Joe Oros
Encyclopedia
Joseph E. Oros was an automobile stylist for Ford Motor Company
over a period of 21 years — known as the Chief Designer of the team at Ford that styled the original Mustang
, and for his contributions to the 1955 Ford Thunderbird
.
Oros was born to non-English speaking Romanian parents. He was moved up a grade from 3rd to 5th because of his fantastic art work even though his math and science skills were questionable.
Oros is now 93 and lives in Santa Barbara, California
where he lived with his wife Betty Thatcher Oros, until her passing in 2001. His house full of his own artwork, including paintings and sculptures. Oros currently works on a 3D was model of the earth depicting all the original settlers. He is about 1/4 of his way through it and hopes to finish before he dies. Oros is an artist, sculptor, painter and industrial designer, having designed appliances and other products.
in 1939 — having studied under Viktor Schreckengost
— and later became a student at General Motors's School of Automotive Design, where he worked under Harley Earl's guidance, including a period of time with Cadillac
. At GM, he met fellow classmates Elwood Engel
, later design chief at Chrysler Corporation and George W. Walker
, later vice president of design at Ford Motor Company
. After serving in World War II, Oros went to work for Walker's industrial design firm. He also recommended hiring there of his close friend Engel. Walker and Oros worked on designing Nash automobiles until 1947, when Walker's firm won a contract with Ford. Together, they worked on the designed of the 1949 For, a design Oros described as inspired by an airplane. When Walker later became head of Ford design in 1955, Oros joined Walker and Engel there. Oros worked primarily on the designs for Ford's cars and trucks, while Engel worked on Lincoln
and Mercury
.
Oros received a Medallion Award from the Industrial Designers Institute (IDI) (now the Industrial Designers Society of America
) along with George W. Walker, Eugene Bordinat
, Herbert Tod, Rulo N. Conrad, John Najjar, and Elwood P. Engel, for the 1956 Lincoln Premier hard-top — as well as an IDI Bronze Medal in 1964 along with Eugene Bordinat, L. David Ash
, G. L. Halderman, Charles H. Phaneuf, D.C. Woods, J. Najjar, and J.B. Foster for their contributions to the Mustang.
Oros rose to director of exterior design and had oversight for many Ford vehicle projects. In 1958, Oros did the primary design work on the new, four-seat Ford Thunderbird
that was to debut in the 1958 model year. It beat out a competing design by Engel (which later became the iconic 1961 Lincoln Continental
). Although delays caused the revised Thunderbird to arrive in dealerships three months late, it was a huge sales success. The 1958 Thunderbird outsold the old two-seat model 2-to-1, and was named Motor Trend's Car of the Year. The body style was continued through 1960.
As Lee Iacocca
's assistant general manager and chief engineer, Donald N. Frey
, was the head engineer for the Mustang project — supervising the development of the Mustang in a record 18 months — while Iacocca himself championed the project as Ford Division general manager. The Mustang prototype had been a two-seat, mid-mounted engine roadster
, later remodeled as a four-seat car styled under the direction of Project Design Chief Joe Oros and his team of L. David Ash
, Gale Halderman, and John Foster — in Ford's Lincoln
–Mercury
Division design studios, which produced the winning design in an intramural design contest instigated by Iacocca. Ash's styling exercise, originally internally named the Cougar, was the winning styling exercise.
Having set the design standards for the Mustang, Oros said:
Retelling the story of designing the car, Oros said:
In 2009, at the celebration of the Mustang's 45th anniversary of, Oros, then 92, said:
community in Southern California, serving for a few years (1988–1991) as the chairman of the New Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church and Cultural center in Los Angeles
.
. Majored in Industrial Design, graduating with honors. Hudson Motor Company, wanting a woman to contribute a female point of view to automotive design, hired Oros as the first female American automotive designer in 1939.
Oros contributions for the 1941 Hudson included exterior trim with side lighting, interior instrument panel, interiors and interior trim fabrics.
