Harley Copp
Encyclopedia
Harley F. Copp was a car designer and automotive safety consultant.
A 35 year veteran of the Ford Motor Company
, Copp made his name leading the engineering design of various Ford products of the 1950s including the Continental Mark II
in 1953 and the Falcon of 1959. Assigned to create the new Ford Engineering design unit in Brentwood
, Essex
in England, he resultantly led the design and engineering efforts around the Ford GT40
and the Ford Cosworth DFV race engine.
On his return to the United States, Copp had an internal view of the design work associated with the Ford Pinto
, the production of which he disagreed with once the well documented safety problems were known. Copp resultantly resigned from Ford, and his subsequent articles and critic was successfully taken up by Ralph Nader
. Copp spent the rest of his career as an automotive safety consultant, advising both automotive companies and legislators on suitable design and test solutions.
Copp died in San Clemente, California
from complications from a stroke
.
, but grew up in Dearborn, Michigan
. After graduating from the Edison Institute of Technology he joined the Ford Motor Company as an engineer, working on new car designs. As a side project, Copp backed and engineered Ford's successful entry into NASCAR
in the 1950s.
Copp first came to the fore of car design, when he was chosen as part of the team to revive the Continental
as a superior and standalone up-market brand aside from Lincoln
, to compete with General Motors
Cadillac
and Chrysler
's DeSoto brands.
Having considered using an outside design team, Ford turned inside to their own Special Products Division. In Fall 1952, they designated John Reinhart as chief stylist, Gordon Buehrig
as the chief body engineer assisted by Robert McGuffey Thomas; and Copp as chief engineer.
Ford had wanted to use unibody technology, but Copp argued against such a choice for a high-brand/low volume model, which was required to be delivered into sale in such a short time scale.
Handbuilt and resultantly expensive at USD10,000 on launch, the quickly redesigned 1959 MkIII was cheaper at $6,000, mostly because it recycled Lincoln parts and technology. The result was that the two products were difficult to differentiate within the customers mind, and resulted in the Continental marque being re-absorbed by Lincoln.
. With room for six passengers in reasonable comfort, to keep the price down Copp engineered a unibody, keeping suspension standard and sourced from Ford's existing parts bin: coil spring
s in front, leaf spring
s in the rear, drum brakes all round. It was powered by a small, lightweight 90 hp (67 kW), 144 CID (2.4 L) straight-6
with a single-barrel carburettor. A three-speed manual
column shift was standard with the two-speed Ford-O-Matic automatic
optionally available.
On launch, the first generation Falcon was available as a two and four-door sedans, two or four-door station wagon
s, and the Ranchero car-based pickup, transferred onto the Falcon platform for 1960 from the Fairlane. A Mercury derivative, the Mercury Comet
, originally intended for the defunct Edsel
marque, was launched in the US midway through the 1960 model year.
The market shift which spurred the development of the Falcon precipitated the demise of several well-established marques in the late-1950s and early-1960s. Besides the infamous tale of the Edsel, the Nash
, Hudson
, DeSoto
and Packard
nameplates all disappeared from the marketplace.
, Copp left to set up a special vehicles engineering department in Europe. Ford had chosen Brentwood, Essex
in England
for the site, and Copp became Vice President Engineering, Ford of Britain.
. Unfortunately, as the MkIV carried over so little engineering from the MkIII, Copp's insistence on independent rear suspension resulted in an alarming “tuck-under” of the outer rear wheel when cornering with the back seats empty. Neat “bow-back” styling made the capacious boot look deceptively short, but the large expanse of bonnet was unkindly likened to the landing deck of an aircraft carrier by some journalists!
by Lola. However, his key input was on the Ford Cosworth DFV
.
Colin Chapman
's Lotus cars
had until that point relied on power from fast revving Coventry Climax
engines, but with the change in Formula One
regulations to three litre capacity from 1966, Coventry Climax decided for business reasons not to develop a large capacity engine. Chapman had approach the fledgling Cosworth
group, with Keith Duckworth
commenting that he could produce a competitive three litre engine, given a development budget of £100,000.
