Transcript for AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN ORAL HISTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW WITH L. DAVID ASH, 1985 Object ID 91.1.1673.81 Published in Electronic Format: August 2021 Benson Ford Research Center The Henry Ford 20900 Oakwood Boulevard ∙ Dearborn, MI 48124-5029 USA
[email protected] ∙ www.thehenryford.org NOTE TO READERS This PDF-format version of the L. David Ash interview transcript was created from a Word document, created in turn from the transcript available on the Automobile in American Life and Society Web site (http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu). The Automotive Design Oral History Project, Accession 91.1.1673, consists of over 120 interviews with designers and engineers conducted by David Crippen of The Henry Ford during the 1980s. For more information, please contact staff at the Benson Ford Research Center (
[email protected]). Staff of the Benson Ford Research Center August 2021 91.1.1673.81 AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN ORAL HISTORY PROJECT The Reminiscences of L. David Ash Reminiscence from the 1985 Interview with L. David Ash. Automotive Design Oral History, Accession 1673. Benson Ford Research Center. The Henry Ford. This is January 25, 1985 , and this is the second interview with Mr. L. David Ash, long-time Ford designer. *(see footnote) A: Last time we met, we were talking about the '57 Ford, which, chronologically, would have been calendar year about 1955. Shortly after that, I was transferred again, and this time to the Lincoln studio, which was a place I hadn't previously been. It had a new chief stylist named John Najjar. The major project at hand was the all-new Lincoln and Continental and also finishing up the facelift of the '57 Lincoln, which Bill Schmidt hadn't quite completed before he left for Packard.