Auto industry / Science & invention
C. Harold Wills
1878–1940 · engineer and metallurgist, chief contributor to the Model T, founder of Wills Sainte Claire
Detroit-raised toolmaker who was Henry Ford's first key engineer, shaped the Model T and its vanadium steel, and later built the Wills Sainte Claire car.
- Born
Fort Wayne, Indiana- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 62- Birth name
- Childe Harold Wills
- Also known as
- Childe Harold Wills
- Detroit years
- 1885–1940
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Wills moved to Detroit with his family as a child and apprenticed as a toolmaker at the Detroit Lubricator Company, where his father worked. In 1899 he began helping Henry Ford in early mornings and late evenings at the Detroit Automobile Company, and by 1902 he was working full time on Ford's 999 and Arrow racers. When Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 he became chief designer and metallurgist; too poor to buy stock, he was given a share of Henry Ford's profits. He championed light, strong vanadium steel and was the leading contributor to the Model T's design; he is also widely credited with drawing the Ford script logo. Wealthy but at odds with Ford, he left in 1919 and founded Wills Sainte Claire in Marysville, on the St. Clair River, building an advanced, costly car with a V-8 engine from 1921 to 1927. He later worked as a consultant, including for Chrysler, and died in Detroit in 1940.
Highlights
- Worked with Henry Ford from 1899
- Ford's chief designer and metallurgist from 1903
- Leading contributor to the Model T design
- Founded Wills Sainte Claire in Marysville (cars built 1921–1927)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1904–1910
Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
Where he led design work on the Model T in 1907–1908; now a museum.
Memorial
Wills Sainte Claire Auto Museum
Status being checked
Small museum in Marysville devoted to his cars, near the site of his former factory; hours and exact address to be verified.