Harley Copp

Harley F. Copp (born 1922 in Kansas - died October 11, 1991 in San Clemente, California), 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 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.

Copp was born in Kansas, 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.

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