Automotive Hall of Fame Induction: A Who’s Who – and Where Are They Now
October 19, 2007

Every year, the automotive leaders of today, tomorrow and yesterday gather for the induction of new members into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan.

Always a “Who’s Who,” this year’s event, held this week, was not only a Who’s Who but a Who’s with What Company and an evening of ironic twists.

Former Toyota exec Jim Press sat at a front-row table with his colleagues –- from Chrysler. A few tables down were his former Toyota colleagues, there to honor Shoichiro Toyoda, who was being inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

Inducted last year as an industry leader into the Hall of Fame, Press made his way to “The Doctor,” as Toyoda is known because of his doctorate degree in engineering, before the ceremony. Press politely bowed in Japanese manner. Likely, though we couldn’t hear, he congratulated Toyoda on the extreme honor of his induction. Many wondered if it was Press’ first meeting with Dr. Toyoda since resigning from Toyota, where he’d been for 37 years before abruptly resigning and joining Chrysler as vice chairman in charge of sales and marketing.

Toyoda Recalls Earlier Days

The humble and witty Toyoda recalled, through his interpreter, his many trips to the U.S., and specifically Detroit.

He reminisced about displaying a new Toyota model at a facility in the shadows of Ford’s famous Glass House corporate headquarters, just across the street from where Tuesday night’s event was held.  “We weren’t invited inside in those days,” he quipped, although truth is, Toyota execs visited Ford in the 1950s to learn mass production methods.

Toyoda paid homage to General Motors’ current CEO Rick Wagoner and its previous one, Jack Smith (an earlier Hall of Fame inductee) who were in attendance. He talked about how much Toyota learned from GM through its NUMMI joint venture in California, which continues today.

Surely, some in the crowd were thinking: Why did we ever teach Toyota our tricks? Since those early days of Toyota learning from the Big Three, Detroit automakers have had their market share lunch eaten by Toyota and the other Asian makers.

In another ironic twist, the opening video to introduce Dr. Toyoda talked about the quality and reliability standards he brought to the automaker just after World War II. Indeed, Toyota and quality eventually became synonymous as a result. However, earlier in the day of the event, Consumer Reports magazine came to Detroit to deliver its ratings on 2008 models -– which showed Toyota’s once-perceived bulletproof quality slipping and the magazine refusing to give new Toyotas an automatic recommendation as it had in the past.

Design Legacies

Italian designer extraordinaire Sergio Pininfarina was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame this week. He was ill and unable to attend so his son Paulo, a third-generation Pininfarina to run the Turin-based firm, accepted the honor for his father. Sergio Pininfarina’s story and his son were introduced by former Chrysler design chief Tom Gale.

It wasn’t the first we saw of Gale. Earlier in the evening, Gale’s son, Jeffrey, now a designer at Chrysler, was inducted in the Automotive Hall of Fame as one of the industry’s future leaders. The young Gale, who talked about his father’s support and guidance, worked on the designs of the upcoming Dodge Challenger, the Charger and Magnum SRT8 as well as the interior of the Dodge M80 concept. Most recently, he led the exterior design of the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.

Another young designer –- one from GM –- was also among the future leaders honored. Vicki Vlachaski is a design manager in GM’s California advance studio. The Californian designed the interiors of the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. Vlachaski had the support at the event of august company, including Wagoner, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, GM North America President Troy Clarke and GM design chief Ed Welburn, who nominated her for her creativity, leadership and ability to work under deadline pressure, he told AutoObserver.

The future is bright for these young designers. Other designers who have been named young leaders by the Automotive Hall of Fame in the past and who attended this week’s event, already are in leadership positions. Bryan Nesbitt now heads GM’s North American design, after running GM’s European design center and styling the Chevrolet HHR and Chrysler PT Cruiser. Liz Wetzel, Vlachaski’s mentor, is in charge of defining the designs of GM’s brands. Ralph Guilles’ head-turning design of the Chrysler 300 catapulted him into the top ranks of Chrysler design.

Other young leaders inducted this year were Scott Costello, a manager with supplier American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc., Chaelynn Pope, a senior manager in manufacturing and program management at Chrysler, and Regina Salazar, an operations director at supplier ArvinMeritor.

Racers Inducted –- or Indicted?

Also inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame this week were two racecar drivers –- A.J. Foyt, who wasn’t present to accept the honor but did so by video, and Dan Gurney, who had the line of the night. He concluded his acceptance speech saying he was honored to be inducted, stumbling on the word inducted. “I almost said indicted,” he chuckled, as did the audience.

Little-Known Legend

Probably the least-known inductee was Charles B. King, a renaissance man who was an inventor and an engineer as well as a poet and artist. King was the first driver of a gasoline automobile in Detroit. The story goes that he was followed by Henry Ford –- who was riding a bicycle. King’s nighttime drives drew hundreds of spectators, after which he was quoted as saying “I am convinced that, in time, the horseless carriage will supersede the horse.”

King later shared much of his automotive knowledge with Ford as well as Ransom Olds and other early industry pioneers.

But then he moved to the East Coast and on to other inventions and hobbies. His grandson, who accepted the award on behalf of the late King, told stories of the many visitors, from Ford to legendary musicians, to visit the estate, filled with collections and inventions. The home eventually was sold to author Jean Kerr, who wrote about raising her brood of kids in the house in a book and movie called Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.

Poignant Moment

The poignant moment of the evening was a story told by Costello, one of the young up-and-comers inducted. He invited his parents to the reception to honor inductees at the Automotive Hall of Fame museum in Dearborn. His father, who had worked at American Axle before him, rounded a corner of the museum and insisted Costello and his mother come look at something. There, Costello relates, was a Volkswagen Beetle of the same vintage and same interior and exterior colors as the one his father had given to his mother as “an engagement ring.” The moment caused Costello to conclude to the crowd: “We’re not just making cars; we’re making memories.”

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