Dearborn, Mich. – Ford Motor Co. Fund will award $1 million in automotive design scholarships during the next 20 years to commemorate the late William Clay Ford’s contributions to the design legacy of the automaker.
Throughout his 57 years as an employee and board member, Mr. Ford was instrumental in setting the company’s design direction, overseeing development of a number of classic vehicles, including the iconic Lincoln Continental Mark II. He served as chairman of the design committee at Ford for 32 years.
“Design was Mr. Ford’s passion, and his creative vision transformed vehicle design at Ford,” says Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “We are honoring William Clay Ford’s legacy by encouraging and supporting the next generation of innovative automotive designers through this scholarship.”
The grant will be paid at the rate of $50,000 per year during the next 20 years, awarding five $10,000 scholarships annually to outstanding college sophomores or juniors pursuing a degree in automotive design. Details of the program will be announced in the coming months.
On July 17, 1952, William Clay Ford was appointed manager of special product operations in charge of a group of engineers and designers engaged in advanced planning of the Lincoln Continental Mark II. The Continental Mark II was the successor to the classic Lincoln Continental developed under the direction of William Clay Ford’s father, Edsel Ford, and introduced in 1939. The Continental Mark II is considered to be among the greatest cars ever built.
William Clay Ford closely followed the designs of the original Lincoln Continental. That included matching the ratio of window glass to sheet metal, re-creating the intimate feel of the interior controls, as well as mounting the spare tire in an impression in the sheet metal of the trunk, recalling the original Continental’s outside-mounted spare.
“I wanted the spare tire in the back. That was the trademark of a Continental,” William Clay Ford told the Ford Museum. “We took most of the basic proportions of that car and tried to keep those same proportions in the Mark II, and I think we did pretty well at it.”
Source: Ford Motor Co.