Frederick Morrell Zeder

Frederick Morrell Zeder (March 19, 1886 – February 24, 1951) was an American automotive industry engineer and a member of the Automotive Hall of Fame. He made material contributions to Allis-Chalmers and Studebaker. Along with Carl Breer and Owen Skelton, he was one of the core engineering people that formed the present day Chrysler Corporation. He was a key engineer that came up with innovations like rubber motor mounts that contributed to Chrysler's success. He was Chrysler's Institute of Engineering first president.

Frederick Morrell Zeder
Zeder in 1922
Born(1886-03-19)March 19, 1886
Bay City, Michigan, USA
DiedFebruary 24, 1951(1951-02-24) (aged 64)
Miami Beach, Florida
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Occupation
Political partyDemocrat

Early life

Zeder of Irish descent was born on March 19, 1886.[1] Then his family lived in Bay City, Michigan. Zeder's parents were Rudolph John Zeder (from New York) and Matilta Jane (McKendry) Zeder from Canada. Zeder had 4 brothers and 1 sister. He had little formal schooling at the Bay City public schools and was put to work earning income for the family at the age of 11.[2][3] His first job was as a helper being a machinist's apprentice for Industrial Works of Bay City (manufacturer of railroad cranes).[4] At age 12 he was a railroad call boy (waking up the train crew in the morning) for $30 a month (equivalent to $922 in 2019).[5] He then got a job at the Michigan Central Railroad.[6] He oversaw railroad car axles to have them oiled and greased properly.[7]

Mid life

Zeder became a machinist at Michigan Central Railroad in their Motive Power and Train Divisions in his teens. He was still in high school when he started working for the railroad company. After graduating from Bay City public high school in 1905 Zeder went to the University of Michigan and worked part-time.[8] He graduated from the university in 1909 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.[1][2][3]

Career
Photograph of E.M.F. Company factory exterior with its supply yard located on Piquette Street in Detroit, c. 1910

Allis-Chalmers

In 1909 after graduating from Michigan, Zeder was hired by the Allis-Chalmers Company in West Allis, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee for their apprentice course as an erecting engineer.[8] This is where he met Carl Breer. Allis-Chalmers selected twenty-five of the best students of mechanical engineering from top universities of the United States. Besides Zeder, Breer was such a student and was from Stanford University. Zeder and Breer became close friends in their training at Allis-Chalmers.[3][9][10]

Studebaker to Willys

Zeder then was hired in 1910 by a power plant in Detroit helping to build it. His next job, later in 1910, was at the E-M-F Company in Detroit taking charge of their engineering laboratory working on car body design,[8] while still a consultant of the Detroit power plant construction project for the Engineers' Manufacturing Company.[11] Studebaker brothers (wagon builders) took over E-M-F. in 1912 to produce Studebaker automobiles. Zeder became a consulting engineer for them using his university knowledge of mechanics and mathematics in laboratory controlled conditions.[1] Later in 1914, at the age of 28, he was Studebaker's chief engineer.[2][3]

The Three Musketeers
Main article: The Three Musketeers (Studebaker engineers)
1918 Studebaker

Studebaker reached their production peak in 1916, however had major financial problems and was about to be bankrupt. Zeder saw this as a weakness in the engineering department and hired two key knowledgeable mechanical engineers, Carl Breer and Owen Skelton, to form a new engineering nucleus. These three engineers were referred to as "The Three Musketeers" by those who knew them.[12] Zeder was the vice president of Studebaker and his main job was that of being in charge of engineering. Breer, because of his analytical skills, was made the director of research laboratories. Skelton was put in charge of design.[3]

In 1914 Zeder enticed Breer to come over to Studebaker to work with him in their engineering department. Zeder's relationship with Breer was quite close. Breer even married one of Zeder's sisters. Of the three engineers Zeder was considered the key front man because of his charismatic personality and advanced engineering talents. Skelton had engineering talents for engines and transmitting its power to the wheels and Breer had technical engineering design abilities.[13] Zeder was the chief engineer at Studebaker until 1920.[14] Then in 1921 he became president of Zeder-Skelton-Breer Engineering Company that the three of them formed in Newark, New Jersey.[8][15]

