By Jay Hirsch
William “Bill” Flajole was born 1915 in Flint, Mich. As a child he had a “minor” love affair with cars and began making sketches of cars as he envisioned them.
In 1933 he applied for a job as a designer at Chrysler and was accepted. From 1933 until 1939 he subsequently worked for General Motors and Ford. In 1939 Flajole opened his own studio, which enabled Flajole to have the freedom to do his own creative designs. It was not uncommon during this time period for the Big Three — Chrysler, Ford and GM — to use outside design firms as well as the independent car companies. In post-WWII United States, Flajole became more of an industrial designer, designing yachts, toys, appliances, and many other items.
In the post-WWII United States the demographics of the United States was changing with people moving from cities to the suburbs. People no longer walked to their local butcher, grocer, and other local stores. In the suburbs one would drive to the burgeoning shopping centers and supermarkets. The two-car family was born.
Flajole thought there would be a need not only for a family car but a smaller, second car that would be used around the town. In particular Flajole wanted a smaller car that a woman could drive around the suburban town where she lived, a car that was easy to handle and park. This was a time when power steering was a “dream.” Very few cars had power steering prior to 1954.
Flajole approached the Big Three with a sketch of the car he had in mind …
