Eugene Farkas (born Jenő Farkas; October 28, 1881 – February 24, 1963) was a Hungarian-American automotive engineer, most known for designing the

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...

and Fordson tractors.

Early life and education

Farkas was born in Káld,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, in 1881. He was the second eldest son of Károly and Anna Farkas, and one of ten children. Károly was a wagon builder. The family moved to

Jánoshalma Jánoshalma () is a town in Bács-Kiskun county in southern Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northe ...

in 1886 and later moved on to

Szarvas Szarvas (, ; ) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. Name Placename Szarvas originated from the old Hungarian language, Hungarian word ''szarvas'', which means deer. Deer also can be found in the coat of arms of the town. Location Szarv ...

. Eugene attended six years of compulsory school plus four years of military school and then moved to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

to study at a grammar school. Through the support and kindness of a maternal uncle he was able to afford to attend the Royal Joseph Technical University, from which he graduated with a degree in Certified Mechanical Engineering.

Career

After qualifying at university Farkas completed one year of military service after which he worked in a motorcycle factory, unpaid, in order to get experience. In 1906 Farkas and a friend left Hungary to travel to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. With only 17 words of English the young Hungarian landed in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

where he read the situations vacant and secured a position with Maxwell-Briscoe in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...

. After six months, during which Farkas had taken English lessons he decided he wanted to work in innovative motor vehicle design, to this end he wrote to Ford and

Packard Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958. One ...

. Walter Flanders of Ford replied and in September 1907 Farkas started to work for Ford. This was not a long lived position because Farkas was not employed as an experimental draughtsman, after only two months Farkas moved on to work for

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

but due to the

Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange suddenly fell almost ...

Farkas was soon out of work. He started work with the Morgan Engineering Co., in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 21,672 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was established in 1854 by the merger of three smaller communities and was a manufacturing and railroad hub in t ...

where yet again the

caused him to lose his job. Early 1908, saw Farkas back at Ford working on the design of tools and fixtures for the

Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...

. An unfortunate altercation with a fellow employee, named Haltenberger, caused Farkas to be dismissed. He went on to work for many other great names in the American motor industry:

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, Cartercar Company and

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

. When

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

bought out the Cartercar company on October 26, 1909 Farkas became the chief engineer for Cartercar, a position he held for three years. Moving on once again, Farkas went to work for the Cass Motor Vehicle Co. designing trucks, but this was not a long-term future for the young Hungarian. By 1911, Farkas was living in Pontiac, Livingston County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, where he married Helen Louise Parshall. The couple had four sons: Raymond Zoltan (born 1912), Louis Eugen (born 1914), Don Earl (born 1917) and Robert Lawrence (born 1919). By 1913 Farkas had returned to work for Ford and the family had moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. On October 1, 1915 Charles Sorenson had been asked by

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

to oversee the development of a Ford tractor, a new design away from the converted

, which had been produced. Sorenson chose Eugene Farkas as his chief engineer for the project. Farkas was innovative in his designs, following the Wallis Tractor Co example of frameless construction, he improved the principle and set an industry standard which lasts to the modern day. The three-speed transmission was specifically designed by Farkas for the rigours of agriculture. Final drive was by worm gear, which was another Farkas design. Farkas was involved in the war effort of Ford during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1918, he designed an aircraft engine and he was involved in early US military

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

design. He worked on the Ford X configuration engine, which was a favorite of Henry Ford, but which was not a great success. Using expertise honed on such projects Farkas also worked on the Model A

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

bomber and a 12 cylinder radial aircraft engine. The latter was never built.

Retirement and death

By 1947, Farkas had completed his engineering career. He and Helen moved to

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Located in Southern California along the Pacific Ocean, this seaside resort city has a mild year-round climate, scenic coves, and environ ...

, Orange County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to retire. They were both keen dancers, Eugene occasionally entertained

with a traditional Hungarian dance. Eugene enjoyed fishing and playing the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

. Farkas died on February 24, 1963. His widow Helen Louise Farkas (née Parshall) died on November 11, 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farkas, Eugene 1881 births 1963 deaths American automotive engineers Budapest University of Technology and Economics alumni Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States