I worked with George Barbaz in the Lincoln-Mercury Advanced Design Studio during 1973. George was the “Senior” member of our studio, having started as a designer with Ford in 1945 after serving in the army infantry during World War II. He was of Hungarian descent, and had a great sense of humor, and very definite opinions on just about everything.

His career at Ford included participation in the design of a proposed 1949 Lincoln Continental and the 1949 Presidential Lincoln. Later, George contributed to the XL-500 “Dream Car” design and managed pre-production styling development of the controversial1958 Edsel.

An unusual and interesting assignment was the “lavish” exterior trim ornamentation George helped design for several Canadian Meteors and Monarchs.
One of his assignments I was especially interested in was his participation in the “Quicksilver” advanced design project. The Quicksilver became the radical, all-new 1960 full-size Ford, designed as a response to the really far-out 1959 Chevrolet.

It turned out the 1959 Chevrolet was not well received, and the angular, very conservative 1959 Ford outsold Chevrolet for only the second time since 1935. George said that when Ford’s “G-2″ spyguys got advance drawings of the 1959 Chevrolet, they first thought they had been found out and had deliberately been given this information as “misinformation!” Other talents George enjoyed sharing were caricature and cartoon drawing he excelled at. George was a pleasure to work with and he retired in 1981.

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by Dick Nesbitt

There has been quite a bit of interest in the last post by Dick Nesbitt, if the number of comments is any indication. Here is some follow-up information and sketches/photos courtesy of Dick Nesbitt.

One Mark V proposal incorporated a Mark II influenced tail light and rear bumper ensamble as a link to the prestige and elegance of the legendary and very exclusive 1956-1957 Continental. The bumper extended from the rear quarter panel and replicated the Mark II exhaust port with an impact absorbing composite bumper extension.

Another proposal incorporated a vertical elipse opera window placement and a rear quarter panel raised wheel housing form similar to the rear deck lid form. The thin, narrow tail light-backup light theme emphasized a long quarter panel look.

1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II rear end and tail light photos illustrate design influence on the one sketch proposal.

The supercharged LSC proposal sketch incorporated a more traditional Continental hood leading edge theme with a more aggressive mesh texture grille insert deeply recessed at the outer edges with a forward projected vertical centerline.

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As rising insurance cost and increased emissions control concerns gradually phased out the exciting high-performance cars of the late 1960′s, high-image “personal-luxury” style became the new emphasis for the 1970s. From the “entry-level” Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Ford Elite, to the “mid-range” Pontiac Grand Prix, Mercury Cougar, Dodge Daytona and Chrysler Cordoba, sales were exploding into the hundreds of thousands. An upper-level range was represented by the traditional and larger Ford Thunderbird, Oldsmobile Toronado and Buick Riviera.

The personal-luxury category had it’s initial roots in this context based on Ford’s original Thunderbird from 1955, which was created to compete with the two-passenger 1953-1954 Chevrolet Corvette. GM’s Motorama-inspired Corvette was intended to compete with popular British sports cars of the early 1950′s, but missed that mark by a wide margin with the first 1953-1954 version. By 1956, the Corvette was more focused, extensively redesigned and well on it’s way to achieving exceptional sports car performance standards.

Ford’s intention was to define and develop the original Thunderbird as a “personal” 2-3 passenger car, and not as a sports car. Thunderbird emphasized luxury oriented convenience options like power steering and brakes plus power windows, seat and top features combined with elegant styling and spirited V-8 performance. After three years of surprisingly good sales for a 2-3 passenger car, Ford redirected the Thunderbird “personal” concept to “personal luxury” for 1958.

GM had created a great deal of excitement and interest with the exotic, glamorous Motorama “dream cars” on display at selected U.S. cities during the early and mid 1950s. Each GM division would create a futuristic dream car, usually with compact, low-height exterior dimensions. The interiors usually had four bucket seats combined with a highly styled central console dividing the front and back seats. GM never built a production car based on these Motorama dream car concept ideas, but Ford decided they would!

The 1958 Thunderbird was a totally new car inside and out, now with seating for four. It was larger and heavier and would be assembled in a newly constructed purpose-built factory in Wixom, Michigan designed for its sophisticated unit-body construction along with the much bigger unit-body Lincoln and Continental. This new Thunderbird styling was glamorous, unique and totally original. The interior was also as exotic and exciting as the GM Motorama show cars, with front bucket seats, a high central mounted full-length floor console and sculptured double-brow instrument panel. Originally available only as a two-door hardtop coupe, a striking convertible version was added after the first of the year. The convertible top was fully concealed and stored under the rear deck in a similar design to the innovative Ford Skyliner retractable hardtop.