Chapman approach Ford and also David Brown
of Aston Martin
, each without initial success. Chapman's friend and Ford Great Britain's PR
director Walter Hayes
arranged diner for Chapman with Copp. Hayes and Copp developed a business plan, which was backed by Ford UK's new chairman Stanley Gillen
, and approved by Ford's Detroit head office as a two part plan - stage one would produce a four-cylinder twin-cam engine for Formula Two
; by May 1967, stage two would produce a V-8 Formula One unit. In return, Chapman agreed to engineer "specials" for Ford, the first of which was 1963's Lotus Cortina
.
Revealed by Hayes in a PR launch in Detroit at the end of 1965, the Ford Cosworth DFV
won its first race - the Dutch Grand Prix
on 4 June, 1967, in a Lotus 49
driven by Jim Clark
. Graham Hill
was in the team was at the specific request of Ford and Hayes, who wanted to be sure that a strong driving cadre would be seated ahead of their engines.
Initially, the agreement between Ford, Cosworth and Lotus was binding on all parties, and Ford as the funder had no plans to sell or hire the DFV to any other teams. However, it occurred to Hayes that there was no competition - the Ferrari
was underpowered; the BRM complex and too heavy; the unreliable Maserati
; Brabham was powered by the Oldsmobile
-derived V8 Repco ; the overweight Honda
; while Dan Gurney
's Eagle Weslake was beautiful, powerful and sleek, but often unreliable. Hayes concluded that Ford's name could become tarnished, and that they should agree to use the unit in other teams, and hence potentially dominate Formula One. Chapman, on the back of the pairs long friendship agreed, and Hayes could release the DFV initially to revival French team Matra
, headed by Ken Tyrrell
with Jackie Stewart
as a driver.
Still the most successful Grand Prix engine ever, sixteen years later it was still taking the chequered flag - a DFV-powered Tyrrell Racing
car won the 1983 Detroit Grand Prix
, the engine's 155th race victory: with the Ford logo branded on the side of every one.
At the start of the DFV project, Hayes told Henry Ford II that he thought the DFV engine was "fairly likely" to win a World Championship. In 1997 a group of people gathered at Donington Park
to commemorate the DFV's 30th anniversary. Jackie Stewart said a few words, making comments on an engine which had made him as well as Graham Hill
, Jochen Rindt
, Emerson Fittipaldi
, James Hunt
, Mario Andretti
, Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet
and Keke Rosberg
. It had also brought championships to teams: Lotus
, Matra
, Tyrrell, McLaren
and WilliamsF1
; and won races for Hesketh, March
, Penske
, Shadow
and Wolf
.
In the late 1960s, Ford set about developing a third-generation Cortina
, which would be produced in higher volumes than before. It was the last European car engineered by Copp before he returned to Detroit.
The Mark III Detroit-inspired "coke bottle"-shaped
Cortina TC was a hit amongst fleet buyers. It replaced both the Cortina Mark II and the larger, more expensive Ford Corsair
by offering more trim levels and the option of larger engines than the Mark II.
The Mk II's MacPherson strut
front suspension was replaced with more conventional double A-arm suspension to give the car a soft 'freeway' ride, which gave the larger engines distinct understeer.
In 1968, Copp returned to North America to head-up Ford's crash testing program team. By this time, the manufacturer preferred large American automobiles were losing market share to smaller more fuel efficient and reliable Japan
ese imports. As a result, CEO of the Ford Lee Iacocca
wanted a 1971 model that weighed less than 2,000 pounds and that would be priced at less than $2,000.
The first Ford Pinto
was delivered in September 1970 at a retail cost of $1850, but to achieve the time scale the car had had to be designed and produced in 25 months, rather than the then usual 43 months for a new car line. Although inline with safety certification of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
, front end testing had been completed, to save time rear-end collision
testing was not undertaken until after launch, although Ford engineers knew that testing for rear-end impact was a standard safety procedure.
After rear end testing by Copp's team proved there was a problem from the bolts attaching the rear bumper to the body, and those protruding from the differential
, would in an accident above 20 miles per hour (8.9 m/s) penetrate the gas tank, Copp issued an internal memo suggesting rectification measures.
Before final sign-off of the 1972 Pinto, in April 1971 Harold MacDonald, Ford Vice President of Car Engineering, chaired a product review meeting around a report from Ford engineers. The recommendation suggested deferring from 1974 to 1976 the incorporation into all Ford cars of either a shock absorbent "flak suit" to protect the fuel tank at a cost of $4 per car, or a nylon bladder within the tank at a cost of $5.25 to $8 per car. Agreeing the decision would allow Ford to realize a savings of $10.9 million. MacDonald agreed the reports recommendation, and hence left the Pinto exposed to rear end collisions.
