At first, the Mustang wasn杏吧专区檛 supposed to be a passenger car. Instead, its designers were dreaming up a racecar.
Jerry Malinowski was one of those dreamers. In 1961, he graduated at the top of his class from the Cleveland Institute of Art and joined the team at Ford Motor Co.杏吧专区檚 Design Styling Center in Dearborn, Mich., a suburb of Detroit.
杏吧专区淒etroit was a 杏吧专区榟appening,杏吧专区 杏吧专区 Malinowski told La Louisiane, using a term that was hip in the 杏吧专区60s.
Soul music was spinning out of the Motor City, where Ford made cars and Motown made stars like Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes.
While the singers crooned and shimmied, business managers at Ford began to panic over the company杏吧专区檚 declining sales.
In 1958, they had pinned their hopes of overtaking Buick and Oldsmobile with the Edsel, a car that was such a fiasco that its very name became synonymous with 杏吧专区渆pic fail.杏吧专区 The Edsel cost the company an estimated $250 million 杏吧专区 the equivalent of more than $2 billion today. By 杏吧专区61, Ford was pushing the Falcon, an affordable family car. It was a no-frills, no-thrills ride. But the sedan was too sedate. Sales were taking a dive.
America would soon be caught up in the zeitgeist of the 杏吧专区60s. The space race was under way. The United States杏吧专区 military presence in Vietnam was starting to grow. On the domestic front, the dashing young president, John F. Kennedy, symbolized a new generation. Change was in the wind and Bob Dylan was singing about it.
Ford杏吧专区檚 designers, including the 22-year-old Malinowski, were about to help the company change gears.
While the suits fretted about sales, the company杏吧专区檚 owner, Henry Ford II 杏吧专区 the grandson of its founder 杏吧专区 lusted after Italian sports cars.
杏吧专区淗e was obsessed with them,杏吧专区 Malinowski recalled in a recent interview. 杏吧专区淗e had a Maserati and a Ferrari in his stable. And when he came by the Styling Center, he was often driving one of them.杏吧专区
Multiple layers of managers all got the message and passed it on to the designers. 杏吧专区淭hey kept saying, 杏吧专区楳ake it more Italian.杏吧专区 That杏吧专区檚 because when it came to design, Henry had the final say.杏吧专区
The Design Styling Center where Malinowski worked was both a crucible of creativity and a grueling workplace.
杏吧专区淭here was an attitude. It was a fast life. You worked 12-hour days and left at 9 o杏吧专区檆lock at night. You worked eight hours on Saturdays and did even more work in your free time. As for a personal life, you didn杏吧专区檛 have much of one. It was a crazy business.杏吧专区
Think real-life Mad Men.
杏吧专区淭here was definitely a hierarchy in management 杏吧专区 and plenty of chiefs. If you were a high chief, you had a sterling silver water pitcher on your desk. If you were a really high chief, you had a crystal water pitcher.杏吧专区
Malinowski and his fellow designers didn杏吧专区檛 have water pitchers 杏吧专区 or desks. They worked at drafting tables, churning out drawings and illustrations.
杏吧专区淚t was the guys in the trenches who designed the cars,杏吧专区 he observed.
They pinned their designs to the wall and waited for the brass to approve or reject them. Those that got a green light were passed on to a team of modelers, who created full-scale versions in clay.
杏吧专区淗enry Ford, along with Gene Bordinat, vice president of Ford design, and his entourage of chiefs and little chiefs, would come to the studio to review the drawings and clay models. They wanted 杏吧专区榥ewness杏吧专区 杏吧专区 and it had to sell.杏吧专区
Malinowski杏吧专区檚 first assignment was in the Thunderbird Preproduction Studio.
杏吧专区淚n a preproduction studio, designers are still trying out ideas,杏吧专区 he explained. Once a car was destined for the assembly line, its designers were more influenced by the dictates of physics and the practicality of the manufacturing process.
It takes about two to three years for a vehicle to evolve from the design phase, or ideation, to production. So, in 1961, Malinowski was helping redesign the car that would become the 1964 T-Bird.
