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the time the 1935 Ford model went on the drawing board in early
1934, automobile design began to be influenced by aerodynamics and
the function of the chassis in providing more passenger comfort.
Chassis engineer Gene Farkas told of how concerned they were at
Dearborn that they didn't get run over by the competition. "Edsel
Ford brought in the Chrysler Airflow and we went over that from
one end to the other to see what the advantages were. ..I know
(after that) we shifted the engine four inches forward,"
This was the first time at
Ford that the chassis engineers and body engineers were finally on
the same page. They could all see the advantages of changing the
frame and body mechanics for a lower center of gravity, lower
seats and more room for the feet up front. Overall height was
coming down and by making the bodies a little wider, you could
squeeze in three people more easily across the seats. Instead of
flying the fenders, the trend now like the Airflow was to close
them in to help conceal the running gear and mud.
The Airflow wasn't the only
influence on the 1935 Ford design. Ford had its own futuristic car
in the works -the Lincoln-Zephyr -being drawn: up by John Tjaarda,
head Ford stylist at Briggs. To keep the ideas coming, one of
Tjaarda's men, Phil Wright, who designed the sensational
Pierce-Arrow "Silver Arrow" was given the job to design
the 1935 Ford, This would be the last Ford model done purely by
Briggs, from blueprints to clay models.
By now the Ford bodies had
become even rounder and the use of compound surfaces in the
fenders and rooflines had increased.
"Strange as it seems, we
didn't work very far ahead (on styling) in those days," said
Sheldrick. 'We only worked less than a year ahead, Joe
Galamb was sort of an advisor to Gregorie (who) carried the major
responsibility, , , Gregorie's reporting directly to Edsel is an
indication of Edsel's influence in styling."
As far as Henry Ford was
concerned, styling still took a back seat to engineering. But if
there was one thing the aging automaker knew about producing cars,
it was how to
read the sales numbers. His long-time body production man
Joe Galamb knew the old man about as good as any- one and thought
that in this area he was fairly predictable. "Mr. Ford always
watched the sales," he said. 'When the sales started to go
down he thought either of cutting the price or changing the design
a little bit."
So, the 1935 Ford was cleverly
face-lifted into the sleek all- new-looking 1936 model by Holden
"Bob" Koto, designer at Briggs Body Company. He made the
sheet metal transformation from ideas dreamed up by Gregorie and
from sketches Edsel liked of Tjaarda's Lincoln-Zephyr.
Gregorie's nautical background can be
seen in the boat prow front-end of the new 1936 Ford design, as
well as the rounder, wider lines. Edsel's contribution as usual
was the refinement of line, the trim details, fabrics, and colors.
". ..During the thirties and
forties, the whole thing was very simple, we just had a small
staff; and Mr. (Edsel) Ford knew most of the boys in there by
their first name, and it was all just a very friendly, folksy
arrangement. .." E. T. "BOB" GREGORIE, FORD CHIEF
STYLIST
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Some of Edsel Ford's small group of designers look
over V-8 sketches at the company's first real styling studio
in 1935.
A major new appearance
feature of the 1936 Fords was a new open wheel with
wide-spaced lugs and a big 12-inch snap-on hubcap. "It
was all for the reason to save weight," said Farkas,
who worked on it. "Mr. Ford was great on reducing the
unsprung weight as much as possible. ...That meant scrapping
about $5-million worth of wire wheel equipment, but even
then, the saving was considerable. It was a much cheaper
wheel to make."
Meanwhile, the bitter
strike of 1933 by the Briggs Body ~ Company had not set well
with Henry Ford and he began taking steps to steer away from
dependence on the outside body makers. At last he agreed
with Edsel to establish a styling section within Ford to
accomplish this goal. In early 1935,
when the 1936 Ford designs were coming off the
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