, that killed Pinto occupant Lilly Gray and severely burned 13-year old Richard Grimshaw. The accident resulted in the court case Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co.
, in which Copp testified. Due to his concerns, which he had both vocalised and written about internally, Copp was effectively fired by being forced to take early retirement just before the case came to review. Acting on a tip from a Ford employee moonlighting as a Detroit cab driver, Copp was tracked down and agreed to testify. Appearing an as independent automotive safety consultant, Copp testified that the highest level of Ford's management made the decision to go forward with the production of the Pinto, knowing that the fuel tank was vulnerable to puncture and rupture at low impact speeds, knowing that these "fixes" were feasible at nominal cost. The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District upheld compensatory damages
of $2.5 million and punitive damages
of $3.5 million against Ford, in part because Ford had been aware of the design defects before production but had decided against changing the design.
In June 1978, after it was required to do so by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Ford recalled all 1.4 million 1971 through 1976 Pintos for fuel system modification. By the time of the recall, Pinto fuel-fed fires had killed at least 27 people and injured many others.
Ford appealed the decision right up to the United States Supreme Court in 1981, but were denied grounds on which to appeal the then growing evidence and their own actions in rectification. Kennedy, who had replaced Copp as Head of Testing, had ordered a cost-benefit analysis
, as a result of which Ford decided it would be cheaper to pay off possible lawsuits for resulting deaths. Mother Jones magazine obtained a copy of what became known as the Ford Pinto memo, which said Ford had used to compare the cost of an $11 repair against the cost of paying off potential law suits.
In Atlanta GA in February 1993, a drunk driver struck 17-year-old Shannon Moseley’s Ford truck in the side, which started a gas tank fire, and resulted in the death of Moseley. Ronald E. Elwell, a former Ford automotive safety engineer who had testified on behalf of Ford in more than 15 previous cases that Pinto's were safe, gave the jury the test information that Ford seen showing Pinto's were not safe. The unanimous jury blamed Ford, and awarded $4.2 million in actual damages and $101 million in punitive damages to Moseley’s parents.
's Center for Auto Safety
.
Copp spent the rest of his career as an automotive safety consultant, advising both automotive companies and legislators on suitable design and test solutions.
Copp died in San Clemente, California
from complications from a stroke
.
A 35 year veteran of the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, Copp made his name leading the engineering design of various Ford products of the 1950s including the Continental Mark II
Continental Mark II
The Continental Mark II was a personal luxury car produced by the Continental Division of the Ford Motor Company in 1956 through 1957. Many aficionados of the automobile consider the Continental Mark II one of the classics of the postwar period.-History:...
in 1953 and the Falcon of 1959. Assigned to create the new Ford Engineering design unit in Brentwood
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway....
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
in England, he resultantly led the design and engineering efforts around the Ford GT40
Ford GT40
The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969...
and the Ford Cosworth DFV race engine.
On his return to the United States, Copp had an internal view of the design work associated with the Ford Pinto
Ford Pinto
The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car produced by the Ford Motor Company for the model years 1971–1980. The car's name derives from the Pinto horse. Initially offered as a two-door sedan, Ford offered "Runabout" hatchback and wagon models the following year, competing in the U.S. market with the AMC...
, the production of which he disagreed with once the well documented safety problems were known. Copp resultantly resigned from Ford, and his subsequent articles and critic was successfully taken up by Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
. Copp spent the rest of his career as an automotive safety consultant, advising both automotive companies and legislators on suitable design and test solutions.
Copp died in San Clemente, California
San Clemente, California
San Clemente is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 63,522 at the 2010 census. Located on the California Coast, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego at the southern tip of the county, it is known for its ocean, hill, and mountain views, a pleasant climate and its Spanish...
from complications from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.
Biography
Copp was born in KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, but grew up in Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn, Michigan
-Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the...
. After graduating from the Edison Institute of Technology he joined the Ford Motor Company as an engineer, working on new car designs. As a side project, Copp backed and engineered Ford's successful entry into NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
in the 1950s.
Ford Continental
Lincoln Continental
The Lincoln Continental is an automobile which was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from 1939 to 1948 and again from 1956 to 2002...
as a superior and standalone up-market brand aside from Lincoln
Lincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
, to compete with General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
and Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
's DeSoto brands.
