Strother MacMinn (1918 – January 19, 1998) was an American car designer, author, and educator. While noted for his contributions to

Road & Track ''Road & Track'' (stylized as ''R&T'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published 6 times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York, New York. History ''Road & Track'' (often ...

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to ...

, and

Automobile Quarterly ''Automobile Quarterly'' was a hardbound, advertising-free periodical publication focused on collectible cars. The publication was known for quality writing and photography about automobiles, personalities and related subjects. History and profi ...

and for helping found

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Calty Design Research Calty Design Research Incorporated (also simply known as Calty) is a Toyota design studio established in 1973. They have two facilities: one in Newport Beach, California for concept designs, and another in Ann Arbor, Michigan for production desi ...

studio in California, MacMinn was widely known for an automotive design teaching career at Pasadena's

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, Fr ...

that spanned fifty years — noted students include

J Mays J Mays is an American industrial designer who served as Group Vice President of Global Design and Chief Creative Officer at Ford Motor Company, and is now Chief Design Officer at Whirlpool. His name is simply "J", named after his grandfather, S ...

Chris Bangle Christopher Edward Bangle (born October 14, 1956) is an American automobile designer. Bangle is known best for his work as Chief of Design for BMW Group, where he was responsible for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce motor cars. Early life Bangl ...

and

Wayne Cherry Wayne K. Cherry (born 1937) is an American car designer educated at Art Center College of Design and employed by General Motors from 1962 through 2004, retiring as Vice President of Design. Cherry worked for General Motors in the United States fro ...

. Former Vice President of Design for General Motors Chuck Jordan reflected that "if you are in a car today, Mac probably influenced its design," saying also that "no one influenced car design more" than MacMinn.

Background

Growing up in Pasadena, MacMinn befriended

Frank Hershey Franklin Quick Hershey (1907–1997) was an American automobile designer and student of General Motors Vice President of Design Harley Earl. Hershey is known for his 1932 Peerless V-16 prototype, 1949 Cadillac tailfins, and the 1955 Ford Th ...

, who worked for Murphy Body Company. When Frank moved on to work for GM, he helped MacMinn get his first job at the age of 17 in the Buick studio at General Motors Art and Color Section.

Career

In 1937,

Harley Earl Harley Jarvis Earl (November 22, 1893 – April 10, 1969) was an American automotive designer and business executive. He was the initial designated head of design at General Motors, later becoming vice president, the first top executive ever ...

assigned MacMinn to a new studio to develop the

Opel Kapitän The Opel Kapitän is a luxury car made in several different generations by the German car manufacturer Opel from 1938 until 1970. Kapitän (1938–1940) The Kapitän was the last new Opel model to appear before the outbreak of the Second Wo ...

. MacMinn left GM before World War II and then returned for a short time after the war ended. He also worked for Frank Springs at Hudson. After the war, MacMinn worked for the industrial designer

Henry Dreyfuss Henry Dreyfuss (March 2, 1904 – October 5, 1972) was an American industrial design pioneer. Dreyfuss is known for designing some of the most iconic devices found in American homes and offices throughout the twentieth century, including the Wes ...

. In 1948, he began teaching at the

and remained there for 50 years. In 1973, he helped found Toyota's

and remained with them until 1983. MacMinn wrote for publications such as

, and

Sports Car International ''Sports Car International'' (SCI) was an automobile magazine published in the United States from 1986 to 2008 by Ross Periodicals Inc, first in Newport Beach, but then later in Novato, California. History The magazine was unabashedly enthusiast ...

, and for museum catalogs. He was the chief honorary judge for several years at the

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It is widely considered the pinnacle event of its kind and one of the most prestigious car events i ...

Notable designs

* 1938

* MacMinn's LeMans Coupe

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacMinn, Strother 1918 births General Motors designers American automobile designers Motoring journalists 1998 deaths