Prolific automotive designer Tom Tjaarda dead at age 82

Tom Tjaarda with the Fiat 124 Spider. Image from the Hemmings archives.

Over a career that spanned seven decades, Tom Tjaarda designed, or at least influenced the design of, over 84 vehicles. Trained in architecture, his artistic touch wasn’t limited to automobiles, and other projects by Tjaarda ranged from monorail trains to buildings and furniture. Last week, Tjaarda died at the age of 82.

Born Steven Thompson Tjaarda Van Starkenberg in July 1934, Tjaarda was the son of designer Joop Tjaarda Van Starkenberg, better known by his Americanized name, John Tjaarda. The elder Tjaarda is credited with the design of the Lincoln Zephyr, so perhaps it would be easy to assume that Tom Tjaarda was predestined to design automobiles. Following his parents 1939 divorce, Tom remained in Detroit with his mother, Irene, and his first automotive accolade came in high school, where he placed second in a GM Craftsman’s Guild model contest.

John (L) and Tom Tjaarda in 1950. Photo courtesy of Mary Thompson Tjaarda.

At the University of Michigan, Tjaarda opted for architecture over engineering, and for his senior thesis project designed the Turbinewagon, a sport-themed station wagon. His work as a student impressed a professor with ties to the design firm Ghia, and two months after graduation in 1958, Tjaarda relocated to Turin, Italy, to work with Ghia.

His initial stint with Ghia would last just over two years, and Tjaarda would next spend eight months working for an Italian firm designing furniture and interiors. Two years at Pininfarina followed, before Tjaarda briefly returned to the United States to work for a Connecticut architecture and design firm. Perhaps this is when he realized that cars, not chairs or buildings, were his real design passion; returning to Italy in May of 1964, he rejoined Pininfarina, but would later spend a brief period working for Giorgetto Giugiaro at Ital Styling, the forerunner of Italdesign.

His reputation now well-established, Tjaarda rejoined Ghia as head of design in 1968, and he would remain with the firm, acquired by Ford in 1970, through 1977. His last role with a major automaker came in 1978, when he joined Fiat as direct of the Advanced Design Studio, a role he held until December of 1981. After working with Rayton Fissore S.p.A from 1982-’84, Tjaarda turned his attention to opening a studio of his own, Dimensione Design.

The Fiat 124 Spider, one of Tom Tjaarda's best-known designs. Photo courtesy FCA.

Documenting every car or truck that Tjaarda influenced would be a monumental task, and many never proceeded beyond the concept phase. Of those that did reach production, a significant percentage were created solely for the European market, but that’s not to say that Tjaarda’s work is unknown to those of us on this side of the Atlantic. His best-recognized designs in North America would include the Fiat 124 Pininfarina Spider, the De Tomaso Pantera, the Ford Maverick, the Ford Fiesta, the Rayton-Fissore Magnum 4x4 (sold here as the LaForza), and the Shelby Series II.

In late 2015, after Fiat announced the launch of the new Fiat 124 Spider, we reached out to Tom for his thoughts on the car’s styling. The new Fiat does share elements (like the twin hood bulges, the hexagonal grille and the upswept rear fenders) with Tjaarda’s original design, but most have been reduced to what he called “design motifs.” Ultimately, Tom said the new car suffered from a corporate design mentality prompted by “cross-pollination of stylists at large automakers,” complicated by a need to meet modern safety and manufacturing standards.

Perhaps that was a polite way of recognizing the complicated realities that modern automotive designers are forced to deal with. Given that environment, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see a person of Tjaarda’s talent again.