Alden Giberson started his career at Smith, Hinchman and Gryllis as a designer after returning from serving in WWII. In 1952, he joined Ford Motor Company as a designer working in advanced styling under Gil Spear and then the Ford studio. He was part of the team that worked on the Thunderbird and was the designer responsible for suggesting the Thunderbird name. In 1960, he was sent to Ford England to train the new head of interiors. On his return to the US, he worked on the 1967 Mustang fastback, the 1971 Mustang, and the Bedrock vehicle. In the early 1970s he worked on interiors and from the mid 1970s-1981 he worked on exteriors, mainly wheels, grilles, and taillights. He retired in 1981. Giberson focuses mainly on his early career. He discusses in detail his work on the Thunderbird and the team working on that vehicle. He also describes working in pre-production and advanced studios working on vehicles such as the Volare and Stiletto. Giberson talks about some of the different design studio personalities and their roles in the formation of the studio and the design process overall, particularly Donald DeLaRossa, David Ash, and Gene Bordinat. He goes on to discuss his work on the Mustang in the late 1960s and early 1970s and his brief time in interiors. He ends by reflecting on his career and the atmosphere of the Ford design department.
Collection contains 1 .25" tape, 2 cassettes, 2 WAV files, 2 MP3 files, 1 loose transcript, 1 bound transcript, and 1 PDF transcript. Uploaded July 23, 2021 and December 5, 2024.
Copyright has been transferred to The Henry Ford by the donor. Copyright for some items in the collection may still be held by their respective creator(s).