Earle Steele MacPherson (July 6, 1891 – January 26, 1960) was an American automotive

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, most famous for developing the

MacPherson strut The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles, and is named for American automotive engineer Ear ...

in the 1940s.

Biography

Earle S. MacPherson was born in

Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in the southeastern part of Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located o ...

, in 1891, and was a graduate of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. He served in World War I and attained the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He worked successively for the Chalmers Motor Company and for the Liberty Motor Car Company in the early 1920s, and joined

Hupmobile Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1939 by the Hupp Motor Car Company of Detroit. The prototype was developed in 1908. History Founding In 1909, Bobby Hupp co-founded Hupp Motor Car Company, with Charles Hastings, for ...

in 1923. In 1934, he joined

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, becoming chief design engineer of

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

division in 1935. MacPherson was the chief engineer of the

Chevrolet Cadet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and oust ...

project, a compact car intended to sell for less than $1,000. MacPherson developed a strut-type suspension for the Cadet, partly inspired by

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

designs patented by

Guido Fornaca Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

in the 1920s (although the Cadet did not use a true MacPherson strut design) and a patent by Frank M. Smith of Stout Motor Car Corp. After the Cadet was canceled in May 1947, MacPherson left GM, joining the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

later that year. One of his first projects was to adapt his strut suspension design for the 1949

Ford Vedette The Ford Vedette is a large car formerly manufactured by Ford SAF in their Poissy plant from 1948-1954. Originally conceived by Edsel Ford and Ford designer Eugene T. "Bob" Gregorie as a “light” Ford model, smaller than the 1942 Ford. Howeve ...

, for Ford's French subsidiary. This became the first car to use the true

suspension. Ford's

Poissy Poissy () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Pisciacais'' in French. Poissy is one of ...

plant got off to a slow start with the Vedette, however, and the Fords Zephyr and

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

which captured the headlines at the 1950

London Motor Show London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, is a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O Ev ...

have also been claimed as the first cars to appear "in mass production" with MacPherson struts. MacPherson became chief engineer of Ford Motor Company in 1952, a position he retained until his retirement in May 1958. He died in January 1960, at Old Grace Hospital in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, after he suffered a heart attack

References

External links

MacPherson's World War II draft registration card
via Fold3.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, Earle S. 1891 births 1960 deaths American automotive engineers American automotive pioneers 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American inventors Ford designers University of Illinois alumni American military personnel of World War I Engineers from Illinois

Biography

References

Further reading

External links