Earle S. MacPherson

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Earle Steele MacPherson (born July 6, 1891 - 1960 ) was an American engineer and inventor of the patented MacPherson strut front axle . Especially in German-speaking countries, the name is often (incorrectly) written as Earl S. McPherson .

Life

MacPherson initially worked for the US auto companies Chalmers , Liberty and Hupmobile before joining General Motors in 1934 . There he was chief developer for the Chevrolet Light Car Project. During this time he came up with the idea of combining shock absorbers and coil springs with the steering knuckle and thus creating a space-saving and inexpensive suspension principle. This idea was rejected by his employer GM. It shouldn't be built into the new models. MacPherson then left GM and went to competitor Ford in 1947 . His idea was patented by Ford on September 26, 1949 and used as a front axle in the British Ford Consul , later (depending on the source also before) in the French Ford Vedette .

In 1952, MacPherson became a senior engineer at corporate headquarters in Detroit . His last project was to work on the construction of the self-supporting Lincoln and Continental , up to then the largest passenger car with this design. By the time they appeared in 1958, MacPherson was already retired.

The MacPherson principle has persisted to this day and is standard in small and medium-sized vehicles.

See also

literature

  • Paul R. Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946-1980 - The classic Postwar Years . New edition. Motorbooks International, Osceola WI 1993, ISBN 0-87938-730-0 (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ xa.yimg.com (PDF)
  2. ↑ patent GB658387 . ‌
  3. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946-1980 . 1993, p. 78
personal data
SURNAME MacPherson, Earle S.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES MacPherson, Earl Steele
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American engineer
DATE OF BIRTH July 6, 1891
DATE OF DEATH 1960