Clare MacKichan started his design career at Briggs Manufacturing Company under John Tjaarda. In 1939, he entered the General Motors Design School, working his way through and getting a job at GM in the Special Projects studio and then the Buick studio. During WWII, he worked for a variety of companies in tool and die design and engineering before returning to the Buick studio in 1946. He was named head of a special design studio in 1949, and in 1953 became chief designer for Chevrolet. In 1962, MacKichan was moved to Germany as head of styling at Opel where he stayed until 1967 when he returned to the U.S. as executive in charge of all advance design and engineering. MacKichan retired from GM in 1978 as director of engineering at the Design Center. MacKichan begins his oral history with his education at University of Michigan and his time at Briggs, describing John Tjaarda and the work he did at the company. He goes on to discuss his first stint at GM, describing the atmosphere and Harley Earl’s style of management. He talks about his work after the war, designing the front end of the 1950 Buick, and later working on a facelift for Opel in the late 1940s. He talks about his time as chief designer for Chevrolet, working on the 1955 Chevrolet and the design process, the origins of the Corvette, his work on the Nomad, and the Impala. MacKichan goes on to discuss his time at Opel, the freedom to design and move the company from somewhat stodgy designs to a more modern look. He talks about his return to the U.S. heading advance design and engineering, his implementation of Total Automotive Systems Concepts (TASC) and front wheel drive in GM vehicles, particularly the Citation. He wraps up looking back over his career as a whole, his design philosophy, and the future of automotive design. Also included is an addendum interview focused on Harley Earl, his personality, running of the department, and impact on GM.

Collection contains 6 cassettes, 6 WAV files, 6 MP3 files, 5 diskettes, 1 loose transcript, 1 bound transcript, and 1 PDF transcript. Uploaded July 26, 2021 and November 26, 2025.