Sales were way down for the American auto industry in1958 due to a severe, year-long economic recession. Two very notable exceptions were Thunderbird and Rambler! The Thunderbird was now a much admired personal-luxury car, and an unqualified success, generating very impressive profit earnings for Ford Motor Company. Thunderbird sales and profits continued to increase, and Ford would have exclusive benefit of this lucrative market until the arrival of GM’s Buick Riviera in 1963.

In 1968, Ford launched the Lincoln Continental Mark III based on the longer four-door Thunderbird chassis wheelbase combined with the Thunderbird two-door inner body structure and floorpan. With its unique new body styling, the Mark III Continental had the longest, most impressive hood length in the industry.

The high-end level of personal-luxury in the disco-decade 1970s era was represented by just two marques, the Cadillac Eldorado and the Continental “Mark” series, and even Bill Mitchell, General Motor’s fabled design boss, greatly admired the Continental Marks. From it’s imposing classic-era radiator grille to the iconic rear deck “Continental Kit,” the Mark series represented the absolute pinnacle of aspirational prestige in this crowded arena.

Lee Iacocca, Ford Motor Company President, would assign and “challenge” two different and separate design studios to compete for a single final design of various important all-new programs to get a more dramatic, intense
and focused design effort.

In 1973, I was assigned by Gayle Halderman, Lincoln-Mercury Advanced Design Studio Director, to create a special Continental Mark V design presentation for review by Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca at the Ford Advanced Strategy Conference in Boca Raton, Florida. I was instructed to create an extensive selection of very advanced, bolder and more aggressive concepts for the new Continental Mark V generation as compared to the Continental MK IV or the Cadillac Eldorado. The louvered hood proposals anticipated an “LSC” supercharged high-performance touring variation. This version was inspired by the 1929 supercharged 4.5 Litre Le Mans “Blower Bentley”,and incorporated a mesh grille texture similar to this Bentley. Other versions drew on inspiration from the legendary and classic 1956-1957 Continental Mark II heritage. Halderman was very pleased with several proposals I had created for other Lincoln Continental design programs and I was privileged and honored to be selected for this special assignment.

The Continental Mark V was produced from 1977 to 1979, and became one of the most successful, well-received editions of all the Continental “Mark” series.

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Click on the photo to the left to open an Acrobat (.pdf) file of an interview with Bob Gurr scanned from Collectable Automobile, October, 1998. It’s great reading and offers a candid appraisal of what it was like working as a designer for Ford in the early ’50s under George Walker. Read about his great experiences at Disney. If you missed it, go through the illustrations in a previous post of Bob’s book, Automobile Design, published by Post Publications in 1955. Thanks to Geoff Hacker of Forgotten Fiberglass.

A few of the images from the Bob Gurr’s Collectable Automobile interview.

This was a proposal for the 1956 Lincoln Continental created while working under George Walker.

Student work at Art Center School in the early ’50s.

From Bob’s Art Center days.

Illustration published in Automobile Design.

As a kid I remember going to Disneyland year after year yearning to be tall enough to be able to drive the Autopia cars by myself. I also remember standing in long lines to get behind the wheel. When the ride was first installed, there was no center rail. So the cars had to be steered between the curbs. It was frustrating to be behind someone who couldn’t avoid constantly crashing into the curbs slowing all of the cars that followed. On the other hand, if nobody was in front of you, it was a great time going as fast as possible around the ride’s miniature freeway system. Coincidentally, that’s me on the right standing on the circle #5 in the plaid shirt. Not really.

Catamaran design

I received these images from Bo Zolland of Viztech of a catamaran model based on Bob Gurr’s yellow car design published in his book, Automobile Design.

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This post contains a gallery with photos from Steve Sicklick, whose dad owned Dorwin Chevrolet in East Harford, Connecticut from 1955 through 1982. Brad King sent photos of his Dad, Maury King, who was a designer for Ford in the ’50s and ’60s and worked on the 1956 Thunderbird facelift. Brian Jackson contributed photos of several interesting Buicks from the ’70s and ’80s.

