She Designed That

On today’s automotive series about women and cars, we’ll be going in depth on female figures who played their parts in sketching, designing and leading the aesthetics of the automobile.

1. Helene Rother

She is one of the earliest automotive designers. Born in Germany and migrated to France where she was a jewelry designer. Then WW2 happened and she was forcefully exiled to a Northern African refuge camp with her young daughter.

After the war she again migrated to the United States of America at the state of New York, where she saw job ad from General Motors stating that the company requires female designers for their interiors. Despite lacking the experience on designing interiors, she used her charisma and offered her jewelry designing skills as an advantage. She worked for GM from (1942-1947), however she left prematurely due to prejudice, and she quickly found work at Nash Motors in 1948.

*A Nash Motors publicity photo from the mid 1950s. Designer Helene Rother helped innovate the modern, stylish American cars of the post-war era. (Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin* *public library*).

After joining the company she transformed the public perception of Nash Motors in terms of making stylish and innovative interior designs, so much so in fact it was dubbed: “Best of American automotive styling.”

*1950s Nash Motors ad which displays the sumptuous and stylish interior. (Courtesy of Timeline.com).*

in 1953 she solidified her reputation as one of the best interior designers by helping Nash Motors obtain the Jackson medal for “Outstanding Design”. She stopped working for Nash Motors in 1956 to pursue other ventures as well as focusing on her design studio which she recently opened during her time when she worked with Nash Motors.

She was recently inducted on the Automotive Hall Of Fame in 2020/2021.

Source: Timeline

2. Suzanne Vanderbilt

*Suzanne Vanderbilt posing with a Cadillac interior of her design. (Courtesy of General Motors Design Archives and Special Collections).*

Suzanne joined General Motors as a junior designer, she quickly joined 5 other women forming a team called “Damsels Of Design” where they played part on designing vehicles that appealed to the growing female market in the 1950s.

General Motors’ “Damsels of Design” photographed circa 1955. From left Suzanne Vanderbilt, Ruth Glennie, Marjorie Ford Pohlman, Harley Earl, Jeannette Linder, Sandra Longyear and Peggy Sauer. (Courtesy of General Motors Design Archives and Special Collections).

*Suzanne Vanderbilt demonstrating an early car phone and built-in memopad in a Cadillac Eldorado Seville exhibition vehicle. (Courtesy of General Motors Design Archives and Special Collections).*

*Marjorie Ford Pohlman demonstrating glovebox dictaphone in the exhibition-model Buick Shalimar. (Courtesy of General Motors Design Archives and Special Collections).*

*Jeannette* Linder displaying luggage that matches the interior pattern which she designed on the exhibition vehicle the Chevrolet Impala Martinique. (Courtesy of General Motors Design Archives and Special Collections).

*Sandra Longyear demonstrating a picnic compartment on her exhibition-model Pontiac Bonneville Polaris convertible. (Courtesy of General Motors Design Archives and Special Collections).*

*Ruth Gleanie posing next to the Chevrolet Corvette interior of her design. (Courtesy of General Motors Design Archives and Special Collection*s).

Peggy Sauer demonstrating a storage compartment at the rear of the front seats which stores children toys to keep the child busy while their parents are driving. (Courtesy of General Motors Design Archives and Special Collections).

Unfortunately the team was short-lived in the early 1960s because Bill Mitchell who was chief of automotive design at the time didn’t want women to be involved with his team of designers.

*Former Vice President of Design staff for General Motors Bill Mitchell. Source: Autolife*

She remained and worked hard enough to land a position which was Chief Designer of interiors in 1972. With that position she was responsible for interiors from cars such as the Chevrolet Chevette, Nova and Camaro. She retired from automotive design in 1977 and she passed away in 1988 at the ripe age of 55.

*She one of the inventors of the inflatable back support for front passenger seats. (Courtesy of the United States Patent and Trademark Office).*

Vanderbilt in 1976, a year before her early retirement, with fellow designers Barbara Munger and Jan Tribbey; the three collaborated on a special bicentennial car interior that referenced American quilt patterns. Image via the Suzanne Vanderbilt Papers, Cranbrook Archives.

Source: Core77

3. Mimi Vandermolen

*Mimi Vandermolen posing next to her earliest design the first generation Ford Granada. Image source: Pinterest*.

She joined Ford in 1970 as a trainee for automotive design. Through her career she was responsible for the exterior and interior. Cars such as the Mustang II in 1974 and the Granada in 1975 were designed by her where she dealt both on the exterior and interior.

*1974 Ford Mustang II, image source:* *favcars.com*

*1975 Ford Granada North American specification. Image source: favcars.com*

Her greatest automotive achievement was the design of the 2nd Generation Ford Probe in 1993, an entry-level sportscar from the Ford Motor Company, she manned the design project from concept to full production version.

*1992 Ford Probe poster, image source: favcars.com*

Fun fact:
In 1987 she was promoted to “Designer Executive for Small Cars”, making her an overseer of interior and exterior design developments in North America. Plus she is also running a special studio for future concept cars.

Another fun fact:
She had female drivers in mind when designing a particular vehicle, she often makes male coworkers put on skirts and wear fake nails to conduct experiments for ergonomics in order to make the car woman-friendly.

*1992 Ford Probe Interior. Image source: favcars.com*

Source: Car Lease Special Offers

4. Juliane Blasi and Nadya Arnaout

*From left Juliane Blasi and Nadya Arnaout posing next to the e89 BMW Z4 Convertible during a 2009 press release. Image courtesy of* *BMW*.

Ms Blasi joined BMW in 2003 as a junior designer then transferred to the DesignWorks studio at California in 2005 as part of an exchange program.

She participated in a design competition hosted by BMW where candidates must come up with a design for the second generation 2009 E89 Z4, she partnered with Nadya Arnaout where she and Nadya did the exterior and interior design respectively. They won the competition, and what makes it more rewarding is that chief designer Chris Bangle encouraged the two women to participate and be the best at what they can do.

Source: BMWGroup

5. Michelle Christensen

Michelle Christensen is a very interesting woman, her passion mostly dwelled on design overall. It wasn’t until two instances which helped her pursue a career for automotive design, the earliest was during student years where she met two important people, her now husband Jason Wilbur and her art center instructor (who was global creative director of Acura) Dave Marek.

Her second influence was when she encountered Chip Foose during a car show, she was amazed to find out that his career is automotive design.

Her breakthrough was when her talents were observed by Acura (Dave Marek), she was hired by the company after she graduated with a degree in Transportation Design. Her earliest project with Acura is the ZDX Cross-over, but her ultimate achievement was being the lead exterior designer of the second generation Acura NSX, making her the first woman to design a Supercar.

*2009 Acura ZDX Cross-over Concept. Image source: favcars.com*

*2012 Acura NSX Concept. Image source: favcars.com*

Source: AutoNews

These women mentioned here have become trailblazers in the male dominant industry to a point that it has become the norm to find woman handling key roles in the design of a vehicle today. We’re absolutely certain that in the next coming years, the young women of our generation will design such memorable cars.

Share this:

Related