Owen Ray Skelton
| Owen Ray Skelton | |
|---|---|
ca. 1920
|
|
| Born |
February 9, 1886 Edgerton, Ohio |
| Died | July 20, 1969 (aged 83) Palm Beach, Florida |
| Occupation | engineer, automobile designer |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Signature | |
 |
|
Owen Ray Skelton (February 9, 1886 – July 20, 1969) was an American automotive industry engineer and member of the Automotive Hall of Fame.
Skelton was born on February 9, 1886, his family living in Edgerton, Ohio, at the time. His parents were James G. Skelton and Sophia Skelton. James was a shopkeeper selling horse harness and saddlery, and the future automotive engineer worked as an shop apprentice in his youth. Eschewing horses, he graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in mechanical engineering.
From 1905 until 1907, Skelton's first automotive job was with the Pope-Toledo automobile factory in Toledo, Ohio, noted for their cutting-edge gasoline-powered engine technology. Skelton advanced to the design drafting department at Detroit's Packard Motor Car Company. As he gained experience and then expertise, Skelton simultaneously gained the reputation of being a design analyst who understood the entire transmission of a car, and a master specialist in rear axles and gear boxes.
Moving to a startup firm, Skelton was a ground-floor partner in design for Benham from 1914 to 1916. Although the Benham automobile failed to sell, its construction appealed to another automaker also interested in streamlined design, Studebaker. The South Bend firm's vice president and chief engineer, Frederick Morrell Zeder, offered Skelton an engineering position. Skelton accepted Studebaker's pay offer of 58 U.S. cents per hour. The money-losing Studebaker needed to produce a speedy design for a new, inexpensive, mass-market automobile that could compete with the two new automobile conglomerates, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The struggling firm set up a design shop in Newark, and gave a relatively free hand to the shop's three principals, Zeder, Skelton, and Carl Breer. The threesome became known as "The Three Musketeers" for their pathbreaking design work for the 1918 Studebaker. Pioneer design engineer Skelton's Newark residence, the Robert Treat Hotel, survives.
...
Wikipedia