Oros designed for Hudson Motor Co. from 1939 into 1941, when she and Joe Oros were married. As Joe Oros was working in the Cadillac Studio at GM, to avoid a conflict, Betty resigned from Hudson. Together the Oros' had five children, Joe III, Christina, Janet, Mary and John. Having also served on the Santa Barbara Museum Board and Symphony League Board, Betty Thatcher Oros died on 19 August 2001.
See Also: Photo of Joe Oros
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
over a period of 21 years — known as the Chief Designer of the team at Ford that styled the original Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
, and for his contributions to the 1955 Ford Thunderbird
Ford Thunderbird
The Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...
.
Oros was born to non-English speaking Romanian parents. He was moved up a grade from 3rd to 5th because of his fantastic art work even though his math and science skills were questionable.
Oros is now 93 and lives in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
where he lived with his wife Betty Thatcher Oros, until her passing in 2001. His house full of his own artwork, including paintings and sculptures. Oros currently works on a 3D was model of the earth depicting all the original settlers. He is about 1/4 of his way through it and hopes to finish before he dies. Oros is an artist, sculptor, painter and industrial designer, having designed appliances and other products.
Education and career
Oros graduated at the top of his class from the Cleveland Institute of ArtCleveland Institute of Art
The Cleveland Institute of Art is a private college of art and design located in University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women. From 1891 until 1948 it was named Cleveland School of Art. During the Great Depression the school...
in 1939 — having studied under Viktor Schreckengost
Viktor Schreckengost
Viktor Schreckengost was a noted American industrial designer and teacher, sculptor, and artist. His wide-ranging work included noted pottery designs, industrial design, bicycle design and seminal research on radar feedback...
— and later became a student at General Motors's School of Automotive Design, where he worked under Harley Earl's guidance, including a period of time with Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
. At GM, he met fellow classmates Elwood Engel
Elwood Engel
-Early days:Engel first joined General Motors as a student under Harley Earl's watchful eye at GM's school of design. In 1939 he met classmates Joe Oros and George W. Walker at the school. During World War II, Engel served four years in the U.S. Army as a mapmaker, in both the European and Pacific...
, later design chief at Chrysler Corporation and George W. Walker
George W. Walker
George W. Walker was an industrial and automotive designer. His most notable work was the original Ford Thunderbird....
, later vice president of design at Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. After serving in World War II, Oros went to work for Walker's industrial design firm. He also recommended hiring there of his close friend Engel. Walker and Oros worked on designing Nash automobiles until 1947, when Walker's firm won a contract with Ford. Together, they worked on the designed of the 1949 For, a design Oros described as inspired by an airplane. When Walker later became head of Ford design in 1955, Oros joined Walker and Engel there. Oros worked primarily on the designs for Ford's cars and trucks, while Engel worked on Lincoln
Lincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
and Mercury
Mercury (automobile)
Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...
.
Oros received a Medallion Award from the Industrial Designers Institute (IDI) (now the Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America is an organization of professional industrial designers primarily in the United States. Recently IDSA has started chapters in Canada and in China...
) along with George W. Walker, Eugene Bordinat
Eugene Bordinat
Eugene Bordinat, Jr. was a Ford Motor Company styling executive whose career spanned several decades.-Early career:...
, Herbert Tod, Rulo N. Conrad, John Najjar, and Elwood P. Engel, for the 1956 Lincoln Premier hard-top — as well as an IDI Bronze Medal in 1964 along with Eugene Bordinat, L. David Ash
L. David Ash
L. David Ash was an automotive stylist who worked variously in the Lincoln, Continental, Edsel and Ford studios at Ford Motor Company. He is known for his contributions to the styling of the Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental Mark III — and his innovative work on the...
, G. L. Halderman, Charles H. Phaneuf, D.C. Woods, J. Najjar, and J.B. Foster for their contributions to the Mustang.
