Frank Hershey

For the baseball player, see Frank Hershey (baseball).

Frank Hershey (1907–1997) was an American automobile designer and student of General Motors Vice President of Design Harley Earl. Hershey is best known for his 1932 Peerless V-16 prototype, 1949 Cadillac tailfins and the 1955 Ford Thunderbird.

Born Franklin Quick Hershey in Michigan, and raised in Beverly Hills and La Puente, California, Hershey began his career at Murphy Coach Works of Pasadena, California under the guidance of Frank Spring. While at Murphy, Hershey was assigned the task of designing the 1932 Peerless X-D V-16 prototype.

From Murphy, Hershey went to work for GM where he focused on the 1933 Pontiac; in designing the 1935 Pontiac, Hershey introduced the silver streak design theme that the make would continue until 1956. He also was assigned to GM's Opel design offices in Germany in 1936, and GM's Holden make in Australia.

After leaving GM, Hershey set up his own design firm. Harley Earl attempted to lure Hershey back to GM; Hershey chose not to return only to learn years later that had he returned he would have been Earl's first choice to replace him as GM's Vice President of Design.

After several years with Packard, Hershey went to Ford where he designed the 1953-1957 full sized Fords. According to an interview given by Hershey to James W. Howell in 1995, George Walker had been hired as the public face of Ford design. Hershey designed the landmark Ford Thunderbird, and admitted so in a 1954 interview, which created friction between Walker and Hershey.[1]

After leaving Ford, Hershey also worked for Kaiser Aluminum and Rite Autotronics, heading design effort in both companies.

Hershey attended Occidental College where he majored in forestry. Hershey served in the Navy during World War II. While married and the father of two children, Frank Hershey was openly gay.

Frank Hershey died in California on October 20, 1997.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Independent research by James W. Howell (Collectible Automobile, December, 1995, p72) verifies Hershey's claim based on original drawings, notes and first person accounts.

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