Chrysler
1924 Chrysler B-70 Touring Cars

"The Three Musketeers" of Studebaker and Willys—Zeder, Skelton, and Breer—were brought by Walter Chrysler over to the nascent Chrysler Corporation in 1924 and became the heart of its engineering department,[8] which over the next 50 years would earn a reputation in the automotive industry as one of the best such departments at any major manufacturing corporation. The Chrysler cars of the 1920s and 1930s featured many firsts in automobile engineering. For example, Lee Iacocca credited Frederick Zeder, who became Chrysler's vice-president in charge of engineering as the chief engineer,[16] with leading the development of rubber motor mounts. Iacocca said that Zeder was the first man to figure out how to get the motor generated vibrations out of the passenger compartment of automobiles. His solution was to mount the automobile engine on a base of rubber mounts thereby greatly reducing the motor vibrations from going to the automobile frame and body.[17]

Zeder's design of the automobile engine with his associates was good enough to attract bankers to invest in it and made the formation of the Chrysler corporation possible.[18] The first Chrysler 1924 automobiles came with all steel bodies, four-wheel hydraulic brakes, a multi-disc clutch, special chrome springs, Hotchkiss drive, aluminum pistons, and an air flow design.[19] The high-compression six-cylinder automobile engine developed 68 horsepower at 3200 revolutions per minute.[20] Later models came with independent springs for a smoother ride.[21] Zeder pointed out that these 1926 models were made with known and proven engineering techniques.[22] There was a test performed in 1930 on the rubber engine mounting that lifted a De Soto Straight Eight automobile two feet off the ground for five minutes. The test was a success with the rubber mountings stretching an eighth of an inch under the weight of the car. It was to demonstrate that the purr of the motor is deadened by these mounts.[23]

Personal life

In 1933 the Chrysler Graduate School of Engineering Research combined with the Chrysler Institute of Engineering to form one charter. It offered engineering degrees with a doctorate in engineering. Credits were honored by four accredited colleges by 1937 including the University of Michigan. Zeder was the Institute's first president. He received an honorary doctorate of engineering with the first graduation exercises in 1933.[24]

Zeder married Lucille Margaret Monroe on September 10, 1918. They had four children; Dorothy, Fred M. jr. Priscilla and Peggy.[19] He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers American Society for Testing Materials, Society of Automotive Engineers, and the Franklin Institute.[15] He was inducted into Automotive Hall of Fame in 1998.[25] He died of a heart attack on February 24, 1951.[18]

References
  1. Curcio 2001, p. 270.
  2. Yanik 1994, p. 5.
  3. Fred Zeder, Vice President in Charge of Engineering
  4. "Chrysler Mourns Zeder, Pioneer Auto Genius". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Canada. February 26, 1951. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com .
  5. "Ambitious Man - who made jobs for thousands through free enterprise". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. November 26, 1950. p. 84 – via Newspapers.com .
  6. "Tribute to Zeder". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Canada. July 24, 1935. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com .
  7. "Frederick Morrell Zeder" (PDF). Fiat Chrysler Automotive. 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  8. "Rose From Apprentice". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Canada. July 24, 1935. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com .
  9. Curcio 2001, p. 272.
  10. Yanik 1994, p. 1.
  11. "The Road to Success of Business Giants". The Star Press. Munice, Indiana. December 1, 1936. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com .
  12. "Men of Chrysler/Fine Automobiles and a Vigorous Corporation were Founded on Engineering Geniue" (PDF). Automotive History Preservation Society. 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  13. Curcio 2001, pp. 271, 272.
  14. "Fred M. Zeder, Designer of Cars, Dies at Beach". Miami, Florida. February 25, 1951. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com .
  15. Robert H. Humphrey (2003). "Fred Morrell Zeder". Department of Commerce. 1956 (United States Printing Office): 932. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  16. Haines Colbert (June 8, 1924). "Fields Directs Sales". South Bend, Indiana. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com .
  17. Iacocca 1984, p. 149.
  18. Haines Colbert (February 24, 1951). "Fred M. Zeder Dies, Designer of Autos". The Miami News. Miami, Florida. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com .
  19. Haines Colbert (February 24, 1951). "Fred M. Zeder Dies, Designer of Autos". Miami, Florida. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com .
  20. Ackerson 2016, p. 8.
  21. "New Independent Springing Explained". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. January 13, 1934. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com .
  22. Haines Colbert (June 6, 1926). "Chrysler Performance Explained". Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 65 – via Newspapers.com .
  23. "Entire Car is lifted off ground by the Rubber Engine Mounting". The Knoxville Journal. Knoxville, Tennessee. April 27, 1930. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com .
  24. "Chrysler Institute of Engineering". allpar.com. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  25. "Fred M. Zeder - Inducted 1998". Automobile Hall of Fame. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

Bibliography


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