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 including the Ferrari 365 California, De Tomaso Pantera and Aston Martin Lagonda Coupé to high-volume popular cars including the first generation

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

(1972) and the Fiat 124 Spider (1966). For his work, Tjaarda was honored at the 1997

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It is widely considered the pinnacle event of its kind and one of the most prestigious car events i ...

as well as the 1997 Concorso Italiano.

Jalopnik G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that runs ''Gizmodo'', ''Kotaku'', ''Jalopnik'', '' Deadspin'', '' Lifehacker'', ''Jezebel'', ''The Root'', '' The A.V. Club'', ''The Takeout'', ''The Onion'', and ''The Inventory''. Histor ...

called Tjaarda "one of the defining automotive designers of the 20th century." Noted automotive designer and journalist Robert Cumberford called Tjaarda "one of the world’s most accomplished Italian car designers." Car Design News called him "one of the great unsung heroes of the car design world."

Background

Born in Detroit, Tjaarda was the son of Irene Tjaarda and Dutch auto designer John Tjaarda (born Joop Tjaarda van Starkenburg, 1897–1962), designer of the 1935 Lincoln Zephyr. Tjaarda's parents divorced in 1939 and he lived with his mother in Detroit. Tjaarda studied high school in Birmingham High School,

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103. History The area comprising what is now the ...

(1953 renamed to

Seaholm High School Ernest W. Seaholm High School (simply referred to as Seaholm High School) is a public high school in Birmingham, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1951 and is part of the Birmingham Public Schools district. History Seaholm ope ...

Career

Tjaarda studied Architecture at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and presented an automobile (a sport station wagon) rather than building design for his senior thesis — winning an internship at Carrozzeria Ghia, the renowned Italian design house. In 1958, he moved to

Turin, Italy Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

, where his career began and where he continued to live and work. Tjaarda started his career at Ghia with the Innocenti 950. By 1961 had moved to

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian ...

, where he went on to work on designs that included the Chevrolet Corvette Rondine, the Ferrari 330GT 2+2, the Fiat 124 Spider, and the Ferrari 365 California. He later returned to Ghia, where he designed the Isuzu Bellett MX1600 concept, the De Tomaso Pantera, and the De Tomaso Longchamp. In 1981, Tom was appointed as Director of Fiat Advanced Studios. In 1984, he started his own independent design firm, Dimensione Design.

Design portfolio

1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 - red - fvr (4643560395)

* 1959. Ghia Selene I * 1960. Innocenti 950 S Ghia Spider * 1960. (Innocenti) Ghia IXG Dragster * 1960. Renault Dauphine Ghia Coupé * 1960. VW Karmann Ghia 1500 (type 34) Coupé (rear design; main body design by Sergio Sartorelli) * 1961. Ferbedo Automobilina pedal car (Ghia) * 1961. Ghia Cart * 1961. Innocenti 1100 Ghia Coupé * 1962.

Chevrolet Corvair The Chevrolet Corvair is a compact car manufactured by Chevrolet for model years 1960–1969 in two generations. A response to the Volkswagen Beetle, it remains the only American-designed, mass-produced passenger car with a rear-mounted, a ...

Pininfarina Coupé (I) * 1963. Chevrolet Corvette Rondine Pininfarina Coupé (I) * 1963. Fiat 2300 Pininfarina * 1963. Lancia Flaminia 2.8 Pininfarina Coupé Speciale * 1964. Chevrolet Corvette Rondine Pininfarina Coupé (II) * 1964. Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 Pininfarina series 1 * 1964. Mercedes 230 SL Pininfarina Coupé * 1965. Fiat 124 Sport Spider Pininfarina * 1966. Ferrari 365 California * 1968. Ghia Centurion (with Giorgetto Giugiaro and Rowan Industries) * 1968. Serenissima Coupé (Ghia) * 1969. De Tomaso Mustela (I) (Ghia) * 1969. Isuzu Bellett MX1600 GT (Ghia) * 1969. Lancia Flaminia Marica (Ghia) * 1969. Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF Competizione (Ghia) * 1970. De Tomaso Deauville (Ghia) * 1970. De Tomaso Pantera Ghia * 1970. Sinthesis 2000 Berlinetta * 1970. Williams De Tomaso-Ford (Cosworth) 505/38 (De Tomaso Formula 1) * 1971. All-Cars AutoZodiaco Damaca * 1971. De Tomaso 1600 (Ghia) Spider * 1971. De Tomaso Zonda (Ghia) * 1971. Isuzu Bellett SportsWagon (Ghia) * 1972. De Tomaso Longchamp * 1972.

(Ghia, Project "Wolf") * 1973. De Tomaso Pantera 7X (Montella, Ghia) * 1973. Ford Mustela (II) (Ghia) * 1974. Ford Ghia Coins * 1974. Ford Maverick * 1979. Fiat Brazil * 1979.

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

II Proposals (Ghia) (different variants) * 1979. Zastava (facelifts of older Fiat-based models for Yugoslavia) * 1980. De Tomaso Longchamp Cabrio * 1981. SEAT Ronda * 1981. SEAT Guappa Coupé * 1982. Chrysler LeBaron * 1982. Chrysler Imperial * 1983. Rayton-Fissore Taxi Torino * 1985. Autobianchi/ Lancia Y10 * 1985. Chrysler Jeep (Interior) * 1985. Rayton-Fissore Magnum 4x4 * 1989. Aston Martin Lagonda Coupé * 1988. PPG 4x4 (USA) * 1989. Laforza Magnum 4x4 * 1989. Zastava Utility vehicle * 1991. Bitter Tasco * 1992. Saab 900 four door * 1992. Suzuki Coupé (for Bugatti) * 1993. Fiat Iveco Truck Interior * 1995. Lamborghini Diablo (Interior) * 1998. Isotta-Fraschini T8 Coupé * 1998. Isotta-Fraschini T12 Coupé * 2000.

Qvale Mangusta The Qvale Mangusta is a sports car produced in limited numbers by the Italian automaker Qvale between 1999 and 2002. During development and very early production, it was developed from the De Tomaso Biguá concept car shown to the general public ...

(II) * 2001. Laforza PSV (II) (production engineering only) * 2002. Spyker GT Sport * 2003. Fiat Barchetta (Facelift) * 2006. Shelby Series 2 * 2007. Tjaarda Mustang

References

External links

www.tom-tjaarda.net
* https://web.archive.org/web/20101230104914/http://www.conceptcars.it/stilisti/tjaarda.htm * http://www.coachbuilt.com/des/t/tjaarda/tjaarda_tom.htm * Tjaarda Mustang - https://web.archive.org/web/20120426081840/http://www.hstintl.com/index.php?menu=1 * http://www.fiat124spider.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Tjaarda, Tom 1934 births 2017 deaths People from Detroit American automobile designers Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning alumni American people of Dutch descent