Having considered using an outside design team, Ford turned inside to their own Special Products Division. In Fall 1952, they designated John Reinhart as chief stylist, Gordon Buehrig
Gordon Buehrig
Gordon Miller Buehrig was a noted automobile designer. Born in Mason City, Illinois, he had early design experience with Packard, General Motors and Stutz. In 1929, he was responsible for designing the bodies of the Stutz Black Hawks entered at Le Mans...
as the chief body engineer assisted by Robert McGuffey Thomas; and Copp as chief engineer.
Ford had wanted to use unibody technology, but Copp argued against such a choice for a high-brand/low volume model, which was required to be delivered into sale in such a short time scale.
Handbuilt and resultantly expensive at USD10,000 on launch, the quickly redesigned 1959 MkIII was cheaper at $6,000, mostly because it recycled Lincoln parts and technology. The result was that the two products were difficult to differentiate within the customers mind, and resulted in the Continental marque being re-absorbed by Lincoln.
Ford Falcon
By the late 1950s, Ford wanted to reduce its marketing spend on supplementary brands, and appeal to a wider number of car buyers. They commissioned a team to create what by American standards of the time a small car, but elsewhere in the world would be considered a mid-size carMid-size car
A mid-size car is the North American/Australian standard for an automobile with a size equal to or greater than that of a compact...
. With room for six passengers in reasonable comfort, to keep the price down Copp engineered a unibody, keeping suspension standard and sourced from Ford's existing parts bin: coil spring
Coil spring
A Coil spring, also known as a helical spring, is a mechanical device, which is typically used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces...
s in front, leaf spring
Leaf spring
Originally called laminated or carriage spring, a leaf spring is a simple form of spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles...
s in the rear, drum brakes all round. It was powered by a small, lightweight 90 hp (67 kW), 144 CID (2.4 L) straight-6
Straight-6
The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six-cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase...
with a single-barrel carburettor. A three-speed manual
Manual transmission
A manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
column shift was standard with the two-speed Ford-O-Matic automatic
Automatic transmission
An automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...
optionally available.
On launch, the first generation Falcon was available as a two and four-door sedans, two or four-door station wagon
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
s, and the Ranchero car-based pickup, transferred onto the Falcon platform for 1960 from the Fairlane. A Mercury derivative, the Mercury Comet
Mercury Comet
The Mercury Comet is an automobile produced by the Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company from 1960–1969 and 1971-1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car.The Comet was based on the compact Ford Falcon and later the Ford Maverick...
, originally intended for the defunct Edsel
Edsel
The Edsel was an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company during the 1958, 1959, and 1960 model years. The Edsel never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. Consequently, the Ford Motor Company lost millions of dollars on the Edsel's development,...
marque, was launched in the US midway through the 1960 model year.
The market shift which spurred the development of the Falcon precipitated the demise of several well-established marques in the late-1950s and early-1960s. Besides the infamous tale of the Edsel, the Nash
Nash Motors
Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...
, Hudson
Hudson Motor Car Company
The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.- Company strategy...
, DeSoto
DeSoto (automobile)
The DeSoto was a brand of automobile based in the United States, manufactured and marketed by the Chrysler Corporation from 1928 to 1961. The DeSoto logo featured a stylized image of Hernando de Soto...
and Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
nameplates all disappeared from the marketplace.
Ford UK and Brentwood
After the launch of the 1958 Continental and engineering for the 1960 Lincoln ContinentalLincoln Continental
The Lincoln Continental is an automobile which was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from 1939 to 1948 and again from 1956 to 2002...
, Copp left to set up a special vehicles engineering department in Europe. Ford had chosen Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway....
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for the site, and Copp became Vice President Engineering, Ford of Britain.
MkIV Zephyr
In 1961, the first project Copp became involved in was project "Panda", which became the MkIV Zephyr/Zodiac range. As the car used the new V-series engines, the then traditional long bonnet concept created a problem until Copp required that the car was both larger and had more internal space, and came up with the idea of placing the spare wheel ahead of the radiator on an angle. The result was a vehicle of similar dimensions to the North American Ford FairlaneFord Fairlane
- Automobiles :* Ford Fairlane , a car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company between 1955 and 1970* Ford Fairlane , a car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company of Australia between 1959 and 2007- See also :...
