1958 Spring Fashion Festival of Women Designed Cars
BTLPR specializes in telling automotive stories.
The Damsels rethought how people actually live with cars. Their work touched storage for everyday items, seat adjustability, ergonomic controls sized for a broader range of drivers, trunk organization, instrument clarity, and interior fabric choices.
One of the most recognized cars from the exhibition was a Corvette. Designer Ruth Glennie reimagined the Fancy Free, producing coordinated interior and exterior tones, purposeful storage, and what was reported to be an early form of retractable seat belt.
National Corvette Museum
BTLPR's Sean Hixson Tells Their Story -- Including the Iconic Fancy Free Corvette -- in National Corvette Museum’s Official Magazine
SAINT LOUIS, MO, UNITED STATES, March 11, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Sean Hixson, founder of the automotive marketing comms firm BTLPR, authored a feature on the GM Damsels of Design for the Spring 2026 issue of America's Sports Car, the flagship members-only publication of the National Corvette Museum.
The story, which traces a pivotal but largely forgotten chapter in GM and Corvette history, was later featured on Corvette Today with Steve Garrett, the only podcast dedicated entirely to Corvette.
The Damsels of Design were a group of eight to nine credentialed women designers assembled by GM design chief Harley Earl in 1958. Recruited from industrial design, fashion, textiles, and interior design, they weren't entry-level hires. Each had an established professional career before GM. Earl embedded them directly into the design studios alongside male designers, gave them real assignments across GM's brand portfolio, and put their work on public display at the 1958 Spring Fashion Festival of Women Designed Cars at the GM Building in Detroit -- the first time an automaker presented a cohesive collection of cars designed specifically by women.
The Damsels rethought how people actually live with cars. Their work touched storage for everyday items, seat adjustability, ergonomic controls sized for a broader range of drivers, trunk organization, instrument clarity, and interior fabric choices. These weren't cosmetic additions. They were usability upgrades that addressed real, everyday problems the mainstream studio had never prioritized. Many of the features they introduced quietly made their way into production vehicles in the years that followed.
One of the most recognized cars from the exhibition was a Corvette. Designer Ruth Glennie reimagined the Fancy Free, producing coordinated interior and exterior tones, purposeful storage, and what was reported to be an early form of retractable seat belt. The exterior stayed unmistakably Corvette. The Fancy Free is currently on display at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan.
Working with the curators at the Museum, Hixson also partnered with the GM Design Archive and Special Collections in Detroit, working with archivist Larry Kinsel to access imagery and documentation not widely published elsewhere.
"These weren't women brought in to put a bow on a car," Hixson said. "They were doing user-centered design work decades before that phrase existed. The fact that their contributions were largely forgotten is exactly why stories like this need to be told."
The assignment reflects the depth of BTLPR's two-year partnership with the National Corvette Museum. Over that period, BTLPR has generated nearly one billion earned media impressions and placed more than 500 stories in national automotive and lifestyle outlets including Hagerty, Car and Driver, The Manual, CarBuzz, Yahoo Sports, and Supercar Blondie. BTLPR has also developed the Museum's Brand Book, contributed long-form editorial to its magazine, and supported a select website redesign.
"Hixson’s deep understanding of the automotive space and his relentless commitment to storytelling have made him an invaluable extension of our team," said Ryan Eichler, Director of Marketing and Communications at the National Corvette Museum.
Hixson brings nearly 20 years of automotive marketing and communications experience to BTLPR, including work with ExxonMobil's Fuels and Lubricants division across Mobil 1, NASCAR, Formula 1, IMSA, and NHRA, as well as iconic OEMs like GM, Porsche, and Michelin. BTLPR works exclusively with automotive brands and institutions.
To learn more, visit www.BTLPR.com or contact Sean at sean@btlpr.com.
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About BTLPR
BTLPR is a boutique automotive PR firm specializing in earned media, brand partnerships, and communications strategy for automotive brands and institutions. The firm has deep ties to automotive media and a track record of placing clients in the publications their audiences actually read. Learn more at www.BTLPR.com.
About the National Corvette Museum
The National Corvette Museum, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit foundation, is where Adrenaline Meets Tradition®. As an educational and research institution, the Museum's mission is to educate worldwide audiences on the evolution of the Corvette -- America's Sports Car -- through the collection, preservation, and celebration of its legacy. Located just one mile from the General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant, which has produced every Corvette since 1981, the Museum campus features 115,000 square feet of exhibit and event space, a collection of more than 100 historically significant Corvettes, 50,000 Corvette artifacts, and the NCM Motorsports Park. For more information or to plan your visit, go to www.corvettemuseum.org or follow the Museum on Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and X.
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