitzpatrick designed cars in Detroit, including the 1940 Packard 180 sedan.
Mr. Fitzpatrick was the recipient of numerous automotive and advertising industry awards and honors. In 2012, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where he had been a distinguished guest lecturer since 1965. He was an honorary member of the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) and the Automotive Fine Art Society (AFAS). The AFAS has an award named in his honor that is given annually at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Fitz remained vital and engaged in his life’s work until the very end. He designed two series of automobile stamps for the U.S. Postal Service in 2005 and 2008, featuring classic cars of the Fifties. Both were top-selling commemorative issues for the USPS. Fitz also continued to lecture widely; he appeared at the Center For Creative Studies in Detroit in 2014 and the Gilmore Car Museum in Michigan this past June. He gave his last presentation at the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, Calif., on Oct. 31, 2015.
Fitz is survived by his wife, Betty, of Carlsbad.; his daughter, Mrs. Michael (Mickey) Mora of Cos Cob; grandsons Kevin Mora (wife Holly) of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Mike Mora (wife Joleigh) of Cos Cob, and great-grandsons James and Ryan Mora, also of Cos Cob. Art’s first wife, Elizabeth J. Fitzpatrick, predeceased him.
At Mr. Fitzpatrick’s request, there will be no services. Donations in his memory may be made to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Mich., which was the recipient of Mr. Fitzpatrick’s archives in 2014; or to a charity of one’s choice.
