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 Post subject: Joe Oros - The Man who Designed the original Mustang Passes
PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:45 pm 
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Joe Oros: 1917-2012

When Lee Iaccoca, Don Frey and Hal Sperling were all developing the concept that would eventually be the Ford Mustang they held a design contest among several design studios to see who could incorporate their ideas into a real car. Each studio was given a set of parameters to work with to see who could come up with the best design.

Don Frey told the story of how Joe Oros had come to see him to show him something he and his group were working on. They walked through the design studio to the catacombs where clay models were constructed. There is the corner sat a car with a tarp covering it. Joe Oros pulled off the tarp and there sat the Ford Mustang. The car looked identical to the car that would eventually be put into production with the long hood and short trunk.

As soon as Don Frey saw the car he knew that this was exactly what the development team was after. The concept was called Cougar and in the front grille where the running horse would sit was a cougar.

Oros's vision for the Mustang was geared toward women as he believed that they would dominate the sport car market. He was right because for the first time in automotive history Ford was able to document that women were becoming a significant factor in the success of the Mustang. For the first time a car manufacturer was able to document sales to women.

Joe Oros, who was born in 1917 and lived to be 96, played a significant role in the high stakes success of the Mustang. Oros's design has become a cultural icon in the annals of automotive history. The Mustang broke every sales record in it's first few years of production and turned the Ford Motor Company into a wildly successful corporation. It turned Lee Iaccoca and Carroll Shelby into celebrities and earned the Ford Motor Company over a billion dollars in profits!

Oros showed incredible artistic talent early in life. His intelligence in grade school impressed his teachers so much that he was promoted from the third to the fifth grade. He graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1939 and later attended the General Motors School of Automotive Design and worked under the famed stylist Harley Earl. Oros quickly became a respected stylist while working on Cadillacs at GM. His drive and talent helped him move on to the George Walker Design Agency.

When George Walker joined Ford, Joe Oros came along with him to design the all new, post-war 1949 Ford, which saved Ford Motor Company. Later Oros would work on the design of the 55'-57' Thunderbird and the 57'-59' Fords. In the early 60's Oros was the design chief at the Ford Studio where produced the winning clay model in a design contest to determine the shape of Ford's future four seat sporty car.The ultimate design became the 1965 Mustang. Oros retired from Ford in 1968.

Over his long career, Oros designed kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, furniture, homes, sculptures, paintings and automobiles. Joe's wife Betty also made automotive history as the first female automotive stylist.

This husband and wife team retired to Santa Barbara, California where they kept portfolios of their creative design work to share with automotive journalists and other interested parties.

The world is much richer thanks to Joe Oros's contributions. He has left us with many reminders of what he accomplished, including the Mustang, which will be around for generations to admire and treasure.

Midnight Blue
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 Post subject: Re: Joe Oros - The Man who Designed the original Mustang Pa
PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:59 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 10:31 pm
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Location: Hagerstown MD
Wonderful article Steve of a FoMoCo icon. :btu:

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 Post subject: Re: Joe Oros - The Man who Designed the original Mustang Pa
PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 7:31 pm 
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Location: Cove Point
Great tale of history as we know it.

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 Post subject: Re: Joe Oros - The Man who Designed the original Mustang Pa
PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:36 pm 
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Thanks guy! :wave1:

The story of the Mustang has many chapters and key players who at the time didn't realize that this new car would become the icon it has. The success of the Mustang changed many lives including those who were responsible for creating the car.
Careers were made and the entire auto industry was reinvented due to the success of the Mustang, the first and best Pony Car. :banana:

Midnight Blue
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 Post subject: Re: Joe Oros - The Man who Designed the original Mustang Pa
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:09 am 
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Location: edgewood,md
I talked to the daughter of the designer of the running pony on face book. his last name was Clark can't remember his first name. he hardly get reconsided for the designed for the logo.

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 Post subject: Re: Joe Oros - The Man who Designed the original Mustang Pa
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:30 am 
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I just hope Ford can control the destiny of the Mustang legacy.

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 Post subject: Re: Joe Oros - The Man who Designed the original Mustang Pa
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:55 pm 
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Every time Ford does an evolution of the Mustang it takes a gamble that Mustang enthusiasts will buy into their design and styling efforts.

The retro design of the 2005-2010 Mustangs were enthusiastically received by the car buying public especially folks who likened the styling to the very popular 1969 Mustangs. The new 2014 & 2015 Mustang is causing a lot of anxiety among Mustang purists. The "leaked" photos and stories about the new Mustang that Ford plans to sell globally is causing a lot of apprehension in the Mustang world.

The idea of reintroducing a four cylinder Ecoboost engine along with the 305 horsepower V6 and the 5 liter Coyote V8 engine pushing 425 horsepower and looking like a 2 door Ford Fusion is not being universally accepted among Mustang enthusiasts.

Time will tell if this next evolution of the Mustang, which is aimed at a younger market and appealing to those who value high tech gadgets in their cars, will satisfy the devoted Mustang enthusiasts Ford needs to keep the Mustang a dominate player in their increasingly crowded market niche. :confused2:

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