Pontiac Muscle Car Designer William Porter Has Died

Former General Motors designer William Porter, who drafted some of the most iconic muscle car designs from the 60s and 70s, is dead at the age of 93. Known for favoring long and muscular bodylines on cars, his influence helped transform the industry. While he passed away on April 23, news of his death has just come out.

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Many are mourning the loss and honoring the man’s incredible legacy in the auto industry. Porter was the one who penned the design for the 1968 Pontiac GTO as well as the second generation Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am, plus the 1971 Pontiac Bonneville.

During his career with General Motors, Porter not only oversaw design for the Pontiac model lineup but also for Buick at one time. He ultimately retired from the automaker in 1996.

Porter originally was hired by GM in 1957 for an internship while he was wrapping up his master’s degree at the Pratt Institute in New York. He was hired for fulltime work the following year. By 1962 he was sketching designs for the Pontiac brand and doing other projects through the GM Advanced Design studio.

Where Porter really started to spread his wings was when he become the chief designer for Pontiac in 1968. He was responsible for some of the most iconic designs of the time, creating Pontiacs that to this day are still celebrated for their muscular looks.

While Porter as a designer was a fan of the Coke bottle shape, he liked added aggressive flairs in the form of hood scoops, bulging fenders, and of course aggressive front grilles to punch up the muscular aesthetic.

Another of Porter’s big impacts on the auto industry had to do with interior design. More specifically, the cabin of Pontiacs were tied to the exterior, creating a feeling of integration or unity between the two. Today, that’s common across all brands but at the time wasn’t the practice for any.

Even the famous “screaming chicken” hood graphic used on the Pontiac Firebird is credited to Porter. We owe the man so much. May he rest in peace.

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