Bud Adams worked at Ford Motor Company from 1937 until his retirement in 1981 with a brief break in 1942 to work at Briggs Manufacturing Company and to serve in the Navy from 1944-1946. He worked in the Ford Design Department, Engineering, Special Military Vehicles, Ford of Europe as Chief Chassis Engineer, and retired in Chassis Engineering. Adam’s oral history focuses mainly on describing his time in the Ford Design Department from 1937-1942 working as a clay modeler under E.T. Gregorie. He describes his clay modeling and drafting work for a 10th scale 1939 Lincoln Continental, 1939 Mercury full size clay model, 1939 Zephyr and Mercury grilles, Zephyr concealed running board, and 1941 Zephyr and Ford front ends. He also discusses his time in the Henry Ford Trade School from 1932-1935 which led to his job in the design department, his return to Ford in the Lincoln Mercury Engineering Department in 1946, and his work in Special Miliary Vehicles from 1961-1963 working with the Shillelagh Missile. He also touches on his time in England as Chief Chassis Engineer of Ford Europe working on the Tanus/Cortina, Granada, and Capri II from 1971-1974 and his long career in chassis engineering and the collaboration between styling and engineering.

Collection contains 5 cassettes, 6 WAV files, 6 MP3 files, 1 diskette, 1 transcript. Uploaded July 21, 2021 and December 3, 2024.

Related item:
George E. Adams Papers, 1938-1945 (PDF of finding aid)