Also included in the gallery are photos of Mark Donohue by Mike Parris and myself. And a photo taken in November, 2009 of Molly Sanders who died in April. Molly played an important part of the development of several Buick promotional cars including the Buick Grand National.

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The League of Retired Automotive Designers is an informal group of mostly retired automobile designers whose ability has been honed by years of experience and who still have the creativity, passion, enthusiasm, energy, and ambition to design cars and trucks for the fun of it.

The League created a Vision for Future Ferraris, and displayed their work at the San Diego Automotive Museum. The artwork display coincided with a spectacular display of rare Ferraris that opened on October 11, 2008, and ran for three months.

The League is currently exhibiting at the Skillman Annex Branch of the Detroit Library:

Recapturing the Magic—Visions of the Future American Automotive Design
November 14, 2009 through April 15, 2010
Skillman Annex Branch of the Detroit Public Library, 121 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48226

For more information about the League of Retired Automotive Designers, contact Ron VanGelderen.

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The League of Retired Automotive Designers came about following the 2004 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild ‘REUNION,’ for which automotive afficionado/enthusiast, Ron Van Gelderen had visited and photographed the Guild’s exhibit of Model Cars at the Eyes On Design Concours. These two events having been coincident with each other. Following this, Ron Van G. contacted Chuck Jordan and this writer, our having been the co-organizers of the FBCGuild Reunion, to inquire as to what was next after gathering all these Guildsman/Designers together after so many years of being scattered In various corners of the auto industry, some of us at GM, others at Ford, Chrysler and the other automotive companys too?

We decided to keep those of us who had become automotive designers together and we would do what we all loved, design cars, only, now that most of us were retired, we all could participate, in selected venues, together (not being competitors anymore), and do this for the fun of it. The initial League Group included Virgil Exner, Chuck Jordan, Wayne Kady, John Mellberg, Elia Russinoff and Ron VanGelderen (who was to become our Administrator). We all spread the word about the League’s informal charter, and 5+ years later, we now have approximately 60 members.

Our first show was an exhibit sponsored by the Cadillac La Salle (Owner’s) Club, called ‘Images of Cadillac in 2006, and in 2008 we participated in an exhibit at the SanDiego, CA., Automotive Museum, called Cavalino Rampante, Celebrating Italy’s Prancing Horse, sponsored by the Ferrari Club of America.

Our most recent exhibition called, Recapturing the Magic!, Visions of Future American Automotive Design, is currently displayed at The Skillman Annex of the Detroit Public Library. The exhibition is ‘free,’ and all are invited to attend during normal library hours.

Next on our plate Is an exhibition at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, Indiana, opening this November. The theme of the exhibition will be ‘Designing a new Studebaker.

Retired Automotive Designers interested in learning more about joining the League, should contact:

Ron VanGelderen, Administrator
The League of Retired Automotive Designers

Robert (Bob) Ackerman
1969-1996 Design manager, Chrysler Corporation
1960-1969 Senior Designer, GM Design
1966 Art Center Graduate
1969-1996 Design manager, Chrysler Corporation
1960-1969 Senior Designer, GM Design
1966 Art Center Graduate

Robert Barnes
1968-2005 Design Manager, Ford Motor Company
1968 Cleveland Art Institute Graduate

Richard Lee Beck
1968-2007 Designer, Ford Motor Company
1968 Art Center Graduate
1964 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild 3rd, Nat’l Sr. Award

Graham Bell
1974-1998 Chief Designer, Ford Motor Company
1960-1974 Asst. Chief Designer, GM Design
1955-1960 Designer with British Airways
Wayne State University, Art Center, Harrow Art/Tech College, United Kingdom

R. Preston (Press) Bruning
1963-2000 GM Design
1980-1990 Automotive Design Instructor, CCS, Detroit
1961 Pratt Institute Graduate

George Camp
1963-2001 Senior Designer, GM Design
1963 Art Center Graduate

Joan K. Creamer
1965-1966 GM Design Staff
General Electric Corp.
Textron Staff Designer
1987 Joan Creamer Design
1966 Cleveland Institute Graduate

Paul Deesen
1954-1996 Asst. Chief Designer, GM Design
1954 Pratt Institute Graduate

