29 Facts About Dick Teague

Richard Arthur Teague was an American industrial designer in the North American automotive industry.

Dick Teague held automotive design positions at General Motors, Packard, and Chrysler before becoming Vice President of Design for American Motors Corporation, and designed several notable show cars and production vehicles including AMC's Pacer, Gremlin, and Hornet models, as well as the Jeep Cherokee XJ and either designed or assisted in the designing of later cars for Chrysler such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Neon after American Motors' buyout.

Dick Teague's mother worked in the motion picture industry during the silent movie era.

Dick Teague lost several teeth, suffered a broken jaw, as well as sight in his right eye, while his mother was left an invalid.

Dick Teague was exempt from service in the armed forces during World War II because of his visual impairment.

Dick Teague's boss, Paul Browne, was a former designer at General Motors who suggested that Teague take night classes at the ArtCenter College of Design.

Dick Teague described how two sets of overlay designs were made for Harley Earl to choose from.

Dick Teague was dismissed from General Motors in 1952, and joined the Packard Motor Car Company as Chief Stylist, following John Reinhart's resignation.

Dick Teague's first work there was a minor facelift on the Packard line for 1953, and when the Packard management under James J Nance decided to re-launch the Clipper brand as a stand-alone make, separate from Packard, it was Teague who achieved the visual distinction between the two.

Dick Teague designed the last Packard show car, the Predictor, plus a new Packard and Clipper lineup for 1957 that would have followed the general lines of the Predictor.

Dick Teague was Vice President at the automaker from 1964 until he retired from AMC in 1983.

Dick Teague developed production models that featured "excitement" such as the Javelin.

Dick Teague worked on the design of the 1975 AMC Pacer, the first car with cab forward design.

Dick Teague received AMC Hall of Fame recognition as the 2012 "Person of American Motors" - an executive or employee of American Motors or subsidiary company that was instrumental to the success of the company.

Dick Teague, "who is generally considered to have been a bit of a maverick" predicted an evolutionary process for automobiles that turned out to be right.

Dick Teague knew that the automaker was just not willing to spend the millions of dollars needed for all-new tooling, his design team made imaginative use of existing tooling and create spin-offs from existing products.

Dick Teague was responsible for the design of several AMC and Jeep vehicles.

Dick Teague developed the Gremlin, Pacer, Matador coupe, Rambler American, AMC Javelin, and AMX Hornet, and subsequently adapted AMC's compact platform for the Concord, Spirit and Eagle models.

Dick Teague was responsible for a number of concept cars and lobbied for the production of several, including the compact Tarpon that ultimately led to the large Marlin.

Dick Teague lobbied for continuing the two-seat AMX models after 1970.

Dick Teague designed the "Concept 80" series of show cars, built on variations of existing AMC platforms as ideas for possible future models.

Dick Teague was instrumental in moving the car to production at a reasonable cost, but upcoming US bumper regulations and other issues would have inflated its price beyond volume viability.

Dick Teague was responsible for the Jeep Cherokee that was launched in the United States in 1983.

Dick Teague achieved a roomy interior in an aerodynamic design, and the two-door model was to have featured hidden headlamps, but the coupe was never produced.

Dick Teague was a noted automobile historian and collected classic and rare vehicles, as well as other auto memorabilia.

Dick Teague restored old cars as a hobby, including a 1904 Packard, one of the first produced, and had already owned 285 cars by 1970.

Dick Teague was a 4-wheel drive enthusiast before AMC bought Jeep, he owned several World War II models.

Dick Teague had three children: Richard B, Jeff, and daughter Lisa.

Dick Teague died on 5 May 1991 after suffering a long illness.