. Unfortunately, as the MkIV carried over so little engineering from the MkIII, Copp's insistence on independent rear suspension resulted in an alarming “tuck-under” of the outer rear wheel when cornering with the back seats empty. Neat “bow-back” styling made the capacious boot look deceptively short, but the large expanse of bonnet was unkindly likened to the landing deck of an aircraft carrier by some journalists!
Cosworth DFV
As Vice President Engineering, Ford of Britain, Copp oversaw the development of the Ford GT40Ford GT40
The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969...
by Lola. However, his key input was on the Ford Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
.
Colin Chapman
Colin Chapman
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman CBE was an influential British designer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars....
's Lotus cars
Lotus Cars
Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...
had until that point relied on power from fast revving Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
engines, but with the change in Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
regulations to three litre capacity from 1966, Coventry Climax decided for business reasons not to develop a large capacity engine. Chapman had approach the fledgling Cosworth
Cosworth
Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...
group, with Keith Duckworth
Keith Duckworth
David Keith Duckworth, , was an English mechanical engineer. He is most famous for designing the Cosworth DFV engine, an engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One....
commenting that he could produce a competitive three litre engine, given a development budget of £100,000.
Chapman approach Ford and also David Brown
David Brown (entrepreneur)
Sir David Brown was an English entrepreneur, managing director of his family firm David Brown Limited and one time owner of shipbuilders Vosper Thornycroft and automobile manufacturer Aston Martin....
of Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
, each without initial success. Chapman's friend and Ford Great Britain's PR
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
director Walter Hayes
Walter Hayes
Walter Hayes CBE was an English journalist, and later public relations executive for Ford.Hayes was key in developing Ford's Formula One program, by signing Jackie Stewart and funding the building of the Cosworth DFV V8 Formula One racing engine; and the creation of the Premier Automotive Group...
arranged diner for Chapman with Copp. Hayes and Copp developed a business plan, which was backed by Ford UK's new chairman Stanley Gillen
Stanley Gillen
Stanley James Gillen was an Ohio born automobile executive who filled a series of high level appointments in the USA and subsequently in Europe with the Ford Motor Company....
, and approved by Ford's Detroit head office as a two part plan - stage one would produce a four-cylinder twin-cam engine for Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
; by May 1967, stage two would produce a V-8 Formula One unit. In return, Chapman agreed to engineer "specials" for Ford, the first of which was 1963's Lotus Cortina
Lotus Cortina
The Lotus-Cortina is a high-performance car, which was produced in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1970 by the Ford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. The original version, which was based on the Ford Cortina Mark 1, was promoted by Ford as the "Consul Cortina developed by Lotus", with "Consul"...
.
Revealed by Hayes in a PR launch in Detroit at the end of 1965, the Ford Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
won its first race - the Dutch Grand Prix
Dutch Grand Prix
The Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One automobile race held at Circuit Zandvoort, from 1948 to 1985. It was a part of the World Championship from 1952, and designated the European Grand Prix two times, 1962 and 1976, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one grand prix...
on 4 June, 1967, in a Lotus 49
Lotus 49
The Lotus 49 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season. It was designed around the Cosworth DFV engine that would power most of the Formula One grid through the 1970s and was the first successful Formula One car to feature the engine as a...
driven by Jim Clark
Jim Clark
James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....
. Graham Hill
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...
was in the team was at the specific request of Ford and Hayes, who wanted to be sure that a strong driving cadre would be seated ahead of their engines.
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
was underpowered; the BRM complex and too heavy; the unreliable Maserati
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
; Brabham was powered by the Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
-derived V8 Repco ; the overweight Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
; while Dan Gurney
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager...
's Eagle Weslake was beautiful, powerful and sleek, but often unreliable. Hayes concluded that Ford's name could become tarnished, and that they should agree to use the unit in other teams, and hence potentially dominate Formula One. Chapman, on the back of the pairs long friendship agreed, and Hayes could release the DFV initially to revival French team Matra
Matra
Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...
, headed by Ken Tyrrell
Ken Tyrrell
Robert Kenneth "Ken" Tyrrell was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.-Biography:...
with Jackie Stewart
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...
as a driver.
Still the most successful Grand Prix engine ever, sixteen years later it was still taking the chequered flag - a DFV-powered Tyrrell Racing
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
car won the 1983 Detroit Grand Prix
Detroit Grand Prix
The title of Detroit Grand Prix was applied to the Formula One races held at the Detroit street circuit in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America from 1982 through 1988....
