William Godfrey "Willie G." Davidson (born 1933) is an American businessman and motorcycle designer, and the former senior vice president & chief styling officer of

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

Motor Company.bizjournals: Willie G. Davidson Executive Profile
/ref> He was also the head of Harley-Davidson's Willie G. Davidson Product Development Center in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.Bandit Interviews Willie G.
/ref> While being generally responsible for approving Harley-Davidson motorcycle designs, he also personally designed several motorcycles for Harley-Davidson, including the Super Glide and the Low Rider, which pioneered the factory custom motorcycle and created an intermediate line of motorcycles between their large touring models and their smaller Sportsters.AMA's Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum – 1971 Harley-Davidson Super Glide
/ref>

Early life

Willie G. Davidson is the son of former Harley-Davidson president William H. Davidson and the grandson of Harley-Davidson co-founder William A. Davidson. Consequently, he grew up around Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Davidson graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

and went on to study at the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

in Pasadena, California. While in California, he became aware of bike customization. Before working for Harley-Davidson, Davidson worked for the design department of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

.AMA's Motorcycle Hall of Fame – William G. Davidson
/ref>

At Harley-Davidson

Davidson joined the design department of Harley-Davidson in 1963. In 1969 he was promoted to Vice President of Styling. His designs during the 1970s included the 1971 FX Super Glide, the 1977 FXS Low Rider, and the 1977 XLCR Sportster-based

cafe racer A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

.Popular Mechanics: Hot For Harleys: An American Icon, page 4
/ref> Willie was one of the Harley-Davidson executives who joined Vaughn Beals in buying Harley-Davidson from parent company

American Machine and Foundry American Machine and Foundry (known after 1970 as AMF, Inc.) was one of the United States' largest recreational equipment companies, with diversified products as disparate as garden equipment, atomic reactors, and yachts. The company was founde ...

in 1981. On March 16, 2012, it was announced that Willie G. would retire from Harley-Davidson on April 30, 2012. He is to remain involved as brand ambassador, and in Special Design Projects as Chief Styling Officer Emeritus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Willie Harley-Davidson designers Living people Harley-Davidson executives Art Center College of Design alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 1933 births American people of Scottish descent