Gordon Buehrig

1935 Auburn Speedster designed by Gordon Buehrig

Cord 810 designed by Gordon Buehrig

1956 Continental Mark II

Gordon Miller Buehrig (B-yur-rig) (June 18, 1904 – January 22, 1990) was a noted automobile designer. Born in Mason City, Illinois, he had early design experience with Packard, General Motors and Stutz. In 1929, he was responsible for designing the bodies (built by Weymann) of the Stutz Black Hawks entered at Le Mans.^[1] At age 25 he became chief body designer for Duesenberg, where he designed the Model J. He joined the Auburn Automobile Company of Auburn, Indiana in 1934, producing the famous 1935 851 Boattail Speedster, based on the work of Alan Leamy .^[1] (A kit copy of this car was driven by the title faceman on NBC's "Remington Steele".) He also designed the distinctive Cord 810/812, the latter recognized for its originality by the Museum of Modern Art in 1951.

In 1949, Buehrig joined Ford, where his projects included the 1951 Victoria Coupe and the 1956 Continental Mark II. He invented the removable T-top, patented 5 June 1951, which was used in the aborted TASCO sports car.^[2][3]

Retiring from Ford in 1965, Buehrig taught for five years at the Art Center College of Design in California. In 1979, he produced the design for the Buehrig Motor Car, a limited-production carriage roof coupe.

Buehrig died in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan on January 22, 1990 at the age of 85. His cremated remains are buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Auburn, Indiana.

Buehrig was one of 25 candidates for Car Designer of the Century, an international award given in 1999 to honor the most influential automobile designer of the 20th century. It was won by the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro whose designs are the standards by which all automobiles are based since the 1960s.

External links

• Find A Grave Profile

References