, the engine's 155th race victory: with the Ford logo branded on the side of every one.
At the start of the DFV project, Hayes told Henry Ford II that he thought the DFV engine was "fairly likely" to win a World Championship. In 1997 a group of people gathered at Donington Park
Donington Park
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war period when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship...
to commemorate the DFV's 30th anniversary. Jackie Stewart said a few words, making comments on an engine which had made him as well as Graham Hill
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...
, Jochen Rindt
Jochen Rindt
Karl Jochen Rindt was a German racing driver who represented Austria during his career. He is the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship , after being killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix...
, Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi |São Paulo]], Brazil) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver who throughout a long and successful career won the Indianapolis 500 twice and championships in both Formula One and CART.-Early and personal life:...
, James Hunt
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in . Hunt's often action packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt." After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman...
, Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...
, Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...
and Keke Rosberg
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik Rosberg , nicknamed "Keke", is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series. Rosberg grew up in Oulu and Iisalmi, Finland...
. It had also brought championships to teams: Lotus
Lotus Cars
Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...
, Matra
Matra
Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...
, Tyrrell, McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
and WilliamsF1
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
; and won races for Hesketh, March
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
, Penske
Penske Racing
Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...
, Shadow
Shadow Racing Cars
Shadow Racing Cars was a Formula One and sports car racing team, founded and initially based in the United States although later Formula One operations were run from Britain.-1971-1972: Early years in CanAm series:...
and Wolf
Walter Wolf Racing
Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor from 1977 to 1980, notable for winning the very first race the team entered.-1975-77:In 1975, the Slovenian-Austrian-Canadian businessman Walter Wolf had started to appear at many of the F1 races during the season. A year later, he bought 60% of...
.
Ford Cortina Mk3
Ford Cortina
As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...
, which would be produced in higher volumes than before. It was the last European car engineered by Copp before he returned to Detroit.
The Mark III Detroit-inspired "coke bottle"-shaped
Coke bottle styling
Coke bottle styling is a term used to describe any automotive body styling bearing an overall body shape resembling the classic glass Coca-Cola soft drink's contour bottle design. It is a style of automobile bodies with outward curving fenders with a narrow center. In contrast to "straight-edge"...
Cortina TC was a hit amongst fleet buyers. It replaced both the Cortina Mark II and the larger, more expensive Ford Corsair
Ford Corsair
The Ford Consul Corsair, manufactured by Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom, was a midsize car introduced at the London Motor Show in October 1963 and available as either a saloon or estate from 1964 until 1970...
by offering more trim levels and the option of larger engines than the Mark II.
The Mk II's MacPherson strut
MacPherson strut
The MacPherson strut is a type of car suspension system which uses the axis of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in modern vehicles and named after Earle S. MacPherson, who developed the design.-History:...
front suspension was replaced with more conventional double A-arm suspension to give the car a soft 'freeway' ride, which gave the larger engines distinct understeer.
Ford Pinto
In 1968, Copp returned to North America to head-up Ford's crash testing program team. By this time, the manufacturer preferred large American automobiles were losing market share to smaller more fuel efficient and reliable Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese imports. As a result, CEO of the Ford Lee Iacocca
Lee Iacocca
Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca is an American businessman known for engineering the Mustang, the unsuccessful Ford Pinto, being fired from Ford Motor Company, and his revival of the Chrysler Corporation in the 1980s...
wanted a 1971 model that weighed less than 2,000 pounds and that would be priced at less than $2,000.
The first Ford Pinto
Ford Pinto
The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car produced by the Ford Motor Company for the model years 1971–1980. The car's name derives from the Pinto horse. Initially offered as a two-door sedan, Ford offered "Runabout" hatchback and wagon models the following year, competing in the U.S. market with the AMC...
was delivered in September 1970 at a retail cost of $1850, but to achieve the time scale the car had had to be designed and produced in 25 months, rather than the then usual 43 months for a new car line. Although inline with safety certification of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
, front end testing had been completed, to save time rear-end collision
Rear-end collision
A rear-end collision is a traffic accident wherein a vehicle crashes into the vehicle in front of it, usually caused by tailgating or panic stops...
testing was not undertaken until after launch, although Ford engineers knew that testing for rear-end impact was a standard safety procedure.
