Eugene Farkas (born Jenő Farkas; October 28, 1881 – February 24, 1963) was a Hungarian automotive engineer, most known for designing the

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

and

Fordson Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 19 ...

tractors.

Early life and education

Farkas was born in Káld,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, in 1881. He was the second eldest son of Károly and Anna Farkas, and one of ten children. Károly was a wagon builder. The family moved to Jánoshalma in 1886 and later moved on to

Szarvas Szarvas (; sk, Sarvaš; german: Sarwasch) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. Name Placename Szarvas originated from the old Hungarian word ''szarvas'', which means deer. Deer also can be found in the coat of arms of the town. Locati ...

. Eugene attended six years of compulsory school plus four years of military school and then moved to

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

to study at a grammar school. Through the support and kindness of a maternal uncle he was able to afford to attend the Royal Joseph Technical University, from which he graduated with a degree in Certified Mechanical Engineering.

Career

After qualifying at university Farkas completed one year of military service after which he worked in a motorcycle factory, unpaid, in order to get experience. In 1906 Farkas and a friend left Hungary to travel to 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. With only 17 words of English the young Hungarian landed in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

where he read the situations vacant and secured a position with

Maxwell-Briscoe Maxwell was an American automobile manufacturer which ran from about 1904 to 1925. The present-day successor to the Maxwell company was Chrysler (currently, "Stellantis North America"), which acquired the company in 1925. History Maxwell-Briscoe ...

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

. After six months, during which Farkas had taken

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

lessons he decided he wanted to work in innovative motor vehicle design, to this end he wrote to

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 ...

and

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Th ...

. Walter Flanders of Ford replied and in September 1907 Farkas started to work for Ford. This was not a long lived position because Farkas was not employed as an experimental draughtsman, after only two months Farkas moved on to work for

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed ...

but due to the

Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% fro ...

Farkas was soon out of work. He started work with the Morgan Engineering Co., in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 2 ...

where yet again the

caused him to lose his job. Early 1908, saw Farkas back at Ford working on the design of tools and fixtures for the

Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

. An unfortunate altercation with a fellow employee, named Haltenberger, caused Farkas to be dismissed. He went on to work for many other great names in the American motor industry:

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

Rapid Motor Vehicle Company The Rapid Motor Vehicle Company was founded in 1902 in Pontiac, Michigan, by brothers Max (1874-1946) and Morris Grabowsky, whose earlier venture, Grabowsky Motor Company, had been founded in Detroit in 1900. They went on to build one-ton trucks ...

, Cartercar Company and Hudson. When

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 ...

bought out the Cartercar company on October 26, 1909 Farkas became the chief engineer for Cartercar, a position he held for three years. Moving on once again, Farkas went to work for the Cass Motor Vehicle Co. designing trucks, but this was not a long-term future for the young Hungarian. By 1911, Farkas was living in

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

, Livingston County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, where he married Helen Louise Parshall. The couple had four sons: Raymond Zoltan (born 1912), Louis Eugen (born 1914), Don Earl (born 1917) and Robert Lawrence (born 1919). By 1913 Farkas had returned to work for Ford and the family had moved to

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 t ...

. On October 1, 1915 Charles Sorenson had been asked by

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

to oversee the development of a Ford tractor, a new design away from the converted

, which had been produced. Sorenson chose Eugene Farkas as his chief engineer for the project. Farkas was innovative in his designs, following the Wallis Tractor Co example of frameless construction, he improved the principle and set an industry standard which lasts to the modern day. The three-speed transmission was specifically designed by Farkas for the rigours of agriculture. Final drive was by worm gear, which was another Farkas design. Farkas was involved in the war effort of Ford during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1918, he designed an aircraft engine and he was involved in early US military

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

design. He worked on the Ford X configuration engine, which was a favorite of Henry Ford, but which was not a great success. Using expertise honed on such projects Farkas also worked on the Model A

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

bomber and a 12 cylinder radial aircraft engine. The latter was never built.

Retirement and death

By 1947, Farkas had completed his engineering career. He and Helen moved to

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and ...

, Orange County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

to retire. They were both keen dancers, Eugene occasionally entertained

with a traditional Hungarian dance. Eugene enjoyed fishing and playing the

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the s ...

. Farkas died on February 24, 1963. His widow Helen Louise Farkas (née Parshall) died on November 11, 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farkas, Eugene 1881 births 1963 deaths American automotive engineers Budapest University of Technology and Economics alumni Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States