1959 Body By Fisher – Up From Clay, A Car is Born

Fisher Body Company, a prestigious family organization that produced highly acclaimed body designs, founded in 1908 by Fred J and Charles T Fisher. Their father had trained them in the craft of coach-building, and their four brothers shared their interest in the burgeoning automobile industry. On July 22 1908, the Fisher brothers opened a factory in Detroit. Determined to build bodies that were specifically designed for automobiles, as opposed to the warmed over wagon bodies that most often adorned motor cars, they soon got a reputation for well built handsomely crafted car bodies. They tackled the problem of passenger comfort in inclement weather by pioneering closed car body design in the US. In 1910, Cadillac granted them the first volume order in the US for closed car bodies. As the years rolled by, Fisher Body supplied an increasing percentage of GM’s auto body needs. In 1919 Billy Durant acquired a majority interest in Fisher Body, and in 1926, GM would purchase the remaining interest. Fisher Body was now Fisher Body Division of General Motors Corporation. Over the years, ‘Body by Fisher’ would become a point of salesmanship for GM divisions, and when one entered a GM car, the fisher badge was clearly visible on the step-sill. Fisher Body Division would pioneer draftless ventilation and all steel bodies of unit construction. Lawrence Fisher was made General Manager of Cadillac under Alfred Sloan, and it was he who would, in turn, bring Harley Earl into GM. Fisher Body Division itself grew in importance until, in 1960, Fisher Body operated 33 plants in 25 cities across the US. In the 1980’s, Fisher Body was reorganized, losing its discrete identity upon being absorbed into the functions of the Buick Oldsmobile Cadillac (B-O-C), and Chevrolet Pontiac GM of Canada (C-P-C) operating groups that would be created in that decade.