After rear end testing by Copp's team proved there was a problem from the bolts attaching the rear bumper to the body, and those protruding from the differential
Differential (mechanics)
A differential is a device, usually, but not necessarily, employing gears, capable of transmitting torque and rotation through three shafts, almost always used in one of two ways: in one way, it receives one input and provides two outputs—this is found in most automobiles—and in the other way, it...
, would in an accident above 20 miles per hour (8.9 m/s) penetrate the gas tank, Copp issued an internal memo suggesting rectification measures.
Before final sign-off of the 1972 Pinto, in April 1971 Harold MacDonald, Ford Vice President of Car Engineering, chaired a product review meeting around a report from Ford engineers. The recommendation suggested deferring from 1974 to 1976 the incorporation into all Ford cars of either a shock absorbent "flak suit" to protect the fuel tank at a cost of $4 per car, or a nylon bladder within the tank at a cost of $5.25 to $8 per car. Agreeing the decision would allow Ford to realize a savings of $10.9 million. MacDonald agreed the reports recommendation, and hence left the Pinto exposed to rear end collisions.
Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co.
In 1972, a rear end accident occurred in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, that killed Pinto occupant Lilly Gray and severely burned 13-year old Richard Grimshaw. The accident resulted in the court case Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co.
Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co.
Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company was a California case about the safety of the Ford Pinto car, manufactured by Ford Motor Company with knowledge of design flaws that might lead to serious injury.-External links:*...
, in which Copp testified. Due to his concerns, which he had both vocalised and written about internally, Copp was effectively fired by being forced to take early retirement just before the case came to review. Acting on a tip from a Ford employee moonlighting as a Detroit cab driver, Copp was tracked down and agreed to testify. Appearing an as independent automotive safety consultant, Copp testified that the highest level of Ford's management made the decision to go forward with the production of the Pinto, knowing that the fuel tank was vulnerable to puncture and rupture at low impact speeds, knowing that these "fixes" were feasible at nominal cost. The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District upheld compensatory damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
of $2.5 million and punitive damages
Punitive damages
Punitive damages or exemplary damages are damages intended to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit...
of $3.5 million against Ford, in part because Ford had been aware of the design defects before production but had decided against changing the design.
In June 1978, after it was required to do so by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Ford recalled all 1.4 million 1971 through 1976 Pintos for fuel system modification. By the time of the recall, Pinto fuel-fed fires had killed at least 27 people and injured many others.
Ford appealed the decision right up to the United States Supreme Court in 1981, but were denied grounds on which to appeal the then growing evidence and their own actions in rectification. Kennedy, who had replaced Copp as Head of Testing, had ordered a cost-benefit analysis
Cost-benefit analysis
Cost–benefit analysis , sometimes called benefit–cost analysis , is a systematic process for calculating and comparing benefits and costs of a project for two purposes: to determine if it is a sound investment , to see how it compares with alternate projects...
, as a result of which Ford decided it would be cheaper to pay off possible lawsuits for resulting deaths. Mother Jones magazine obtained a copy of what became known as the Ford Pinto memo, which said Ford had used to compare the cost of an $11 repair against the cost of paying off potential law suits.
In Atlanta GA in February 1993, a drunk driver struck 17-year-old Shannon Moseley’s Ford truck in the side, which started a gas tank fire, and resulted in the death of Moseley. Ronald E. Elwell, a former Ford automotive safety engineer who had testified on behalf of Ford in more than 15 previous cases that Pinto's were safe, gave the jury the test information that Ford seen showing Pinto's were not safe. The unanimous jury blamed Ford, and awarded $4.2 million in actual damages and $101 million in punitive damages to Moseley’s parents.
Safety consultant
After the Ford into case, Copp took up the baton for compulsory vehicle testing, an issue that was picked up through his work with Ralph NaderRalph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
's Center for Auto Safety
Center for Auto Safety
The Center for Auto Safety was founded in 1970 by Consumers Union and Ralph Nader as a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group focused on the United States automotive industry.- Accomplishments :...
.
Copp spent the rest of his career as an automotive safety consultant, advising both automotive companies and legislators on suitable design and test solutions.
Copp died in San Clemente, California
San Clemente, California
San Clemente is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 63,522 at the 2010 census. Located on the California Coast, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego at the southern tip of the county, it is known for its ocean, hill, and mountain views, a pleasant climate and its Spanish...
from complications from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.