I met Bill Robinson a short time after I bought my 1953 Packard Patrician, when I learned that Bill had designed the back end while working at Briggs Manufacturing. What followed were several meetings and interviews, all of them recorded, before Bill’s passing. It was always a pleasure talking with Bill, not only about cars. […]
I strongly believe that Bill Robinson is the most influential American car designer of the post-war era,” Vaughan said in an interview with Tom Murphy, Executive Editor of Autoweek, shortly after Bill’s passing. “Not because he designed the most famous or most beautiful cars, but because he taught every car designer to come out of
I will never forget Bill’s influence on me as a designer and as a person. As an 18 year old right out of high school who wanted to be a car designer, Bill’s encouragement and kind soul were so helpful to me as a freshman student at CCS. It set my college career off. Bill
It’s hard to quantify Bill’s impact on me personally, because it was so profound. He was thoughtful and patient with all of us, but he seemed to take a special interest in promoting me personally for a number of freelance gigs and internship opportunities. I could never thank him enough for that. Ultimately, his lessons
Bill Robinson left an indelible mark on everyone who was lucky enough to have him for Transportation Design at CCS. I will never forget how he handled me my sophomore year at CCS. I was struggling and Bill gently but honestly let me know where I stood. As a professor myself now, I understand that
I first heard of Bill Robinson during my high school extension classes that I took on Saturdays at CCS. Students would share stories and speak highly of Bill as an instructor, but I had yet to meet him until I enrolled and started my college studies. Bill taught our sophomore Transportation Studio class and certainly
I was in Bill Robinson’s very first Transportation Design class that he taught at the College for Creative Studies. It was the start of my sophomore year. At a design college known for heavy workloads, strict deadlines, and brutally honest critiques, Bill’s style of teaching design and sharing his professional experience was more constructive and
Bill was far more than a teacher to me—he was such a gentle, generous, and inspirational spirit. A life force literally spilling over with wisdom, great stories related to past designers. He taught half of the active designers in America! Finally, my favorite: his street-racing shenanigans. He always had a smile no matter how tough
Bill Robinson was the link to the past glory of automobile styling early in my student years. I recall meeting him at CCS in the late 70’s in the shop as I was making my first clay model. He was direct, insightful, and provided comments about graceful form. Bill provided support for all of us
From Tom Murphy’s February 16th Autoweek article: “Bill’s greatest impact on me as his student was opening my eyes to the major effects that proportion makes on vehicle design,” said Mark Allen, head of Jeep Designat Stellantis. “Before that, I was overly focused on the details and not enough on the foundational elements like wheel