From Design to Drive

Known as one of the most dangerous endurance races in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a testing ground for the highest-grade race cars. From 1960 to 1965, Ferrari held a six-year winning streak Ford was determined to end with the GT40. This high-performance mid-engine race car was built with one goal in mind: to win at Le Mans. With sheer speed and endurance, this car led Ford to victory in 1966. Thanks to the concept sketches by McKinley Thompson, Jr., the GT40 became a reality. As the first African American car designer to work at Ford, Thompson’s groundbreaking designs helped usher in some of the most historically significant vehicles by that manufacturer.

Born on November 8, 1922, in Queens, New York, Thompson showed an avid interest in cars at a young age. One day, around age 12, he walked down his sidewalk as the clouds in the sky began to break. As the sun glistened on the street, he saw a sleek silver DeSoto Airflow car drive by. Thompson was in awe and felt like there was a spotlight on the car. He began to run towards it, and as it drove off, Thompson realized he wanted to become an automobile designer. During Thompson’s years at Murray Hill High School, he took commercial art classes, where his drawing abilities greatly improved. By the time Thompson graduated high school in 1940, he had finished drafting courses that taught him how to express his projects through concept drawings and illustrations.

In the following year, 1941, Thompson enlisted in the United States Army. During World War II, he served in the Army Signal Corps, where he worked as an engineering layout coordinator. After the war ended, Thompson started a family and worked for the Army Signal Corps but remained passionate about car design.

In 1953, Thompson found an opportunity to put his passion to the test. It was a four-year scholarship competition for the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, known as one of the most distinguished industrial design schools. This opportunity was called From Dream to Drawing Board and was hosted by Motor Trend magazine. Thompson’s submission was a turbine car with a reinforced plastic body, which was popular in the post-war era. His design won the contest, and afterwards, he enrolled at the college’s transportation design department. In doing so, he became the first African American to attend the school and earned a degree in transportation design in 1956.

Later that year, Thompson was hired to work for the Ford Motor Company and made history as the first African American automotive designer there. He saw his childhood dream become a reality. Off the bat, Thompson helped design iconic cars like the Mustang, the GT40, and the first-generation Bronco. One of his more radical designs was the Ford Gyron, which was revealed at the 1961 Detroit Auto Show. The car was a futuristic two-wheeled vehicle stabilized by gyroscopes. Despite its unique look, the car was only built for research and marketing purposes. All of his hard work would pay off, as Thompson received the Citizen of the Year award from the mayor of Detroit in 1962.

McKinley Thompson, Jr., was a man who followed his dreams and made history along the way. While Thompson had no Black role models to look towards in the automotive industry, he now inspires others. He broke through racial barriers in the automotive design world, and his drawings are timeless classics still studied by designers today.