Johan "Jan" Tjaarda (1897–1962), later known as John Tjaarda van Sterkenburg, was a Dutch product and automotive designer and stylist in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Tjaarda was born in 1897 in
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
, as the son of Henriette Elisabeth Thieme and the physician Johannes Jan Tjaarda. Tjaarda trained in aeronautical design in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and later served as a pilot in the
Dutch Air Force
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. After emigrating to the United States in 1923, he changed his name to John and worked in custom coachbuilding in
Hollywood. Around 1926, Tjaarda was hired to design bodies by coachbuilders Locke and Company. The best-known of their factory customs was a two-door phaeton called the Touralette, designed earlier by Tjaarda for himself, which Chrysler offered on their L-80 Imperial chassis in 1927–1928. Tjaarda also worked for a while with the original GM Art and Colour Section under famous designer
Harley Earl
Harley Jarvis Earl (November 22, 1893 – April 10, 1969) was an American automotive designer and business executive. He was the initial designated head of design at General Motors, later becoming vice president, the first top executive ever ...
.
John Tjaarda van Sterkenburg – Coachbult.com
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During the 1920s, he worked on a series of streamlined monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
designs, known as the "Sterkenburg series", before joining the Briggs Manufacturing Company
Briggs Manufacturing was an American, Detroit-based manufacturer of automobile bodies for Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Corporation and other U.S. and European automobile manufacturers.
In 1953 it was bought by Chrysler Corporation without its fo ...
as chief of body design. There he developed a 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 ...
for 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 ...
to be shown at the Century of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...
Exhibition (1933-1934) in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. Known as the "Briggs Dream Car", this was a streamlined rear-engined
In automobile design, a rear-engine design layout places the engine at the rear of the vehicle. The center of gravity of the engine itself is behind the rear axle. This is not to be confused with the center of gravity of the whole vehicle, as an ...
design, based on his previous work. Re-engineered as a front-engined car, this design was developed into the 1936 Lincoln-Zephyr
The Lincoln-Zephyr is a line of luxury cars that was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford from 1936 until 1942. Bridging the gap between the Ford V8 DeLuxe and the Lincoln Model K (in both size and price), it expanded Lincoln to a seco ...
.
Tjaarda also designed an exhibition "Kitchen of Tomorrow" for Briggs in 1934.
Tjaarda's son, Tom Tjaarda
Tom Tjaarda (born Stevens Thompson Tjaarda van Starkenburg; July 23, 1934 – June 2, 2017) was an American automobile designer noted for his work on a broad range of automobiles — estimated at over eighty — from exotic sports cars inc ...
, also became an automotive designer, working mainly in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
References
Industrial Design History - John Tjaarda
John Tjaarda page
on the Industrial Designers Society of America
The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) is a membership-based not-for-profit organization that promotes the practice and education of industrial design.
The organization was formally established in 1965 by the collaborative merger of ...
(IDSA) website
1897 births
1962 deaths
American automobile designers
Dutch automobile designers
Dutch emigrants to the United States
People from Arnhem
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