Finding Aid for P.J. GAUGHAN COLLECTION, 1952-1967 Accession 1686 Finding Aid Published: May 2011 20900 Oakwood Boulevard ∙ Dearborn, MI 48124-5029 USA [email protected] ∙ www.thehenryford.org P.J. Gaughan collection Accession 1686 OVERVIEW REPOSITORY: Benson Ford Research Center The Henry Ford 20900 Oakwood Blvd Dearborn, MI 48124-5029 www.thehenryford.org [email protected] ACCESSION NUMBER: 1686 CREATOR: Gaughan, P.J. TITLE: P.J. Gaughan collection INCLUSIVE DATES: 1952-1967 QUANTITY: 2.5 cubic ft. LANGUAGE: The materials are in English. ABSTRACT: P. J. Gaughan was a product planning executive in the Central Product Planning Office (CPPO) in the mid 1950s and early 1960s. During this time, the CPPO assembled a large collection of photographs, taken at various auto shows, which were used by the Ford Motor Company Car Product Planning Department to analyze the styling of competitor cars between 1951 and 1967. Page 2 of 9 P.J. Gaughan collection Accession 1686 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: The collection is open for research. COPYRIGHT: Copyright has been transferred to the Henry Ford by the donor. Copyright for some items in the collection may still be held by their respective creator(s). ACQUISITION: Donated to The Henry Ford by the Ford Motor Company Archives in 1975. RELATED MATERIAL: Related material held by The Henry Ford: - See the Office of Public Relations (Ford Motor Company) records subgroup, Field operations series, 1948-1960, accession 567, for photographs of exhibits from 1953 auto shows. - See the Automotive related programs collection, 1896- 1991, for additional auto show programs. PREFERRED CITATION: Item, folder, box, accession 1686, P.J. Gaughan collection, Benson Ford Research Center, The Henry Ford PROCESSING INFORMATION: Collection processed by staff of The Henry Ford, circa 1975. DESCRIPTION INFORMATION: Finding aid originally prepared by staff of The Henry Ford, circa 2002. Finding aid revised by Brian Wilson, March 2011, and republished in May 2011. Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) and local guidelines. Page 3 of 9 P.J. Gaughan collection Accession 1686 BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE P. J. Gaughan was a product planning executive in the Central Product Planning Office in the mid 1950s and early 1960s. The office was part of the Product Planning and Design Department (Ford Motor Company) headed by William Clay Ford in the 1950s and 1960s. The Central Product Planning Office supervised product planning activities; coordinated product plans and programs; reviewed product proposals; and provided staff assistance to the Engineering and Product Planning Committee, Styling Committee, and Advance Product Planning Subcommitee. SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The collection is almost wholly comprised of photographs. The Auto Show Photographs series constitutes the vast majority of the collection and consists of hundreds of photographs and a small number of reports originally held in eighteen loose-leaf binders. The material was utilized by the Ford Motor Company Car Product Planning Department to analyze the styling of competitor cars between 1951 and 1967. The photographs were taken at various auto shows including Chicago, Detroit, New York and the General Motors Motorama. Most of the photographs in the collection document "idea" cars, a contemporary term for experimental or concept cars. Also included is one collection of composite photographs showing several Ford and competitor models at similar angles on the same page for comparison. The series also includes some description and a small amount of analysis of the styling of competitor cars. The second series, 1958 Thunderbird Development, consists of one folder of materials from 1955 meetings and discussions involved in planning the 1958 Thunderbird. ARRANGEMENT The collection is arranged in two series: Series I: Auto Show Photographs Series II: 1958 Thunderbird Development Page 4 of 9 P.J. Gaughan collection Accession 1686 SUBJECT TERMS Names, Personal and Corporate Gaughan, P. J. Ford Motor Company. Product Planning and Design Department. Central Product Planning Office. Ford Motor Company--Exhibitions. Detroit Auto Show. General Motors Motorama. New York International Auto Show. Subjects Automobile industry and trade Automobiles--Exhibitions. Automobiles--Design and construction Experimental automobiles Exhibitions--Detroit. Exhibitions--New York. Exhibitions--Chicago. Sports cars Ford automobile Thunderbird automobile General Motors automobiles Genre and Form Photographs. Photographic prints Page 5 of 9 P.J. Gaughan collection Accession 1686 CONTAINER LIST Box no. Description AUTO SHOW PHOTOGRAPHS Box 1 Advance Design - GM, 1952 (includes photographs of: Le Sabre, Le Mans, El Dorado, Orleans, Buick XP-300, Wildcat, Starfire, Fiesta, Parisiene, Corvette) (2 