+ CORVETTE & CAMARO CRUISE-IN
April 26, 2014
Saturday, April 26
9:00 am Corvette and Camaro Cruise-In
11:00 am Interview
Come to the Petersen on April 26 and see Chevrolet’s new 505 horsepower Camaro Z/28, meet its designer, Tom Peters, and enjoy a Camaros and Corvettes cruise-in! Cruise-in starts at 9:00 am, and includes free parking for any year Corvette or Camaro. Interview begins at 11:00 am, and will be followed by an autograph session. Regular museum admission rates apply. This event is free for museum members.To RSVP or ask a question regarding the event, please contact Sandy at sscott@petersen.orgor (323) 964-6370. To see episodes of MotoMan, go to MotoMan.tv.
Thomas V. Peters
Director of Exterior Design, Performance Car
A lifetime passion for cars and design fuels Tom Peters’ work as the Director of Exterior Design of GM’s Performance Car studio. Peters has spent his 30-year career designing numerous concept, production and specialty vehicles, and mentoring hundreds of designers.
Most recently, Peters and team celebrated a sweep of the prestigious 2014 North American Car and Truck of the Year at the Detroit Auto Show with the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Silverado, which both came out of his studios.
“The work on the 2014 Corvette has been especially rewarding for our team,” said Peters. “Bringing the Stingray back has been a personal goal for well over a decade. We knew the Stingray name would have to be earned and deliver an incredible, purposeful visual impact – just as the original did in 1963. That visual impact is evident in fighter jets and the stingray animal itself. As with aircraft and living forms, every transition on the Corvette Stingray surface serves a purpose executed with beauty and balanced proportion.”
Since 2004, Peters’ vast portfolio includes several Corvettes, the reintroduction of the Camaro line up, as well as the Cadillac Sixteen concept. From 2009 through September 2013, his responsibilities also included oversight of the design teams assigned to Chevrolet Performance Vehicles, Trucks and SUV Studios.
Over the course of his career, Peters’ influence has made his mark on many of GM’s most acclaimed vehicles. However, he nearly went in another direction after graduating from the Art Center of College of Design.
After a brief stint at GM Design in 1980, Tom spent two years at Texas Instruments designing consumer electronics and communications gear for the military.
In 1982, GM recruited him back to the automotive industry and he spent the next six years in the Advanced Design and Production Studios of Pontiac and Chevrolet. He did early concept work for the first Saturn vehicle, and worked on production and concept Camaros and Corvettes, including the Corvette Indy show vehicle and 1988 Pontiac Banshee Prototype.
In 1992, Peters moved to California as director of GM’s Advanced Concept Center. During his tenure, the ACC’s design team led a number of high-profile projects that ranged from full-size trucks and alternative drive vehicles to championing progressive digital design development processes.
In 1995, Peters returned to the Motor City to work in Portfolio Development and Pontiac Production Studios. Subsequent assignments included vehicle chief designer for the Cadillac XLR roadster and the C6 Corvette.
Peters graduated from the Art Center College of Design in California with a degree in Transportation Design and fondly remembers the cross-country road trip in his ’68 Galaxy to begin classes in the fall of 1976.
“Reaching California was one of my greatest adventures. It brought to life everything I had experienced about car-crazy culture through movies, TV, music, Rat Fink and Harry Bradley artwork in Hot Rod magazine,” he said. “As a kid, emulating Ed “Big Daddy” Roth art helped propel me into car design.”
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