The tall man, thin as a reed, cautiously entered the Car and driver offices, every step deliberate. He stopped to quietly survey his surroundings. Eighty-nine-year-old George Chartier had just completed one of the circles of his life: he was about to take his first ride in an electric car.
His son, Allen, was with him. Before the visit, he explained to us: “He has always been interested in electric cars, starting with a radio-controlled electric car he built in 1955. I hope to get him into a [Ford Mustang] Chewed up.”
Follower of the EV model
Growing up in Wisconsin, George Chartier loved miniature cars and the promise of electric propulsion in equal measure. He has followed these interests in tandem throughout his life, first learning to build unique, show-quality, 1/12 scale concept cars from the ground up using raw materials: basswood for the bodies and thin hand-formed copper strips. which he chromed for the trim.
In his early twenties, he entered several of his model cars into the Fisher Body Craftsman Guild competition, a national design competition sponsored by General Motors’ body division for aspiring teenage car designers. Its entries won first place statewide in 1953 and second place statewide in 1954.
But these were static display models. Chartier’s muse was electric propulsion. His next project, launched in 1955, was much more adventurous: a 1/12 scale radio-controlled electric car; the black coupe you see here looks quite realistic.
Like his Craftsman Guild cars, every part was handcrafted, including an interior complete with tiny instrument gauge faces. Chartier also designed and built the unique chassis which contains an electric motor, powered by D batteries, and the radio control hardware to operate it, as well as a working suspension and steering system, headlights, turn signals, reversing lights, and a horn. It took about 3000 hours to build it. As with his previous models, he built it entirely by himself; RC car kits didn’t exist in the mid-20th century.
“I took this model to my job interview at Ford in 1962,” Chartier told me in his calm voice. He was applying for a job as a clay modeler, hoping to become one of the artisans who sculpt and refine the exteriors and interiors of designer-drawn vehicles. During the interview, Chartier said: “I told them that I wanted to include sequential turn signals in the model, but there was no room for it; the mechanism was too bulky. They asked me if I had a patent on my idea, and I told them no.”
Chartier was hired on the spot, “then a few years later my idea for sequential turn signals appeared on the Thunderbird.” Could Chartier have invented the sequential indicator or at least given the idea to Ford? Maybe, but he clearly anticipated its use.
Chartier remained a Ford clay modeler for 37 years, turning down managerial promotions so he could continue to pursue his love of modeling by working on life-size clays, which were a key part of the vehicle design process. throughout his career. Large scale modeling pastes are still used today to confirm that the lines of a new vehicle look as good in real life, full size, as they do on a computer screen.
Back to the future
“Is it really all electric?” Chartier asked as we circled the Mach-E charge in the Car and driver trial batch. He peered at the familiar triple taillights.
“It’s a Mustang, okay. It shows in the taillights.” I turned on the LED indicators; they’re sequential, a modern version that first appeared in production on the 1964 Ford Thunderbird. Chartier looked at them, then at us, his eyebrows raised.
From the passenger seat of the Mach-E, Chartier was able to quietly observe the large central infotainment screen and its multiple functions. “Nice and quiet,” he said as we left the office complex. On the street, I pushed the throttle deep to give him a sense of the Mach-E’s instant torque. “You can’t feel it changing,” he said with a chuckle, knowing clearly that the Mach-E doesn’t have a multi-speed transmission.
Why had he always been so seduced by electric vehicles? As we zoomed down I-94 at 80 mph, he said, “I thought cars should be quiet and smooth. Electric cars are — and they don’t smell.”
Thanks to today’s strict emissions controls and much improved engine sealing technology, gasoline-powered cars run antiseptically clean. But the automotive world Chartier grew up in was stinking. If you like the smell of gasoline in the morning, buy a pre-1970 car, park it in your garage, and enjoy the scent of unburned hydrocarbons, coolant, and engine oil. And that’s the smells that evaporate from the car, not to mention the exhaust that it will expel when you turn it on.
We headed back to the office on surface streets so Chartier could observe what one-pedal driving was like and how normal an electric vehicle is to ride in daily traffic. Chartier said: “As a clay modeler, I worked on everything Ford made. I didn’t want to be a designer or manage people.
“Where are the charging stations displayed on the map?”
Back in the CD lot, Chartier cautiously got off the Mach-E to pose for photos. He smiles shyly at the camera. “It was impossible when I was a kid. Incredible batteries.”
faded memories
A few days later, Chartier’s son wrote about the experience. “I think my dad is happy to see the progress towards electric vehicles in general. I know he enjoyed the ride and all the details you shared with him about the car back then. He didn’t say much on the way back With his memory loss, he’s really ‘in the moment’ these days.”
Within a week, Chartier had forgotten all about his ride in the Mach-E, Allen said. But for a short time, at least, George Chartier was able to see his dream of an electric car future come true. Somewhere out there, we’d like to think, a dream shared by generations of car enthusiasts like him has finally come true.
Director, Buyer’s Guide
Rich Ceppos valued automobiles and automotive technology during a career that spanned 10 years at General Motors, two stints at Car and driver totaling 19 years and thousands of miles driven in race cars. He was in music school when he realized what he really wanted to do in life and somehow it worked out. between his two CD positions he held as editor-in-chief of car review; served as Executive Vice President at Campbell Marketing & Communications; worked in GM product development; and become editor of Automatic week. He has raced continuously since college, held SCCA and IMSA professional racing licenses, and competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He’s currently tending to a 1999 Miata and a 1965 Corvette convertible and realizes that none of his younger co-workers have yet uttered “Ok, Boomer” when he tells one of his stories. on the crazy old days of CD.
