Media Day Preview a success for 2011 EyesOn Design

The EyesOn Design Car Show is known worldwide for its creative focus on design themes. In preparation for the 24th annual event, which takes place on Father’s Day, this Sunday, June 19, 2011 on the grounds of the historic Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, the media was given insight into the upcoming events plus a view of some auto displays.

Media Day for EyesOn Design is new; and a great idea.

The annual Father’s Day show, though, will feature far more vehicles, more than 200 by-invitation-only domestic and foreign vehicles selected for their unique avant-garde designs. The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House grounds are located at 1100 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.

Admission is $20 per person. Children 12 and under are free with adult. Active duty military may enter free with ID.

For the record, the theme for this year’s show is “Designing for the Future.”

Furthermore, this year’s show will present a Lifetime Design Achievement Award to Walter de’Silva, the head of Volkswagen Group Design. He has been chosen as the Lifetime Design Achievement Award winner for the 2011 EyesOn Design Automotive Design Show. The award will be presented to Mr. de’Silva on Friday evening, June 17th at Vision Honored, the formal awards dinner to be held at the historical Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit.

The award is unique in that only vehicle designers who have previously won the award are allowed to vote. Previous award winners include such designers as Tom Gale, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Chuck Jordan, Shiro Nakamura, Sergio Pininfarina and Jack Telnack among others.

Mr. de’Silva is currently responsible for the design of all Volkswagen Group passenger car brands, including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and VW.

Media Day Preview

When I spoke with Frank Valdez, Chairman for 2011 EyesOn Design, it was obvious the goal for the media day was to raise awareness of the events and the associated organizations.

The Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology (DIO) is the primary recipient, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization in Grosse Point Park, MI founded by Dr. Philip Hessburg. It is extremely devoted to matters pertaining to vision and the eye. That is why two visually-impaired judges demonstrated their process for ‘seeing’ the vehicles with their white-gloved hands. See the next article with video of the event.

The DIO provides support services for the visually impaired through various support groups. In addition, the Institute’s research efforts center on two international research congresses; The Eye and The Chip and The Eye and The Auto.

Vehicle Previews

Among the vehicles at the preview was a 2007 Bugatti Veyron (to be covered in depth by Patrick Rall), a 1941 Packard convertible, a 1961 Thunderbird, a 1970 Mustang Boss 302 and a 1948 Fiat Topolino 500 (also to be covered by Patrick).

Each year, EyesON Design picks a unique class of vehicles to showcase in a mini-category. This year, it’s “Design on the Farm.” The media preview example was a 1960 Ford 541 Offset Workmaster tractor, owned by Don Olsen.

Two-wheeled vehciels were included as well, like the 1963 Norton Square Café motorcycle and a 1963 BSA Rocket motorcycle, both owned by Jerry Romano.

Event Schedule

The volunteer general chairman for the 2011 EyesOn Design weekend is Frank Valdez. With over two decades of experience at Meadowbrook and other shows, he is one of the most experienced car show executives in the Midwest.

The honorary chairman is Ken Lingenfelter, owner of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, Lingenfelter Motor Sports and The Lingenfelter Collection.

The EyesOn Design events for 2011 include the following:

Eve of Eyes
Thursday, June 16, 2011 6 p.m. – midnight
Lawrence Technical University, 21000 W. Ten Mile Road, Southfield, Michigan.
A designers’ night tailored to the design community and celebrating past, present and future design greatness.
Student ticket: $25 / General admission: $40

Vision Honored
Friday, June 17, 2011 6:30 p.m. – midnight
Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, 461 Piquette Ave., Detroit, Michigan
Join the design leaders and the automotive community for an evening of fine dining as we celebrate the
contributions and accomplishments of the 2011 Lifetime Design Achievement Award recipient, Walter de’Silva,
head of Volkswagen Group Design.
$150 per person / $1,000 table. Black Tie.

The Lingenfelter Collection
Saturday, June 18, 2011 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Lingenfelter Collection, 7819 Lochlin Drive, Brighton, Michigan
See over 150 Corvettes, muscle cars and rare exotics, including a Bugatti Veyron, an Enzo Ferrari and a
Lamborghini Reventon. The collection is not open to the public, so join us at this private showing which benefits
the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology.
$15 per person / $20 combo ticket (one admission for this event AND one admission to EyesOn Design Car
Show on Sunday)

Expert Eyes Lunch and Private Eyes Brunch
Sunday, June 19, 2011 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, 1100 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan
Treat Father’s Day with elegance, class and style with lunch on the lawn at one of the country’s most gorgeous homes, the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, overlooking Lake St. Clair.
Ticket price: TBD

EyesOn Design Car Show
Sunday, June 19, 2011 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

[Photo Source: Frank Sherosky, Authorfrank.com]

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About the Reporter: After 39 years in the auto industry as a design engineer, Frank Sherosky now trades stocks, futures and writes articles, books and ebooks like, "Perfecting Corporate Character," "Awaken Your Speculator Mind", and "Millennial World Order" via authorfrank.com. He may be contacted here by email: FrankS@TorqueNews.com
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Additional Reading:
Audi A6 wins EyesOn Design Award for Best Production at 2011 NAIAS
Future vision belongs to students at 2011 Detroit Auto Show
Watching the Detroit Auto Show with design engineering eyes
Porsche 918 RSR wins EyesOn Design Best Concept at 2011 NAIAS
[Photo Source: Frank Sherosky, AuthorFrank.com]