John Najjar, born November 11, 1918, in Omaha, NE, attended Meinzinger Art School, Wayne State University and Cranbrook Academy. In 1936, one year before he enrolled in Meinzinger's, he began his 44-year career with the Ford Motor Company. As he studied, he worked in various Ford Studios as a designer, design specialist and design manager. Najjar was made Chief Stylist in the Lincoln and Lincoln Continental studio (1955-1957), Executive Director of various Ford studios (1957-1969), Director of industrial design and graphics (1969-1974), and finally, Assistant Director of special assignments, including the design of trucks and tractors. Najjar conceived the design theme of the Mustang I Show Car and the production 1964 1/2-1965 Mustang which won awards and set production and sales records. The pony-pak engine located midship, the Mustang logo and even the name itself were his proposals. (Adapted from Automotive Design Drawing Collection finding aid.)

Collection contains 5 .25" tapes, 5 cassettes, 5 WAV files, 5 MP3 files, 2 diskettes, 2 loose transcripts, 3 bound transcripts, and 1 Word transcript.