Peter Barrett Davis

Last updated
Peter B. Davis
Born
Peter Barrett Davis

1958
OccupationAutomobile designer

Peter Barrett Davis (born in 1958) is an American automotive designer. [1] He is especially known for designing car interiors, mainly at General Motors and Fiat Auto.

Contents

Career at General Motors

After completing his education in 1981 at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, Davis began his career at General Motors' European branch, at Opel in Rüsselsheim, designing the interiors of the Vectra A, the Omega A, and the Corsa B models. From 1985 until his departure at the end of 1989, he was the deputy director of the interior design studio at Opel. [2]

Career at Fiat Auto

From 1990 until 1999, Davis worked at Fiat Auto in Turin, [2] [3] [4] where he designed the interiors of the 1993 Punto, Bravo/Brava, [5] Barchetta, [6] [7] Seicento, and the 1998 Multipla.

In addition to these projects, in 1993, Davis became Director of Design at Centro Stile Fiat and Lancia. [8] For the Multipla, the design of which he fully supervised and of which he was named as one of the spiritual fathers, [9] he followed Raymond Loewy's MAYA philosophy: 'Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable', which deeply influenced its development. [2] [10] [11]

Second stint at GM

In July 1999, Davis returned to General Motors in Detroit, where he took on the role of Studio Design Director, responsible for interior designs for global models and later also for high-performance and prestige cars. [6] He collaborated on interiors for brands such as Cadillac, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Buick, Saturn, GMC, and Suzuki. During the major reorganization of General Motors under Chapter 11 in 2009, Davis was made redundant, along with many other employees. He later worked for Tata Motors and Bordrin. [2]

Approach and Specialization

Throughout his career, Davis has specialized in interior design, an area he considers more challenging than exterior design, due to the more direct interaction with users and their daily needs. His focus is on creating intuitive, comfortable, and functional experiences within the vehicle. [2] Currently, he is sharing his expertise as an adjunct faculty/lecturer at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. [3]

References

  1. ↑ "Fiat Barchetta". Double Red Cars Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Robinson, Peter. "A chat with Peter Davis". www.motorheritage.org.au. Archived from the original on 2024-10-29. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Faculty: Peter Davis: Adjunct Faculty/Lecturer". CCS Detroit. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  4. ↑ "Peter Davis". Barchetta Club Poland (in Polish). Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  5. ↑ Gaono, Juan Ignacio (3 April 2025). "Leyendas de la industria: Los Fiat Bravo y Brava cumplen 30 años" [Industry legends: FIAT Bravo and Brava turn 30]. Autocosmos (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  6. 1 2 "The men behind the car". www.fiatbarchetta.com. Archived from the original on 2023-10-01.
  7. ↑ "Fiat Barchetta Spider 1.8 16v – 1996". Club Hortaclàssics (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-08-05.
  8. ↑ "La storia: Il design della barchetta (1990)" [The story: the design of the barchetta (1990)] (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2024-09-08. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  9. ↑ Vis, Vincent (1998). "Multipla, eerste compacte 6-zitter" [Multipla, first compact 6-seater]. Fiat Actueel (in Dutch) (44): 4-9.
  10. ↑ "It could have been nicknamed "the unglamourous cleverness"" (in English and French). Car Design Archives. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  11. ↑ "El principio MAYA de Raymond Loewy" [The MAYA principle of Raymong Loewy]. ES Design (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 August 2025.
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