Mckinley Thompson Jr
The Ford Bronco is the product of legendary talent, but there’s one legend in the story of the Bronco who not only helped create the first Ford 4x4 sports-utility vehicle design, he made history, becoming one of the first African American designers in the industry. Mckinley Thompson Jr., a Ford designer who helped pen the first-generation Bronco, was hired at Ford Motor Company after graduating from Artcenter College of Design in Pasadena, California with a degree in transportation design in 1956.
His first assignment was at Ford’s advanced design studio in Dearborn, working under George Walker, vice president of Ford design. Among his projects was a light-duty cab-forward truck, several concept sketches for the soon-to-be Ford Mustang and the legendary Ford GT40. Thompson also worked on the futuristic space-age Ford Gyron, a two-wheeled concept car that was on display at the Century of Progress exhibit at the Ford Rotunda in 1961. ‘Mckinley was a man who followed his dreams and wound up making history,’ said Ford Bronco interior designer Christopher Young. ‘He not only broke through the colour barrier in the world of automotive design, he helped create some of the most iconic consumer products ever – from the Ford Mustang, Thunderbird and Bronco – designs that are not only timeless but have been studied by generations of designers.’
Among Thompson’s more noteworthy projects was the Bronco sports-utility vehicle, an open-air 4x4 concept featuring a square, short body and high ground clearance with minimal front and rear overhangs for optimum off-road capability.
One of his designs, titled “Package Proposal #5 for Bronco,” rendered July 24, 1963, influenced the design language that would become iconic attributes of the first-generation Bronco.
He had a keen interest in cars from the time he was young, and later recalled seeing a silver-gray Desoto Airflow when he was around 12. ‘It just so happened that the clouds opened up for the sunshine to come through,’ he said in an interview documented by Henry Ford. ‘It lit that car up like a searchlight. I was never so impressed with anything in all my life,’ he said. ‘I knew that’s what I wanted to do – I wanted to be an automobile designer.’