Automobile Enthusiasts

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,664 posts) Tue Dec 26, 2023, 07:52 AM Dec 2023

On this day, December 26, 1923, automotive stylist Dick Teague was born.

If you've ever watched CHiPs or Adam-12, you're familiar with his work.

Richard Teague at AMC during the 1970s

Born: Richard Arthur Teague; December 26, 1923; Los Angeles, California, United States
Died: May 5, 1991 (aged 67); San Diego, California, United States

Years active: 1948–1983
Employers:
General Motors
Packard Motor Car Company
Chrysler Corporation
American Motors Corporation

Known for: Developing the concept of interchangeable body panels for use among different models

Notable work:
1955-1956 Packard
Oldsmobile Rocket
Rambler Classic
AMC Cavalier
AMC Gremlin
AMC Javelin
AMC AMX
AMX GT
AMC Hornet
AMC Eagle
Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
AMC Pacer

Richard Arthur Teague (December 26, 1923 – May 5, 1991) was an American industrial designer in the North American automotive industry. He held automotive design positions at General Motors, Packard, and Chrysler before becoming Vice President of Design for American Motors Corporation (AMC), and designed several notable show cars and production vehicles including AMC's Pacer, Gremlin and Hornet models, as well as the Jeep Cherokee XJ and either designed or assisted in the designing of later cars for Chrysler such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Neon after American Motors' buyout.

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Early life

Teague's mother worked in the motion picture industry during the silent movie era. At five years of age Teague appeared in five episodes of Our Gang, playing the role of Dixie Duval, a girl. When he was six, he was seriously injured in a car accident near Pasadena, California, which was caused by a drunk driver. He lost several teeth, suffered a broken jaw, as well as sight in his right eye (leaving him without depth perception or stereoscopic vision), while his mother was left an invalid. A year later his father was killed in another automobile accident, also caused by a drunk driver.

While attending grade school in Los Angeles during the 1930s, Teague built model airplanes before turning to hot rods, since his schoolmates included Ed Iskendarian (who became a drag racer), and land speed racer Stuart Hilborn, as well as other car enthusiasts. He participated in time trials on a dry lake northeast of Los Angeles and was fond of saying that he "had a little gasoline in his blood."

Teague was exempt from service in the armed forces during World War II because of his visual impairment. After graduating from Susan Miller Dorsey High School in 1942, he worked as an aircraft technical illustrator for Northrop Corporation. His boss, Paul Browne, was a former designer at General Motors who suggested that Teague take night classes at the ArtCenter College of Design.

Early work

The last Teague design for Packard, the Executive

After World War II, Teague penned a design for a pre-Henry J economy car for Kaiser Motors. In 1947 he joined the General Motors design studios headed by Edmund Anderson. Starting as an apprentice stylist and eventually graduating to the Cadillac advanced design group, he also worked on the 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket. The 1950s "saw some of the most beautiful and some of the most outlandish vehicles" and the head of the design department at General Motors liked chrome on cars. Teague described how two sets of overlay designs were made for Harley Earl to choose from. Both chrome trim sets had been put on one Oldsmobile prototype by mistake. Earl saw it and ordered it produced that way although the stylists were horrified.

Teague was dismissed from General Motors in 1952, and joined the Packard Motor Car Company as Chief Stylist, following John Reinhart's resignation. His first work there was a minor facelift on the Packard line for 1953, and when the Packard management under James J. Nance decided to re-launch the Clipper brand as a stand-alone make, separate from Packard, it was Teague who achieved the visual distinction between the two. He also designed several Packard show cars. These included the 1953 Balboa (whose canopied reverse-slant and lowering for ventilation rear window later appeared on the 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, 1958–1960 Lincoln Continental, and various Mercury models), the 1954 Panther, and contributed with William Schmidt to the 1955 Request, whose principal designer was Dick Macadam.

The restyled Packard line for 1955 showed Teague's keen eye for detail and his ability to produce significant changes based on limited budgets. However, the company was not doing well following the purchase of struggling Studebaker Corporation in 1954. The last Teague design for Packard was the Executive, introduced mid-1956 and derived from the Clipper Custom, launched just as sales of the luxury Packard line collapsed. Teague also designed the last Packard show car, the Predictor, plus a new Packard and Clipper lineup for 1957 that would have followed the general lines of the Predictor. The design was stillborn when the Detroit Packard operations were shut down completely in mid-1956. Lacking funds for all-new models, the Studebaker-Packard Corporation had to make use of existing and economical Studebaker designs. Working with little time and money, the stopgap 1957 Studebaker-based Packard models became known as "Packardbakers." The 1957 Packard Clipper, popularly derided as "a Studebaker wearing Packard makeup", was designed largely by Teague, and was intended as a temporary stopgap to keep the brand going until the company's fortunes improved and a "real" Packard model could again be made.

By 1957, the entire Packard styling team had moved to Chrysler Corporation and Teague became Chief Stylist. After leaving due to management conflicts, he went to work for an independent design firm on non-automotive assignments.

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American Motors