Freeman Thomas (born August 20, 1957) is an American

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

and industrial designer who has worked for Porsche,

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...

DaimlerChrysler The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Background

Thomas, the son of an American military

air traffic controller Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...

and a German mother, traveled frequently around Europe during his childhood. This led to an early awareness of cars - in his own words, "a certain sense of automotive space."

Early career

After graduating from

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

in Pasadena, California, Freeman worked as a senior designer at Porsche from 1983 to 1987. After leaving Porsche, he worked in consultancy, journalism and teaching, before joining Volkswagen of America in 1991.

Volkswagen Group

While at the Volkswagen Design Center in

Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in Simi Valley (valley), the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it ...

, he collaborated with fellow Art Center graduate

J Mays J Mays is an American industrial designer who served as Group Vice President of Global Design and Chief Creative Officer at Ford Motor Company, and is now Chief Design Officer at Whirlpool. His name is simply "J", named after his grandfather, S ...

on the design of the Volkswagen Concept 1

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

, a modern re-interpretation of the original

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

. This was first shown at the 1994 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), and the positive response led to the car entering production as the

Volkswagen New Beetle The Volkswagen New Beetle is a compact car, introduced by Volkswagen in 1997, drawing heavy inspiration from the exterior design of the original Beetle. Unlike the original Beetle, the New Beetle has its engine in the front, driving the fron ...

. In 1994, he began the design of the acclaimed Audi TT concept car, which also led to a production model. From 1996 to 1999, Thomas was a member of J Mays' SHR Perceptual Management industrial design consultancy, before returning to

Volkswagen of America Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (sometimes referred to as Volkswagen of America, abbreviated to VWoA), is the North American operational headquarters, and subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group of automobile companies of Germany. VWoA is responsi ...

as head of design.

DaimlerChrysler

In 1999, Thomas was appointed vice president of

Advanced Product Design Strategy, later becoming head of their Pacifica Advanced Design Center in 2002. At DaimlerChrysler he oversaw the design of several Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep concept cars and production models.

Ford

Thomas moved to 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 ...

, taking up the role of Director, Strategic Design for North America on 1 June 2005. He is responsible for developing product design strategies and concept vehicles for the Ford (inclusive of the current Mustang design),

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and Mercury marques.

R Gruppe

Cris Huergas and Freeman Thomas of California founded R Gruppe, an early 911 Porsche sports club on May 15, 1999. They did so with the intention of bringing like-minded individual together to share technical and historical information related to their cars, as well as sharing views and ideas concerning the ownership, preparation, maintenance and operation of their cars.

Designs

Thomas is credited with the following designs: *

* Audi TT *

Audi A4 The Audi A4 is a line of compact executive cars produced since 1994 by the German car manufacturer Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The A4 has been built in five generations and is based on the Volkswagen Group B platform. The first ...

Audi A6 The Audi A6 is an executive car made by the German automaker Audi. Now in its fifth generation, the successor to the Audi 100 is manufactured in Neckarsulm, Germany, and is available in saloon and estate configurations, the latter marketed by A ...

Panoz Roadster The Panoz Roadster is a sports car launched in 1992 by the American manufacturer Panoz Auto Development Company of Georgia. The Roadster was succeeded by the AIV Roadster in 1997. They were built using aluminum, similar to that of the Plymouth Pr ...

Chrysler Pacifica Chrysler Pacifica is a nameplate used by Chrysler for a variety of vehicles. The name was first used on a luxury minivan concept vehicle in 1999, and later a crossover concept in 2002. From 2004 to 2008, it was used on a mid-size crossover, and ...

Dodge Super 8 Hemi The Dodge Super 8 Hemi was a concept car created by Dodge. It was first introduced at the 2001 North American International Auto Show. It is a combination of the classic design from Dodge's past vehicles and the design from Dodge's SUVs and truc ...

concept * Jeep Willys concept * Jeep Treo concept * Dodge Sling Shot concept * Jeep Rescue concept *

Dodge Tomahawk The Dodge Tomahawk is a non- street legal vehicle introduced in 2003 by Dodge at the North American International Auto Show, initially as a one-off concept, and then later that year as a limited production vehicle when DaimlerChrysler announce ...

concept motorcycle *With Ralph Gilles **

Chrysler 300 The Chrysler 300 is a full-size luxury car manufactured and marketed by Stellantis North America (and its predecessor companies) as a four-door sedan and station wagon in its first generation (model years 2005–2010) and solely as a four-d ...

** Dodge Magnum ** Dodge Charger

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Freeman American automobile designers Chrysler designers Volkswagen Group designers Audi people Living people 1957 births