杏吧专区淭he problem was that the car had become too weighed down, in terms of design,杏吧专区 he said.
When it was introduced in 1955, the Thunderbird was a two-seater. In 杏吧专区58, it became a four-passenger car. By 1960, the T-Bird resembled a tank. 杏吧专区淪itting in the back seat of that car made you feel claustrophobic.杏吧专区
Malinowski told his boss, studio chief Joe Oros, 杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 going to go back to the 1955 model.杏吧专区
The lines of the Thunderbird and its profile, which featured a long hood and short trunk, suggested movement and velocity. Malinowski imitated those lines and explored new possibilities.
杏吧专区淚 loved to experiment. I didn杏吧专区檛 want my drawings to look like everybody else杏吧专区檚,杏吧专区 he said.
He completed some of his early images using gouache, an opaque watercolor paint. 杏吧专区淚 liked the freedom of it and the effect that came from using a brush. Part of the experience of using different media is that sometimes something wonderful 杏吧专区 and completely accidental 杏吧专区 happens. The way the water moves the pigment across the paper may reveal the beginning of a form, which gives you something to work with, something to explore, and it can take you in an unexpected direction.
杏吧专区淭hat doesn杏吧专区檛 happen on a computer. Even a pencil, just a regular pencil, can reveal something surprising.杏吧专区
Malinowski杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区渋deations杏吧专区 for the 1964 Thunderbird included a new feature: scooped-out side panels. Even though the cars had air conditioning, he wanted to capture the feeling of streaming down the highway in an open cockpit, or at least driving with the windows down. In designer-speak, those scoops were a celebration of the open road.
杏吧专区淭he original intent was to celebrate ventilation to the claustrophobic rear,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淚 wanted to give the impression of air flowing into the back seat.杏吧专区
To sell decision makers on the idea, he drew a series of illustrations, including a version with stainless steel side scoops.
杏吧专区淢any times, I would exaggerate parts of my drawings and illustrations to draw attention to certain areas,杏吧专区 he recalled. 杏吧专区淟ighting and highlighting details you wanted them to focus on played a big part in getting your ideas chosen, then put into clay and into production.杏吧专区
Although higher-ups didn杏吧专区檛 entirely buy into Malinowski杏吧专区檚 ideas, some of his suggestions were applied to the 1964 Thunderbird model. It didn杏吧专区檛 have side scoops, but compared to the 1960 T-Bird, it looked like a car that flowed with the wind, instead of one that was continually pulled down by gravity.
In late January 1962, after only seven months in the preproduction studio, Malinowski was transferred to the Advanced Design studio, where he would work on Henry Ford II杏吧专区檚 pet project: a racecar. Ford was determined to debut the car in the U.S. Grand Prix in October.
杏吧专区淲e had to have a car designed, built and ready to show to the public, so time was not on our side. But that made it even more exciting.杏吧专区 The short turnaround gave the designers more freedom than usual, he explained. 杏吧专区淏ecause decisions had to be made quickly, the details of the car didn杏吧专区檛 get bogged down in management committees.
杏吧专区淚nitially, there was no body design. There were no engineering constraints. It didn杏吧专区檛 even have a name, but we knew it was going to have a horse on it.杏吧专区
That杏吧专区檚 because Henry Ford II wanted to shake a fist at Enzo Ferrari, the owner of the Italian car company, Scuderia Ferrari.
Ferrari杏吧专区檚 logo, a black horse prancing on a field of yellow, originated with Francesco Baracca, Italy杏吧专区檚 most decorated World War I fighter pilot. Baracca, who served in the cavalry division, had a similar horse painted on his plane. 杏吧专区淭he story goes that Baracca杏吧专区檚 mother asked Ferrari to use the cavallino rampante on his racecars to honor her son after he was killed in battle,杏吧专区 said Malinowski.
In the studio, the young designer applied concepts he had been developing for the Thunderbird.