Oros rose to director of exterior design and had oversight for many Ford vehicle projects. In 1958, Oros did the primary design work on the new, four-seat Ford Thunderbird
Ford Thunderbird
The Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...
that was to debut in the 1958 model year. It beat out a competing design by Engel (which later became the iconic 1961 Lincoln Continental
Lincoln Continental
The Lincoln Continental is an automobile which was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from 1939 to 1948 and again from 1956 to 2002...
). Although delays caused the revised Thunderbird to arrive in dealerships three months late, it was a huge sales success. The 1958 Thunderbird outsold the old two-seat model 2-to-1, and was named Motor Trend's Car of the Year. The body style was continued through 1960.
Ford Mustang
Lee Iacocca
Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca is an American businessman known for engineering the Mustang, the unsuccessful Ford Pinto, being fired from Ford Motor Company, and his revival of the Chrysler Corporation in the 1980s...
's assistant general manager and chief engineer, Donald N. Frey
Donald N. Frey
Donald Nelson Frey , was widely known as the Ford Motor Company product manager who, along with Lee Iacocca and others, developed the Ford Mustang into a viable project — and who ultimately supervised the development of the car in a record 18 months.At times besieged by autograph seekers for...
, was the head engineer for the Mustang project — supervising the development of the Mustang in a record 18 months — while Iacocca himself championed the project as Ford Division general manager. The Mustang prototype had been a two-seat, mid-mounted engine roadster
Roadster
A roadster is a two-seat open car with emphasis on sporty handling and without a fixed roof or side weather protection. Strictly speaking a roadster with wind-up windows is a convertible but as true roadsters are no longer made the distinction is now irrelevant...
, later remodeled as a four-seat car styled under the direction of Project Design Chief Joe Oros and his team of L. David Ash
L. David Ash
L. David Ash was an automotive stylist who worked variously in the Lincoln, Continental, Edsel and Ford studios at Ford Motor Company. He is known for his contributions to the styling of the Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental Mark III — and his innovative work on the...
, Gale Halderman, and John Foster — in Ford's Lincoln
Lincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
–Mercury
Mercury (automobile)
Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...
Division design studios, which produced the winning design in an intramural design contest instigated by Iacocca. Ash's styling exercise, originally internally named the Cougar, was the winning styling exercise.
Having set the design standards for the Mustang, Oros said:
Retelling the story of designing the car, Oros said:
In 2009, at the celebration of the Mustang's 45th anniversary of, Oros, then 92, said:
Retirement
Upon his retirement in 1975, Joe Oros and his devoted wife, the late Betty Oros moved to Santa Barbara, California, became very active in the Romanian-AmericanRomanian American
A Romanian American is a citizen of the United States who has significant Romanian heritage. For the 2000 US Census, 367,310 Americans indicated Romanian as their first ancestry, while 462,526 persons declared to have Romanian ancestry...
community in Southern California, serving for a few years (1988–1991) as the chairman of the New Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church and Cultural center in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Betty Thatcher Oros
Born Elizabeth Anna Thatcher, April 18, 1917 in Elyria, Ohio, Betty Thatcher Oros graduated from Elyria High School in 1935. She attended the Cleveland School of Arts, today’s Cleveland Institute of ArtCleveland Institute of Art
The Cleveland Institute of Art is a private college of art and design located in University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women. From 1891 until 1948 it was named Cleveland School of Art. During the Great Depression the school...
. Majored in Industrial Design, graduating with honors. Hudson Motor Company, wanting a woman to contribute a female point of view to automotive design, hired Oros as the first female American automotive designer in 1939.
Oros contributions for the 1941 Hudson included exterior trim with side lighting, interior instrument panel, interiors and interior trim fabrics.
Oros designed for Hudson Motor Co. from 1939 into 1941, when she and Joe Oros were married. As Joe Oros was working in the Cadillac Studio at GM, to avoid a conflict, Betty resigned from Hudson. Together the Oros' had five children, Joe III, Christina, Janet, Mary and John. Having also served on the Santa Barbara Museum Board and Symphony League Board, Betty Thatcher Oros died on 19 August 2001.
See also
Ford MustangFord Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
See Also: Photo of Joe Oros