| Biography: |
When World War II started, Schmidt was transferred to the Air Frame Building and eventually to the Willow Run bomber plant. He began by designing tools for use in building the B-24 bomber. His designs for tools were so well done that despite the fact he had never designed cars before, in 1944, Schmidt was transferred to Bob Gregorie's Design Department, where he helped complete the design of the Light Ford that later became the French Vedette. In 1947, John Oswald named Schmidt head of the Lincoln studio and he remained there until 1954. During his last year at the Design Department, he was Lincoln's chief designer. In early 1955, Schmidt was recruited by Him Nance of Studebaker-Packard and, for a substantial increase in salary, left Ford to become vice president and head of Studebaker-Packard's design department. While at Studebaker-Packard, Schmidt helped design the Packard Predictor concept car, which shared many design features with the concept cars Schmidt designed at Ford.
In late 1955, when Chrysler's head of design, Virgil Exner, had a heart attack, Schmidt moved to Chrysler, where he stayed for two years. After Schmidt left Chrysler, he worked for General Motors, and Disney until he retired in 1987. |
