John Tjaarda, Automotive Designer, circa 1935

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Artifact Overview

As head of the design engineering division of the Briggs Manufacturing Company, John Tjaarda designed automotive bodies for Ford, Packard, and Chrysler. Ford exhibited one of his mockups, a frame for a rear-engine automobile, at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. The frame became the basis of his most notable design: the popular 1936 Lincoln-Zephyr.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Date Made

circa 1935

Subject Date

circa 1935

Creator Notes

Photographed by Gibson Studios, Chicago, Illinois.

Collection Title

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

87.1.1714.7

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 7.5 in
Width: 4.5 in

Inscriptions

Embossed into image in lower left corner: Gibson / STUDIOS / CHICAGO
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