Photo: Ford
The man whose sketch inspired the iconic look of the Ford Mustang has died. Gale Halderman passed away on Wednesday following a short battle with cancer. He was 87 years old.
Halderman spent 40 years with Ford, during which time he served as the director and executive director of the Ford Design Studio. According to Dayton Daily News, his storied career earned him a spot in the Mustang Hall of Fame, the Lee Iacocca Award, and induction into the American Legion Buckeye Boys State Hall of Fame.
Graduating from the Dayton Art Institute in 1954, Halderman was quickly scooped up by Ford Motor Company and brought to the Ford Design Studio. His early designs include the 1957 Ford line and the Mystere concept, and his work earned him a promotion to design manager.
Gale Halderman and the Ford Mustang
Per Automotive News, he was handed a fateful assignment in 1962 when he was asked to submit a design for a secret sports car that would challenge the Chevrolet Corvair Monza. Halderman won with a sketch for a car he called the Cougar — a name that would later be used for Mercury’s Mustang equivalent. Halderman fought for the name to stick, and a concept built in 1962 featured a big cat emblem in the grille that gave way to the iconic pony corral.
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Photo: Ford
Not only was Halderman key to the creation of the original Ford Mustang, but he also oversaw design changes from 1971-73. He later became the director of the Lincoln-Mercury Design Studio, where he led the design of the 1990 Lincoln Town Car that won the Motor Trend Car of the Year award.
After retiring in 1994, Halderman returned to the Tipp City, Ohio, farmhouse in which he was born. He converted the barn on the property to a dedicated museum that includes several classic cars, his sketches, memorabilia, and his daughter’s vintage camera collection. According to DDN, the museum will be kept open by appointment and a celebration of his life is being planned.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.