Virgil M. Exner, Jr.
1967-1988 Design Executive, Ford Motor Company
1957-1967 International Design Consultant
1958-1961 U.S. Air Force Officer
1957 University of Notre Dame Graduate
1947 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild 1st, Nat’l Jr. Award

Allan Flowers
1980-2006 Chief Designer, Nissan Design America
1964-1980 Assistant Chief Designer, GM Design
1964 Illinois Institute of Technology Graduate

Anthony Frassetto
1972-2002 Design Specialist, Ford Motor Company
1970 Art Center Graduate

Darwin Hawthorne
1964-2002 Auto Design Executive, Ford Motor Company
1964 Art Center Graduate
1960 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild Award

Bob Hubbach
1962-1967 GM Design
1967-2001 Design Manager, Chrysler Design Center

Roger E. Hughet
1959-2001 Asst. Chief Designer, GM Design
1959 Art Center Graduate

Ray Isip
Ford and Chrysler Designer
Pratt Institute and Art Center Graduate

Charles M. (Chuck) Jordan
1949-1992 Vice President, GM Design
1949 M.I.T. Graduate
1947 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild 1st, Nat’l Sr. Award

Wayne A. Kady
1961-1999 Chief Designer, GM Design
1961 Art Center Graduate

John Mellberg
Creative Design Specialist, Thomas Bus (Daimler Trucks, N.A.)
1968-1972 GM Design
1968 Art Institute of Chicago and University of Chicago Graduate
1966  Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild 2nd, Nat’l Sr. Award

David S. McIntosh
1964-2003 Asst. Chief Designer, GM Design
1964 Art Center Graduate

William (Bill) Michalak
1966-2001 Senior Designer, GM Design
1966 Pratt Institute Graduate

Howard D. (Buck) Mook
1967-1997 Design Executive, Ford Motor Company
1967 Art Center Graduate

Richard (Dick) Nesbitt
Creative Design Consultant, Author
Designer with Ford Motor Company
1970 Art Center Graduate

Steve Pasteiner
1966-1989 Asst. Chief Designer, GM Design

John Perkins
1962-1999 Chief Designer, GM Design
1964 GM Institute Graduate
1955 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild Honorable Mention

David (Dave) Royer
1965-1996 Design Manager, Ford Motor Company
1965 Carnegie Tech Graduate

Elia (Russ) Russinoff
1955-1995 Asst. Chief Designer, GM Design
1954 Pratt Institute Graduate
1949 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild 1st, Nat’l Sr. Award

John Samson

Richard Wells
1978-2007 Chief Designer, Ford Motor Company
1975-1978 Sr. Designer for Massy Ferguson
1973 Center for Creative Studies Graduate

Ron Will
1981-2006 Product Planning and Design Manager. Subaru of America
1976-1981 Independent Designer; created Turbo Phantom
1966-1976 Senior Designer, GM Design
1966 Illinois Institute of Technology Graduate
1961 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild 1st, Nat’l Sr. Award

Don Wood
1959-1997 Chief Designer, GM Design
1959 Art Center Graduate

Dennis Wright
1959-1996 Assistant Chief Designer, GM Design
1959 Art Center Graduate

Larry Shinoda Interview

Gary Moore features the Golden Sahara II by George Barris on I’ve Got a Secret

Studebaker Lark Daytona Wagonaire with sliding roof

1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Commercial with Desi and Lucy

The first chapter,“Laying the Foundation,” is the history of what the climate was like at Ford in the years prior to 1950 and the events that led to the design of the 1949 Ford. The full-color book has 182 pages, softbound. ISBN 1-931128-14-6. By the way, yours truly designed both books and covers.

Every chapter includes a timeline, pricing, and model information. There are many two-page photo spreads in the book. The gallery in this post is a collection of photos from Fords of the Fifties.

Thanks to Mike Parris and Howard Fisher.

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1952 Portfolio Sketch

I was lucky to get into car designing; I was at the right time and place. My early fascinations were with the planes and cars of the ‘thirties and ‘forties, and not knowing anything about Industrial Design, I took an Aero Engineering degree at Purdue, thinking I could “style” aircraft. At McDonnell, I quickly learned there was no place for aircraft design concepts. Later, I met Bob Bourke at the Loewy studios which were in the Studebaker jet engine factory building (Stude was going to produce GE jets, but the contract fell through). Bourke, Andrews, and other Loewy designers coached me in sketching and rendering techniques. As Loewy had no open requisitions, I took my amateurish portfolio to Detroit, and hit Frank Hershey at the right moment.

