Emeline King designed the interior of the 1994 Ford Mustang. (Photo Credit: EK)
As we celebrate Black History Month, Auto Trends with
Jeffcars.com, a multicultural syndicated automotive program, shines
the high beams on Emeline King, Ford Motor Company’s first Black
female car designer. King, who was hired in 1983, was one of the
first Black female car designers in the auto industry. Marietta
Kearney Ellis, who was hired one-year earlier by General Motors, was
the first in the industry.
Currently, there are
approximately 30 Black car designers globally. Black car designers barely
make up a fraction of this exclusive club of creative innovators. In fact, one
has a better chance of being drafted at .03%, according to sports
sources into the NBA, than becoming an automotive car
designer.