杏吧专区淚n most cases, we would start a concept drawing as a side view. And I was still working out the relationship of the front end to the side scoop.杏吧专区 The design quickly evolved into a mid-engine car. Instead of putting the engine in front, under the hood, the designers positioned it behind the driver. Having the weight of the engine closer to the center of the car could give it an advantage on the track, especially in turns.
The side scoops Malinowski had suggested to 杏吧专区渃elebrate ventilation杏吧专区 now became functional. They would draw in air to cool the racecar杏吧专区檚 engine.
In one of his drawings for the project, Malinowski experimented with racing stripes.
Most often, racing stripes run along the centerline of a car, parallel to the ground, to create the illusion of forward motion. Malinowski mixed things up. He used vertical stripes 杏吧专区渋n red, white and blue to emphasize that it was an American car.杏吧专区
After Ford management dubbed it the 杏吧专区淢ustang,杏吧专区 studio chief Bob Maguire asked Malinowski and another designer, Phil Clark, to come up with an emblem for the racecar. 杏吧专区淲e had a lot of fun with it,杏吧专区 Malinowski recalled.
Eventually, one of Clark杏吧专区檚 horses and Malinowski杏吧专区檚 stripes were combined to create the enduring Mustang logo.
A custom fabrication company built the car in 100 days, just in time for the Grand Prix. Ford hired Dan Gurney, the nation杏吧专区檚 top racecar driver, to show off its new machine, the Mustang I, on the track in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
The sleek racecar turned heads and generated publicity. Bolstered by public reaction, company executives placed their bets on a passenger car that captured the wild Mustang spirit.
Another team of designers helped the sports car evolve into a concept car called the Mustang II, which led to commercial production of the Mustang.
With a fresh design, the company transformed the fuddy-duddy Falcon, the affordable car that was losing money. 杏吧专区淗enry wanted a car with Ferrari flair and a Falcon price tag and that杏吧专区檚 what we achieved,杏吧专区 said Malinowski.
Ford Motor Co. designed and built a car that weighed less than 2,500 pounds and cost less than $2,500. The weight limit helped control the cost of materials and, ultimately, the sticker price. The production model of the Mustang also used the Falcon platform, all its mechanical parts, and in some cases, interior parts as well. 杏吧专区淭oday, that approach is called sustainable design.杏吧专区
On April 17, 1964, at the New York World杏吧专区檚 Fair, Ford introduced something new: 杏吧专区淗enry杏吧专区檚杏吧专区 affordable car with European styling. The Mustang was a sports car and a family car with a base price of just $2,368.
Buyers could select a hardtop or a convertible and could choose from 15 colors, which included Chantilly Beige and Pagoda Green, Rangoon Red and Wimbledon White.
America succumbed to Mustang madness. On that first day, buyers placed 22,000 orders.
杏吧专区淕ood design sells,杏吧专区 said Malinowski. Within two years, Ford had sold more than a million Mustangs and changed forever the way Americans looked at cars.
By then, Malinowski had moved on, first to Philco, a Ford subsidiary that manufactured home products. There he designed refrigerators, cooking ranges, radios and televisions.
In 1964, he went to Japan, where he designed electronics for Panasonic Corp. In 杏吧专区67, he moved to Syracuse 杏吧专区, where he ultimately designed a bobsled for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team and helped America come within striking distance of a medal. The bobsledders finished fourth, beaten by the Soviets by just 2/100ths of a second. In 1992, Malinowski tried a new design, which was tested by Boeing Corp. and deemed the most aerodynamic bobsled ever.
In 1999, after retiring from Syracuse, he made his way to Lafayette to help establish the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 new industrial design program.
杏吧专区淗ow could I resist a place with alligators on campus? I had to see that for myself!杏吧专区
Since then, he杏吧专区檚 connected with the culture 杏吧专区 he goes out Cajun dancing at least twice a week 杏吧专区 and with UL Lafayette students.
Over the years, they have benefitted from lessons about timeless design from someone who helped create a car that, 50 years later, is still an object of desire.