Although I had no design degree or experience, Frank hired me and put me in the Ford Body Development studio, under Damon Woods. I immediately joined the Ford Motorsports Club and ran my MG TD Mark II around the track in the Greenfield Village.

Ford Motorsports Club in 1952. Many Ford design and engineering people are in this photo, including Jack Chausee, Dick Samsen, Ken Nelson, Jake Aldrich, Chuck Mitchell, and Dave Ash.

Being quite interested in sports cars, one day I asked Frank Hershey why Ford was not developing one. He firmly told me that Ford was in business to make money, and the market for sports cars was too small for that. He told me to “forget it.” I was surprised a couple months later when Frank and Damon called the three of us, Bill Boyer, Alan Kornmiller, and myself into a meeting. We were told that we would be designing a two-passenger sports car. There have been many stories about the Thunderbird design program, and most of them have been off the mark. Here is the way it was, from one of the horses’ mouths. It was early 1952. Hershey did have knowledge of the Corvette being designed at GM. He apparently was given a go-ahead to do a design study on a two-passenger car from corporate execs. Body Development was not busy at that time. There was no official design program for it, until early 1953. The design was finished and approved by then. Company records state that the project began in 1953. This is misleading. Our studio was off limits to all personnel except those involved in the project. I saw Henry Ford II and other top execs in the studio several times during the designing in 1952. We designers made full-size side view renderings of our chosen 3/8 scale concepts, and these were mounted on plywood cut to profile.

3/8 scale side view concept—my favorite; more like a sports car.

3/8 scale; somewhat similar to my full-scale profile rendering. The full size profiles were shown to corporate execs, and we were given a go-ahead to do a full scale clay model.

I was given the task of directing the modeling of the front end, hood, and fenderline of the clay; Bill Boyer was assigned to develop the rear end and windshield of the clay. I worked-out a Ferrari-style scoop and grille. Contrary to some stories, design consultant George Walker and his two designers, Joe Oros and Elwood Engle, were not involved in this project until later, when the body design was set, and we were developing the hardtop.

We had worked out the clay design to the satisfaction of most people concerned, when the project was suddenly cancelled. Engineering would not build these cars in fiberglass, like the Corvette, and to tool in steel would require many sales to cover the cost—more sales than was thought possible. After a few weeks, the clay was returned to our studio, and we were told the project was back on. The word I got was that Henry Ford II insisted on bringing this car out, even if it lost money. Now the sales people wanted it to resemble the standard 1955 Fords as much as possible, so a straight-through fenderline was mandated. Boyer and I held a sweep—a long strip of wood, to the model and knifed in a new fenderline.

Our studio was in the old Ford EEE Trimotor building.

Bill changed his rear end design to incorporate ‘55 Ford tail lamps, and brought the form in the rear quarter forward through the door. I suggested bending the line upward and putting a row of louvres next to it, to give it reason for being. I wanted “real” louvres, but the die-cast ornaments were substituted later.

The instrument and door panels were modeled inside the clay model, the modeler sitting on a stool. Interior designers Alex Musichuk and “Gib” Giberson created much of the interior, guided by Art Querfeld, manager of the Ford Interiors studio. Hershey picked some of Ford’s most talented modelers to work on the sports car; Walt Amrozi, Leonard Stobar, Clyde Trombley, Werner Framke, and Mike Nowicki. Initially, a unique panel was designed, but cost considerations decided that the standard 1955 Ford “astra-dial” panel would be used.

From the beginning of the project, a team of engineers worked with the stylists, as well as our two studio engineers Frank Pinkham, whom I had met at Purdue, and John Zimmrerly. First, a cut-down Ford chassis was prescribed, but when some engineers, and we stylists, made a fuss about the car being too nose-heavy, a new frame was designed with the engine moved back about ten inches. Engineering was developing a fuel-injection system at that time, and it was hoped it would be ready for production in time to be used on the little car. I designed a low, sloping hood. Then we were told that we could not count on the injection system, but a new manifold would be designed, allowing the low hood. When the prototype manifold failed to work properly, we then were faced with using the stock manifold, and that would make the carburetor higher than the hood. I thought it would be “neat” to cut a hole in the hood and have a fancy air cleaner stick through it. My sketches of this concept did not sell the idea to management, so the “shaker hood” would have to wait a decade for GM and Chrysler to introduce it on their muscle cars.

