Conversations with TWO LEGENDS!

Very recently, I had the most excellent priviledge of being able to speak with TWO Mopar Design LEGENDS! I am still jazzed up about it! My first conversation was with a person whom I had long admired, but never knew. After finally reading Paul Zazarine's 'Barracuda & Challenger' history book, I was aware of a few individuals who worked on the Barracuda Project.

Ever since it has been on the market, one of the small things about the Barracuda that has ALWAYS impressed me was that fantastic little "fish" emblem! What a logo! I hope to post more about THAT later! Well, a person who I consider to be a genius, is responsible for that!

Mr. Milt Antonick, came up with that idea! Milt was hired in August of 1962, and was heavily involved in the project. Milt was tasked with many things, one job in particular being the the vehicle's logo/badge, after the "Fastback Valiant" car's actual product name was finally decided upon. He based it upon the freshwater pike, with a sharklike tail and modified / relocated dorsal fins. He sent me a beautifully drawn cartoon of the 'Cuda fish with a crunched-up Mustang in its jaws! Visit later for THAT little gem, please! Mustang afficianados might not like it too much!

Milt was just a blast to talk to! When I first called, I talked to his wife, Pat. She is priceless! As I expected, being a total stranger, calling up "out-of-the-blue", she was in the "telemarketer-defense-mode"... that is, until the magic words "Barracuda" and "Chrysler" and "Design" were mentioned. Having been hounded by a lot of the more voracious telemarketers myself, I fully understood her stance! Shields UP! Pat was absolutely wonderful to talk to, and she said Milt was out, and asked me to call back later. She let me know that she was just about to hang up on me until I said the above mentioned words! Can't blame her one bit!!! She sure had me laughing a lot!

Well, as expected, "later" produced a fairly protracted conversation with Milt, who was pretty enthusiastic about getting into a dialogue about his main project! It was quite a fascinating talk, and he is still active in design, and has even taught several classes! Milt spoke of a co-worker who he was very close to, named John R. "Dick" Samsen. He spoke especially, of how much fun they had coming up with all of those cool graphics and stripes on our favorite Plymouth musclecars! He said those years were the most fun, and that the team really "clicked"! Personally, I think it would have been awesome to work there THEN!

Milt was involved in many other vehicles, too. Not just the musclecars. John was ,too. Both men are fantastic artists, and have brilliant minds!!! More later! I wished the conversation could have gone on and on, but we both had work to go to the next day. I hope to post some of the wonderful things Milt shared with me very soon! Please check back!

Now, on to John Samsen.
Same type of initial conversation, via telephone, and the first person who answered was his wife, Tucky. For starting off talking to a total stranger, I have to say that Milt's wife Pat and John's wife Tucky are two of the most gracious ladies I have ever spoken to! Milt and John were quite gracious and accommodating as well! I was so impressed by their kindness and willingness to talk of those great days they had together!

John was highly involved in the design of the original Thunderbird at Ford, before being hired at Chrysler. He did up a lot of concept car renderings featuring a sporty fastback theme for various Chrysler, Plymouth and DeSoto products. If you have a chance, I HIGHLY recommend clicking on the link to John's site, and looking at the galleries he has there! He also has some wonderful artwork for sale, too, and I hope to purchase some of those very soon!

This conversation was over entirely too soon, too. I found them both to be amazing people! They are good guys, and it was a true pleasure to talk to them! You know, what a COOL portfolio they both have! Their direct input gave us all the Mopars we cherish the most! I truly believe that they comprise a cadre of behind-the-scenes, unsung, perhaps under-appreciated designers the automotive industry has ever known! Both men are just very down-to-earth about all of their works, too. If I was ever able to attain the quality of their poorest trashcanned sketches, I would consider it a momentous lifetime achievement! They are National Treasures in my book... and in Paul Zazarine's book, too! Did I mention that already???

Thanks for visiting! Next time you see a really cool First, Second (especially!) or Third-Generation 'Cuda or another great Mopar musclecar, perhaps a stylish Avanti (thank Milt!), or a classic "Baby-Bird"; i.e.: a '55, '56, & '57 T-Bird (thank John!), think about these guys! If they weren't there at just THAT time...

Oh, yes... Not to shortchange other design team members, but my personal knowledge of them is just not there at present. If that changes, you'll see it here! Many, many thanks to Milt and Pat Antonick, and to John and Tucky Samsen! May God Bless you all! Thanks for sharing your great designs and awesome talents with us!