The Car Of The Future Video
The Car Of The Future.
Subscribe Today at Huge Savings! To commemorate Black History Month, Robb Report is publishing a four-part series highlighting Black designersthinkers and other creators whose pioneering work has shaped the luxury sector.
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This is installment two. Czr unmistakable shapes are recognizable to generations of enthusiasts, but few are aware that the man who contributed to these icons was Brooklyn-born designer McKinley Thompson Jr. Even Young, who is 48, was not aware of Thompson until relatively recently. Photo: Courtesy of the Ford Archives. How did an ambitious Black automotive designer rise through the ranks of a largely exclusionary corporate culture?
As with many super-achievers, his focus was galvanized early in life. The heavens seemed to part at that moment, literally and figuratively. I was never so impressed with anything in all my life.
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Automotive designer McKinley Thompson at the drawing board for Ford. Life, however, had other plans—at least initially. Thompson trained as an engineering layout coordinator, serving in the Army Signal Corps in World War II, a division of the military that developed intelligence and communications technologies. The dream of designing cars was still deferred by the time he turned 30 years of age. But opportunity arose from an unlikely source: a contest sponsored by Motor Trend magazine, which awarded four scholarships to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. Decades later, Young would contribute to the 21st century rebirth of The Car Of The Future rugged off-roaderclosing a circle of sorts with Thompson, who passed away in While people of color experienced unprecedented challenges in the s and s, launching the Civil Rights Movement which sought to end racial injustice and ban segregation, there was a certain safe haven found in creative circles like automotive design.
Freeman Thomas, a veteran designer responsible for cars including the new VW Beetle, Audi TT, and Dodge Tomahawk concept, Franklin Reputation Benjamin the ethos of design studios The Car Of The Future that of musicians. But commonality eclipses differences. Innovators like McKinley Thompson offer powerful reminders that the ties that bind us are stronger than the forces that threaten to tear us apart.
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By Basem Wasef. Basem Wasef Basem Wasef. Like this article? Get the Robb Report newsletter for similar stories delivered straight to your inbox. Get the Magazine!]
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