Lewis D. Crusoe was an automobile executive for

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 ...

in the 1950s. Crusoe had been an executive for

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 ...

, and was recruited to come to Ford by

Ernie Breech Ernest Robert Breech (1897–1978) was an American corporate executive. Although he is best remembered for his work in revitalizing Ford Motor Company in the years following World War II, he served similar roles at Trans World Airlines and other co ...

, a GM executive brought in by

Henry Ford II Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president ...

. He became the vice-president in charge of Ford Division, then the head of the Car and Truck Divisions. He was the primary inspiration for the introduction of the original

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pro ...

, along with designer George W. Walker Inspiration for the Ford Thunderbird came when Crusoe and Walker were viewing European car models at the Grand Palais car show in Paris. Crusoe died on November 25, 1973 at the age of 78.
TBird retrospective

References

Ford executives Year of birth missing 1973 deaths {{business-bio-stub