Mr. Thompson attended Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles by being awarded one of the five scholarship in a nationwide design competition called, “From Dream to Drawing Board to?” sponsored by Motor Trend magazine in September, 1953. The objective for this contest was to design an automobile that could be used for the future of American automotive designs. Mr. Thompson's Motor Trend car design featured a turbine engine lightweight body that was reinforced with plastic and offered more room for its passengers.
Mr. Thompson received his bachelor’s degree of professional arts in industrial design from Art Center College of Design. In 1956, Mr. Thompson was hired by Mr. Alex Tremulis at the Ford Design Center. Mr. Alex Tremulis was the designer of the famous Tucker automobile. Mr. Thompson's first assignment was within Alex Tremulis Advanced Studio design. Here, he designed sketches for the Ford Gyron concept, which was Ford's three wheeled advanced two passenger show car .The Gyron was 209 inches long, 45 inches high and 86 inches wide. It looked like an aircraft model that was supported by three wheels and a delta-wing body shape. Last year, in 2012, an original scale model of the Gyron concept sold at auction for $40,000, about four times its estimated value.
Mr. Thompson had the opportunity to work with other talented Ford designers within the advanced design studio such as Sydney J. Mead and the late Mr. John Najjar, along with Mr. Elwood Engel and Bill Dayton, who were all admires of Mr. Thompson's great work of designs. Mr. Thompson's work continued to show great innovative ideals and featured many comprehensive drawings of great models that Ford manufactured and produced. One truck model that Mr. Thompson designed was the 1961 H series, high tilt cab design, along with many famous tractor models. From the 1960's Mustangs to the Thunderbirds and concept vehicles, Mr. Thompson had offered many great ideals for the automobile industry.
In 1962, Mr. Thompson received several awards for his civic work, including the Ford Motor Company Citizen of the Year award. In August of 1976, he became the manager of the Appearance Development and Feasibility Design Modeling department at the Ford Motor Company Design Center in Dearborn, Michigan.
In 1979, Mr. Thompson coordinated a group of talented designers from Ford's design team to develop a creative traveling exhibit featuring twelve African American designers in the automotive industry. The exhibit traveled to Seattle Washington as well as at a number of High Schools, such as Cass Tech located in Detroit, Michigan. The exhibit became a huge success enlightening and motivating many young people who aspired to become automotive designers.
In 1984, Mr. McKinley Thompson retired from Ford Motor Company leaving behind a portfolio of great ideals for future products. Since coming to Ford Design Center, he had worked as a designer and a senior designer within the Ford car, truck and tractor design studios, plus the International design studio. After his retirement, Mr. Thompson took a creative interest in human powered vehicles using bicycle technology to develop two and three wheeled type vehicles. Mr. Thompson also created the Warrior concept vehicle (not pictured) which was a very unique model. The Warrior had a Renault engine along with Renault chassis. The body was constructed with a thermoformed high impact laminated structural plastic called Royalex. The Warrior was going to be used for distribution all over the world. Although the Warrior was never put into production it became Mr. Thompson's best creative idea.
Unfortunately, today Mr. McKinley Thompson is no longer with us; however his depth of passion and great design leadership will always have its place in automotive history. Mr. McKinley Thompson once said, “Work hard….do whatever the job requires, and always be fair in your dealings".
A special thanks to Robert Tate, Automotive Historian and Researcher, for donating the story to the MotorCities Story of the Week program. Photographs courtesy of Robert Tate’s Personal Collection. (Bibliography: Farrell , Jim & Cheryl . Ford Design Department Concept & Show Cars 1932-1961.World Print ,1999. A Special Thank You to R. Brian Stone -Associate Professor, Department of Design and Dr. Noel Mayo.)
Please do not republish the story and/or photographs without permission of MotorCities National Heritage Area. For further information contact Robert Tate at btate@motorcities.org. If you have a story that you would like to donate to be featured as a MotorCities Story of the Week, email Lisa Ambriez at lambriez@motorcities.org.