The Designers Behind the Dream Cars

Meet three distinguished Art Center College alums -- and the distinctive automobiles they have helped create

The three honored alums at the Art Center College of Design's annual Car Classic don't spend their days designing flashy sports cars. Instead, they're helping big auto makers carve out new identities, aesthetics, and hopefully increased market share. These three designers -- Chris Bangle of BMW, Shiro Nakamura of Nissan, and Frank Stephenson of Fiat -- were each charged with reinventing the way their companies design cars. They're part of a new breed of superstar designers that focus on revitalizing tired old brands instead of exotic cars.

That's in sharp contrast with designer Gordon Murray, whose lone experience designing for a big car company was filled with arguments and strife. Following are examples of each designer's work.