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Ford Taurus

Author: 
Carroll Gantz
Designer: 
Telnack, Jack
Date: 
1986
Ford Taurus

The Ford Taurus and its companion, the Mercury Sable, were designed by Jack Telnack, Fritz Mayhew and the Ford staff. The design changed the failing fortunes of the US auto companies by creating a new “aero” look, which was characterized by softer, rounder, more aerodynamic forms than previous Detroit styles. Some called it the “jelly bean” or “flying potato” because of its rounded look. For years, Detroit had been criticized for the sharp, angular and contorted metal forms that were the residual result of the Harley Earl influence of the 1950s. Car designers were rebelling against the marketing-dominated repetition of previous, angular designs. Ford Chairman Donald E. Peterson recalled, “I set the design staff free to create cars that tickled their fancy and in came the ‘aero’ look of the 1980s.” Ford spent $2.9 billion to develop the Taurus. It was a risk because of its advanced styling, and many Ford executives feared the worst. If it had failed, Ford would have had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Motor Trend praised the design and called it “the shape of tomorrow.” Popular Mechanics described Tauruses as a “totally new breed of car.” The public thought so too. It was a huge success. It became a popular family sedan when minivans were still young and SUVs did not yet exist. It sold 263,450 its first year. Within three years, a million had been sold. In 1990, it received IDSA’s “Design of the Decade” award. From 1992 to 1996, it was the best-selling car in the US but faded over the last decade as imports took over as sales leaders. Telnak, an Art Center graduate of 1958, had worked on the fastback version of the Mustang in the late 1960s, and then with Ford of Europe on the 1977 Fiesta. In 1983, he focused on the design of the 1983 Thunderbird, which introduced softer “aero” forms.

Sources: 
100 Years of Design consists of excerpts from a book by Carroll M. Gantz, FIDSA, entitled, Design Chronicles: Significant Mass-produced Designs of the 20th Century, published August 2005 by Schiffer Publications, Ltd.
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Mazda Miata MX5

Author: 
Carroll Gantz
Designer: 
Yamamoto, Kenichi
Date: 
1989
Mazda Miata MX5

The Mazda Miata was conceived in 1976 by Kenichi Yamamoto, head of R&D at Mazda in Japan, and by then Motor Trend journalist Bob Hall. Each saw it as a direct descendant of small, inexpensive British 2-door roadsters of the 1960s like the Triumph Spitfire, the MG Midget, the Lotus Elan and the Austin-Healy Sprite. In 1981, when Bob Hall became product planner for Mazda US, he and Yamamoto initiated a design competition between Mazda teams in Tokyo and California for the small sports car. The California team—headed by Tom Matano and including Koichi Hayashi—won the competition and worked on the final design, following the lines of the Lotus Elan, after final Mazda approval in 1986. Mazda Miata was introduced at the February Chicago Auto Show in 1989 with a list price of $13,800. The same design appeared in Japan as the Eunos Roadster, without the Mazda name. The Miata was revised in 2nd and 3rd generations in 1998 and 2006, and has won over 150 awards in its history, with sales totaling 373,774 in the U.S, and 735,813 globally.

Sources: 
100 Years of Design consists of excerpts from a book by Carroll M. Gantz, FIDSA, entitled, Design Chronicles: Significant Mass-produced Designs of the 20th Century, published August 2005 by Schiffer Publications, Ltd.
Copyright Information: 
I own or have obtained the rights to the image(s) included with this article and grant industrialdesignhistory.com the right to post it(them) on its website and make use of it(them) in print media with proper attribution.

Model T Ford

Author: 
Carroll Gantz
Designer: 
Ford, Henry
Date: 
1913
Model T Ford

n 1913, Henry Ford perfected the mass- production process with his re-designed Model T. Inspired by efficient Chicago meatpacking processes, Ford developed a sophisticated assembly-line method reducing production time from 12 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, and the car price from $900 to $440. In 1913 alone, 168,000 were produced. His unprecedented system became known throughout the world as Fordism, and by 1915 had reduced skilled labor in auto factories from 60% to 13%. Fifteen million Model T's were produced and in 1960, designer Jay Doblin called it "the most beautiful car ever built, a classic illustration of what an automobile should be." When Henry Ford originally introduced the Model T in 1908, it was available at $845 in black only (similar cars cost $2,000 to $3,000). It was called a "flivver" and said to be "stronger than a horse and easier to maintain." In 1909, Henry Ford declared that he would build only this model in the future, and only in black. In 1910 Ford opened its new Highland Park plant, designed by architect Albert Kahn to produce Model T's. The plant design was architecturally expressive of manufacturing technology, and between 1922 and 1926 Kahn also designed a coke-oven plant, a foundry, a cement plant, an open-hearth steel plant and a new River Rouge site for Ford. After 1913, sales of Model T's boomed. By 1917 they comprised forty-two percent of US annual car production; by 1918, fifty percent; and by 1923, 52 percent. In 1923 Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. (1875-1966) took the helm of General Motors. He introduced innovative new consumer strategies, including consumer credit and the annual model change. By 1926, Chevrolet challenged Ford with bold new styling and colors, forcing a change in the Model T. Henry announced his new cars would now be offered in "deep channel green" and "rich Windsor maroon," as well as black. By 1927, GM captured 45% of the US market and Ford's share had dropped to 15%.

Sources: 
100 Years of Design consists of excerpts from a book by Carroll M. Gantz, FIDSA, entitled, Design Chronicles: Significant Mass-produced Designs of the 20th Century, published August 2005 by Schiffer Publications, Ltd.
Copyright Information: 
I own or have obtained the rights to the image(s) included with this article and grant industrialdesignhistory.com the right to post it(them) on its website and make use of it(them) in print media with proper attribution.