Virgil M. Exner Papers

Born in 1909 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Virgil Max Exner exhibited artistic talent and an interest in automobile design early in life. He studied art at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana (1927-1928) but left before completing a degree to take employment as a layout artist and illustrator with a South Bend, Indiana firm, Advertising Artists. It was while at Advertising Artists, that Exner began his association with Studebaker Corporation, who held an account with the agency. Exner's illustr...

The materials comprising the collection were received from Virgil Exner Jr. in 1990. Prior to donating the collection to the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village Research Center, Exner Jr. had organized the materials into numerous groups and prepared detailed labels identifying the specific design project or period in his father's career which they documented. This original arrangement was retained as the basis for the collection's arrangement; only obvious mistakes in filing were corrected...