Designer Spotlight: The First African American Automobile Designer, McKinley Thompson, is hired into Ford by Alex Tremulis in 1956

 In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it’s important to recognize those who have made pioneering efforts before us.  Such it is with McKinley Thompson, the first African American to work as a designer in the automotive industry, and the man who first hired him into his lifelong career at Ford, Alex Tremulis.

The Airflows would greatly influence both Thompson and Tremulis throughout their careers.

Their paths were destined to cross from the very start of their respective careers in car design as each of them were impacted by the looks of the 1934 DeSoto Airflow, a revolutionary streamlined car unlike any others at the time.  Thompson first saw a silver-painted Airflow during a cloudy autumn day.  The sky opened up just enough for a bolt of sunshine to light up the silver car.  He was thunderstruck with the apparition and knew his calling at that very moment.  Tremulis’ infatuation with the same model came from working directly for John Tjaarda at LeBaron who was responsible for the well-received design of the 1936 Lincoln Zephyr, an improved design over the Airflow.  Little did Thompson and Tremulis know at the time that their mutual admiration for the same car would put them on a collision path twenty years later.

In the mean time, Thompson honed his drawing skills first by becoming a professional draftsman, then after the war an engineering design layout coordinator until 1953.  That’s when fate would step in and show the path he was meant to take.  Motor Trend magazine sponsored a nationwide contest to design the car of the future as it may appear ten years down the road.  Thompson couldn’t resist entering his ideas for a series of cars motivated by the new powerful gas turbine engines.  Of all the entries, Thompson’s won first place and a full term scholarship to the renowned Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.  Truly a dream come true for an autoholic as Thompson.  He would be the first African American at that prestigious design school.

McKinley Thompson's entry into Motor Trend's design competition, a turbine-powered sedan. His additional entries included a race car as well. Illustration thanks to Robert Tate, Motorcities.

Meanwhile, Tremulis’ career in automotive design took him to Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg where he prototyped new concepts on a very tight budget during Cord’s final year.  Then to Crosley, American Bantam, Custom Motors, and his most famous stint as Chief Stylist for Preston Tucker’s revolutionary new car for 1948.  After Tucker came Kaiser-Frazer then on to Ford in 1952, a company that even he recognized was too big for him to bring it down as all his other automotive affiliations had gone under.  Tremulis quickly was promoted through the ranks to become head of the Advanced Styling Studio under George Walker.  There he led the group to develop concepts for flying cars, nuclear powerplants, and generally pushing the envelope past what most would consider conventional automobile design. 

McKinley Thompson, second from right, refining his skills with instructor Joe Thompson on his right at Art Center, c.1955

Back at Art Center, Thompson recalled he was mentored by the outstanding faculty of Strother MacMinn, Joe Thompson and Geroge Jergenson.  Under their guidance, Thompson learned the tools of the trade and became a very talented designer, exactly how Motor Trend’s award was intended to be used and the high quality results Art Center was known to produce from its students.

Alex Tremulis and design students examining how low a car can go, c.1955

Back at Ford, it would be Tremulis who would bring in design students from the various institutions like Arts and Crafts (now CCS), Cleveland, and of course, Art Center and see how they fit in to the corporate life of designing cars for a living.  Not that Tremulis was corporate by any means.  By then known for his playful antics, he even went so far as to have the students paint the ceiling in his studio blue with clouds to remind everyone that the sky was the limit to their imagination. 

But it would be McKinley Thompson’s talent and desire that would capture Tremulis’ imagination, and before his graduation from Art Center, Tremulis made Thompson an offer to join him in his Advanced Styling group in April of 1956. 

Probably McKinley Thompson's turbine-powered car on the left now incorporating Ford body styling, side-by-side with Alex Tremulis' 200 mile per hour Thunderbird Mexico on the right, c.1956.

To Tremulis, it didn’t matter your age, sex, or the color of your skin.  To him it was all about passion for design and talent for communicating those ideas.  Thompson had both.  But it is not insignificant just how daring and heroic both men would be for their actions.  Keep in mind the turmoil in the country at that time.  In December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white person on a municipal bus, and the ensuing year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott had begun.  Add to that, in January 1956, Martin Luther King Jr’s house was fire bombed in retaliation to King’s non-violent civil protests over civil rights.  That’s the environment in which Alex Tremulis hired McKinley Thompson into Ford. 

Rosa Parks with Martin Luther King Jr.

By all accounts, Thompson had a remarkable career at Ford.  In Tremulis' Advanced Stying Studio, he contributed to many wild concepts, including Tremulis' controversial Gyron, as well as flying cars and nuclear-powered automobiles and trucks.  He assisted in the design iterations for the Mustang, the Allegro, and many other concept cars, including the Shelby Bordinat Cobra and its coupe version, the Cougar II.  He teamed up again with Bordinat in the 1980's to revive the Cobra as the Kelly Python of which 12 were made.

McKinley Thompson's Ducted Fan Flying Car, 1957

Thompson's Nuclear-powered Multi-Trailered Truck, 1957

Ford Gyron

Shelby Bordinat Cobra Roadster

1963 Ford Cougar II

1963 Ford Allegro Concept

1980's Mustang-based Kelly Python, 12 made

In 1962 he won Ford’s highest award for community service, the Citizen of the Year Award.  Detroit's Mayor Cavanaugh would present Thompson with the Town Crier's Bell in recognition for his giving of his time and talents toward the betterment of the city of Detroit.  In 1976, after a series of promotions, he went on to manage the work of over 50 modelers and designers as Ford's Manager of Appearance Development and Feasibility Design Modeling.  In the 1970's he followed his dreams by building his own car, the Warrior, designed to help third-world countries build and maintain their own all-terrain multi-purpose vehicle.  McKinley Thompson retired from Ford in 1984 after an illustrious career.

McKinley Thompson accepts the Town Crier's Bell Award from Detroit's Mayor Jerome Cavanaugh, 1962

McKinley Thompson with his Warrior All-Terrain Prototype

Both Thompson and Tremulis kept in touch with each other throughout their lives.  They both shared the same passion for human-powered vehicles.  Tremulis passed away in 1991 at 77 years old, Thompson in 2006 at 83 years.  Both are missed for their many contributions to the automobile and for their fearless pioneering in design concepts. 

As for his Orca?  It's hard not to notice how black and white can unite to form one harmonious union...

Chrissie Tremulis in McKinley Thompson's human-powered Orca, c.1986

To my dear friend, Alex Tremulis, who was most instrumental in launching my career and who will always be my inspiration. With gratitude and affection, "Tom" 6-12-57

Special thanks to Robert Tate at Motorcities, Ford Motor Company, the McKinley Thompson Biography webpage, the Art Center College of Design Archives, and the Alex Tremulis Archives.

For more information on McKinley Thompson's inspirational career, please visit:

http://accad.osu.edu/~rstone/mckinleythompson/bio.html


http://blog.thehenryford.org/2014/02/the-warrior/


http://www.motorcities.org/Story/McKinley+Thompson+The+First+African+American+Automotive+Designer+br+By+Robert+Tate-292.html