The “original” Shaker Hood.

Here the painted clay model has the new straight fenderline on the passenger side, and the original “hop-up” on the driver’s side. The early front and rear ends are still intact.

I designed a big “blister” on the hood to cover the air cleaner, and added an air scoop on its front surface. Engineering vetoed the grille extending below the bumper, so I lowered the bumper and revised the grille. I added ‘53 Mercury bumperettes to protect the grille. My egg-crate was thought to be too expensive, so I found a piece of perforated steel with square holes, had it chromed, and put in the front. I felt that the design had been “watered down” so much that it was no longer a “sports car.” Boyer and I were proposing concepts for the removable hardtop when Joe Oros, George Walker’s designer, gave a sketch to Frank Hershey. Frank had done his best to keep the Walker group away from the project, but apparently word from top management told him to design this kind of top. Bill and I designed the squarish hardtop similar to Oros’ sketch. We didn’t know until later that Walker had copied it from the Continental Mark II which was being designed at the same time. Before the project was finished, Alan Kornmiller moved to American Motors. Later he went to Chrysler, where he had positions in Styling Management. By early 1953, the little car was finished, as far as the body development.

The final design. Note our fancy Styling Building! Soon after this photo was taken, we moved into the new “state-of-the-art” Styling Center. Bob Maguire has his hand in front of Don DeLaRosa. The balding man is, I think, Frank Hershey. To the right of Frank is Damon Woods, and next to him is, I think, Gene Froberg, in charge of shows.

Obviously, Styling management was aware of this project; it was not a “secret project of Frank Hershey’s, done without the knowledge of management” as some stories have said.

Then the clay went to the Ford Exterior studio, managed by Dave Ash, where the ornamentation and nameplates were designed. Ken Nelson was one of the designers who worked on that phase. During the project, we called the car “Sportsman” and “Sportliner.” Others suggested such names as “Saville,” “El Tigre,” “Denab,” “Coronado,” and “Lightning Rod.” The people involved could not agree to a name until Giberson suggested “Thunderbird.” Everyone liked that name except Henry II, but he finally accepted it.

I was disappointed in the car, until Hershey showed me a sheet-metal prototype. It was no sports car to me. The company decided to call it a “personal car,” which averted controversy. I decided to order one, and went to the Bob Ford dealership in Dearborn. I persuaded the sales manager to take my order for the first one off the line. A year later, I was called, and told I couldn’t have the first one, as it was going to William Clay Ford. I could have number two. By that time, I was planning to go to the Chrysler, having been offered a management position and much higher pay. I turned down the T-Bird!

The plaster mock-up, late 1953.

The mock-up at the introduction, Detroit Auto Show, February 1954. Fairlane headlamp bezels were added.

Unlike some design executives, Frank Hershey was content to let the designers work out their designs without input from him, as long as he and other management people liked what was being created. He occasionally asked for changes when he or others saw fit. I do not recall seeing any sketching from Frank, and if he drew lines on the clay, it would have to be seldom. Damon Woods kept busy with the managing of the studio, and other than his input in meetings, seldom gave design direction on the project. The Ford clay modelers did not belong to a union, and we all got along well together. Boyer and I sometimes sculpted the clay ourselves in working out design problems.

A footnote about George Walker: Most people who had anything to do with George, including me, considered him highly talented in the art of persuasion and promotion. No one I know ever saw a car sketch done by Walker. He had his own design firm and employed Joe Oros and Elwood Engle, both good designers. I once saw Walker do a pen drawing of the profile of a girl’s face. He obviously had practiced it many times, and it was impressive. It reminded me of line drawings my grandfather used to create, having been how in grade school penmanship class. I think Walker was a good judge of car design, and probably helped sell the top execs at Ford the better designs. Frank Hershey highly resented the presence of Walker and his designers, and tried to keep them away from the Thunderbird and 1955 Fords projects. I’m sure that Walker had Hershey fired after George became VP of design in 1956.

1960 Samsen concept for Desoto.

An Exner mystery sketch—did it influence Bob Bourke’s design, or vice-versa?  Virgil Jr. doesn’t know.

Be sure to visit John’s website, Collectable Art.