folders) Advanced Design-Chrysler, 1952 (includes photographs of: K-310, Special, La Comtesse, Desoto, Dodge Firearrow, Plymouth XX 500, Plymouth Belmont) Advanced Design-Other American and Foreign Designs, 1952 (includes photographs of: Ford Nineteen Fifty X, Hudson Italia, Fiat, VEEDOL “Dream Car” sketches) General Motors Motorama, 1955 (includes photographs of: Cadillac El Dorado, Buick Wildcat III, Oldsmobile Delta 88, Pontiac Strato-Star, Chevrolet Biscayne, La Salle II) General Motors Motorama, 1956 (includes photographs of: Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac Club de Mer, Buick Centurion , Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, Cadillac Town Car, Cadillac Brougham, Firebird II) (2 folders) Show Cars, 1955 (includes photographs of: Buick Wildcat III, Chevrolet Corvette, Chrysler Flight Sweep I and II, Chrysler Falcon, La Salle, La Salle II, Pontiac Strato-Star) Box 2 Auto Shows, 1957 (includes multiple angle comparison photographs of: Ford, Chevrolet, Plymouth, Buick, Rambler, Studebaker, Mercury, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Dodge, DeSoto, Cadillac, Lincoln, Chrysler, Packard, Nash) (2 folders) Chicago Auto Show, 1956 (includes photographs of: Packard Predictor, Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, Chrysler Plainsman, Chrysler Flight Sweep I, Plymouth Fury, Dodge D500, DeSoto Adventurer, 1955 Pontiac Strato-Streak, 1955 Buick Wildcat III, 1955 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, Studebaker Golden Hawk, Volkswagen, Citroen) (2 folders) Chicago Auto Show, 1958 (includes photographs of: Ford La Galaxie (compared with 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car in memo), Dart, Buick Wells Fargo, Cadillac, Imperial, Rambler, Pontiac Bonneville, DeSoto Adventurer, Dodge Regal Lancer, Rambler American, Packard, Various photographs of automobile frames, Ford Consul, Taunus, Vauxhall, Mercedes Benz 300 SL, (Audi) DKW, Volvo 444, Citroen, Renault) (3 folders) Box 3 Chicago Auto Show, 1965 (includes photographs of: Chevrolet Concours, Buick Sky Lark Gran Sport, Buick Wildcat, Plymouth VIP, Dodge Charger II, Pontiac Bonneville Esprit, Pontiac Tempest GTO GR-RRR, Oldsmobile 442, Saab, Attache, Rambler, Toyota, Rover, Porsche 911, Firestone Green Monster, MG Cut-Away, Galaxie 500 LTD Limousine, Chevelle El Camino Surfer I. (2 folders) Detroit Auto Show, 1965 (includes photographs of: Ford LTD Executive, Thunderbird Town Landau, Mercury Comet Cyclone Sportster, Chrysler Imperial Le Baron Dior, Ford Pickup with Camper top, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Lift Page 6 of 9 P.J. Gaughan collection Accession 1686 Body Cut-Away, Pontiac GTO, Buick 65 1/2 Skylark Gran Sport, Dodge Charger II, Dodge “Little Red Wagon” Dragster, Attache) Detroit Auto Show, 1966 (includes photographs of: Ford Division Exhibit Area, Bordinat Cobra, Fairlane GT A GO GO, Fairlane 500/XL, Falcon Sports Coupe- Tartan, GT Mark I Grand Touring/Competition Car, Ford Powered Lotus 82 Indianapolis 500 winner, Thunderbird Town Landau (Green-Gold), Mustang Yellow Pearl, LTD Black Pearl, The Apartment (Econoline), “Big Red” Gas Turbine, Bronco Dune Buster, Lincoln Continental Coronation Coupe, Comet Escapade, Mercury Astron, Twist Steering, Special Mercury Limousine, Chevrolet Concours, Chevrolet Turbo Titan III, Chevrolet Camper, Pontiac Grand Comiche, Buick Skylark Gran Sport, Oldsmobile Toronado “Pikes Peak Record Car”, Oldsmobile Delta 88, Plymouth XP-VIP, Chrysler Imperial Mobile Executive car, Chrysler Outboard Motor, American Motors St. Moritz, American Motors Tahiti, American Motors AMX, Jeep Super Wagoneer, Triumph 2000 Sedan, NSU Spider, Wankel Engine, Opel Kadett, BMW 2000 CS) (2 folders) Box 4 Detroit Auto Show 1967 (includes official program, notes, and photographs) (2 folders) Ford Motor Company (Ford Division Exhibit Area, Ford Magic Cruiser II, Ford Mustang Mach I, Ford Interceptor, Ford Thunderbird Royale, Ford Shelby GT 350, Ford Shelby GT 500, Ford Division Option Exhibit, Ford Fairlane Number 28 LaFayette Ford NASCAR Stock Car, Ford Mustang, Ford Ranger II Show Truck, Ford Wrangler, Mercury Cougar Dan Gurney Signature Edition, Mercury Cyclone GT, Lincoln Continental Convertible General Motors (Chevrolet Camaro SS, Chevrolet Impala Lift-Body, Chevrolet Camaro SS Cut-Away, Chevrolet SS Pickup, GM Electrovair II, GM Electrovair I, GM Electrovan, GM Fuel Cell exhibit, Chevrolet Pickup Cut- Away, Pontiac GTO, Pontiac Grand Prix, Oldsmobile Toronado XX, Oldsmobile 442, Buick GS 400, Buick Wild Cat, Buick Cut-Away, Cadillac Eldorado, Cadillac Coupe de Ville Chrysler (Plymouth Baracuda, Dodge 500 Cut-Away, Dodge Pickup, Chrysler 300-X) Other Manufacturers (American Motors Rebel Wagon, American Rebel SST Convertible, Saab, Jaguar, Volvo, Austin Mini-Moke) Detroit Rod and Custom Show, 1965 (includes photographs