Childe Wills
Childe Harold Wills (1878 - 1940), also known as C. Harold Wills, was an early associate of Henry Ford, one of the first employees of the Ford Motor Company, and a contributor to the design of the Model T. After leaving Ford, he began his own ultimately unsuccessful automobile company.
Career
Wills was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana and learned a considerable amount of
engineering from his father, a railroad mechanic. When
Wills was 17, he moved to Detroit, Michigan and began a four-year apprenticeship at
the Detroit Lubricator Company. At the same time, he took night courses in metallurgy,
The following year, Wills was introduced to Henry Ford and began working on Ford's race cars during the evening. When Ford started his automobile company, Wills went along as chief designer and metallurgist. He hired Peter E. Martin in 1903. When Ford planned mass production of cars, Wills saw the importance of lightweight, strong, nickel-chrome vanadium steel to the mass production process. Ford tasked Wills with determining how to produce the necessary quantities of steel. Wills eventually found a mill to produce it, and in 1907 Ford used the alloy in the production of his Model N.
One of Wills's contributions is the design on the Ford Model T. Wills is credited with designing the planetary transmission used in the Model T and the detachable cylinder head as well as the calligraphy of the script "Ford" logo that is still in use today.
Although Ford and Wills began as friends (Ford was the best man at Wills's wedding), over time the relationship between the two grew frosty, exacerbated by Charles E. Sorensen's dislike for Wills. In 1919, as Ford began buying out his minority shareholders, Wills demanded an accounting of the profit-sharing he had accrued. Ford had verbally promised Wills 10% of his own dividends, and ultimately provided Wills with a $1.5 million severance package. In addition, Wills had amassed another $4 million from his own shrewd investments in steel firms.
With his capital, Wills started his own automobile firm, Wills Sainte Claire, with a factory in Marysville, Michigan, just north of Detroit. The first automobile model, the Grey Goose, debuted in 1921. It was a sensation, but its $3000 cost led to low sales, and the company lost money. Although Wills still supported his factory, the company lost money every year, and Wills shut the doors in 1927. Chrysler bought the plant in 1933.
Wills went on to join Ruxton and eventually worked at Chrysler as a metallurgist before dying of a stroke in 1940.
References
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