John Najjar
John Najjar Ferzely (Nov. 11, 1918; Jan. 6 2011), was a lead designer and executive stylist at Ford Motor Company for over 40 years. He is credited for having co-designed the first prototype of the Ford Mustang known as Ford Mustang I with Philip T. Clark, thus pioneering the concept of muscle car in the US [1]
John Najjar Ferzely was born to a working-class Greek Orthodox Rûm Lebanese family in Omaha, Nebraska [1] . He joined Ford Motor Company's Apprentice School in Dearborn, Mich. While working there as a mere machinist, he was approached by Henry Ford during a plant tour who asked him if he enjoyed his work. John's response that he'd "rather be drawing cars" led to an invitation for him to add his talents to Ford's newly-created Design Center.
'John Najjar Ferzely continued working as a designer for Ford for over 40 years. He worked with E. T. Gregorie, George Walker, Elwood Engel, Gene Bordinat and Lee Iacocca. For many years his work in centered on futuristic show cars whose revolutionary features later appeared in many Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. [2]
John's Advanced Styling Studio developed the 1962 Mustang I concept car - so named because of his love for its namesake, the P-51 Mustang fighter plane. His design talents span decades - from work on the M4A3 Sherman tank and B-24 bomber in the 40s, the 1957-58 Lincoln Continentals, the XM-800, the soybean car, the LevaCar concept, the Gyron, Detroit's People Mover and Renaissance Center.
References
- ^ a b Bakken, Douglas A. (1981 and 1984). "Automotive Design Oral History Project: Remembering John Najjar". University of Michigan. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help). - ^ Editors, Auto (May 2008). "John Najjar: Designer of the Ford Mustang I Concept Car". [[]]. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
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