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Tom Tjaarda - an American in Turin with a knack for beautiful shapes

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Created on January 18, 2018

Text:

Stefan Dierkes

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Archiv Tom Tjaarda (SD)

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Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

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Archiv

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Archiv Tom Tjaarda (SD)

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Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

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Archiv

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Tom Tjaarda in 1992

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Tom Tjaarda watches Pietro Brovarone, head of the Ghia model making department, working on a concept car - in the background the 1-to-1 model of the 1974 Ghia Coin

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Tom Tjaarda's father - John Tjaarda with the ready-to-run Briggs prototype of his Sterkenburg with aluminum V8 engine in the rear

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Tom Tjaarda during his architecture studies at the University of Michigan

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Ghia Selene I (1959) - with driver's seat in front of the front axle

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Ghia Selene (1959) - unusual room layout

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Ghia Selene (1959) - the passengers sit facing each other

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Ghia IXG (1960) - aerodynamic record vehicle

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Innocenti 950 Ghia Spider (1960) - short but open

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Chevrolet Corvair Pininfarina (1962) - Coupé 2 Posti

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Chevrolet Corvair Coupé Pininfarina (1963) - elegant special body on Corvair chassis by Pininfarina

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Pininfarina 'Sigma' (1963) - Security vehicle, shown in Turin 1963

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Pininfarina 'Sigma' (1963) - Security vehicle, shown in Turin 1963

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL Coupé Speciale Pininfarina (1964) - Pininfarina's idea of a German sports car

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Lancia Flaminia Coupé Pininfarina (1963) - elegant one-off

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Fiat 2300 Coupé Speciale Lausanne 1964 (1963) - the Pininfarina Coupé was even more elegant than the standard version

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Chevrolet Corvair Speciale (1960) - various designers used the Corvair platform for special bodies - here a successful version by Pininfarina

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Fiat 2300 Coupé Speciale Lausanne 1964 (1964) - Special bodywork by Pininfarina

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Fiat 2300 S, Pininfarina (1963) - already with Targa bar - at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963

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Fiat 2300 Pininfarina Cabriolet Speciale (1963) - elegant targa version

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Fiat 2300 S, Pininfarina (1963) - front view - photographed at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963

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Fiat 2300 Cabriolet (1963) - concept car designed by Pininfarina with Targa roof

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Chevrolet Corvette 'Rondine' (1963) - Design by Pininfarina/Tom Tjaarda - presented at the 1963 Paris Motor Show

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Chevrolet Corvette "Rondine" (1964) - by Pininfarina

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Chevrolet Corvette 'Rondine" (1963) - custom-made by Pininfarina, based on a design by Tom Tjaarda, shown at the Paris Salon in October 1963

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Chevrolet Corvette 'Rondine" (1963) - custom-made by Pininfarina, based on a design by Tom Tjaarda, shown at the Paris Salon in October 1963

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Ferrari 330 GT Coupé 2+2 (1965) - once again a Pininfarina design, from the hand of Tom Tjaarda

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Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 (1964) - the design was created by Tom Tjaarda, who worked for Pininfarina

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Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 (1964) - the big coupé in Geneva in 1964

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Ferrari 330 GT (1964) - with twin headlights and classic radiator grille - Geneva Motor Show 1964

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Fiat 124 Sport Spider (1967) - the 124 Spider quickly outstripped the 1500 Cabriolet

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Fiat 124 Sport Spider (1966) - elegant and with a touch of Ferrari

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Fiat 124 Spider (1966) - the design came from Pininfarina

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Fiat 124 Sport Spider 1600 (1970) - more displacement and more torque thanks to the 1.6-liter engine

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Fiat 124 Sport Spider (1968) - on the road in a pack

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Ferrari 365 California Pininfarina (1966) - beautifully flowing shapes, designer was Tom Tjaarda at Pininfarina - Geneva Motor Show 1966

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Ferrari 365 California (1966) - rear view with the dovetail end derived from the 'Rondine' - at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show

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Ghia Zonda - wedge-shaped coupé powered by a Ford V8 front engine, chassis by de Tomaso - shown at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show

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Serenissima GT (1968) - did not go into series production

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De Tomaso Pantera (1970) - pre-production version during development

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - classic design

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - early recording of the Pantera

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De Tomaso Deauville at the 1972 Geneva Motor Show - a large V8 engine with automatic transmission accelerates this elegant luxury sedan to 230 km/h

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de Tomaso Deauville (1971) - Prototype by Ghia based on de Tomaso at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show

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Lancia 1600 HF Competizione (1969) - significantly more angular than the series version

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Autozodiaco Damaca (1973) - Buggy with VW mechanics, drawn by Tom Tjaarda in 1971

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Tom Tjaarda at work at the drawing table

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Ford Fiesta prototype "Wolf" (1973) - the later series Fiesta was built on this basis

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Ford Mustela II (1973) - Ghia concept car with Ford Essec 3-liter engine and turbocharging

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Ford Mustela II (1973) - premiere in Geneva - soft and sweeping coupé developed by Ghia - at the 1973 Geneva Motor Show

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Ford Mustela II (1973) - unexpected novelty on the Ghia stand with 3-liter turbo engine and carefully crafted interior - at the 1973 Geneva Motor Show

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De Tomaso Longchamps (1977) - also with manual transmission from ZF - Geneva Motor Show 1977

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De Tomaso Longchamp (1981) - convertible created on German initiative - IAA 1981

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Rayton Fissore Magnum 4x4 (1985) - off-road vehicle with style

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Spyker GT Sport (2002) - never went into series production

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Summary

His name is mentioned much less frequently than those of Giorgio Giugiaro, Marcello Gandini or Pietro Frua. Yet Tom Tjaarda helped important cars, including the De Tomaso Pantera, the Fiat 124 Spider and the Ford Fiesta, to develop their lines and designed some of the most beautiful vehicles of all time. This article describes Tom Tjaarda's life in detail, lists his designs and recalls them in pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Son of a car designer
First steps at Ghia in Italy
Italia 61" exhibition
Carrozzeria Pininfarina
Return as head of design at Ghia
Last stations as an employee at Fiat and Rayton Fissore
Dimensione Design

Estimated reading time: 12min

Preview (beginning of the article)

On June 1, 2017, the important but little-known automotive designer Tom Tjaarda died in Turin. Tom Tjaarda worked for all the major Italian design houses during the six decades of his career: After apprentice years at Ghia and Pininfarina and a brief stint at Giorgio Giugiaro's Ital Styling, he eventually became head of design at Ghia and Fiat and has spent the last thirty years working independently in his own design studio in Turin. His contributions to Italian automotive design were considerable, with over 80 automobile projects. His best-known production vehicles are the Fiat 124 Spider (Pininfarina 1965), the De Tomaso Pantera (Ghia 1970), the De Tomaso Longchamp (Ghia 1972) and the Ford Fiesta (Ghia 1972), which was built from 1976 to 1983 and of which 1.75 million were produced.

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