Joe Oros

Who is Joe Oros?

Joseph E. Oros, Jr. was an automobile stylist for Ford Motor Company over a period of 21 years — known as the Chief Designer of the team at Ford that styled the original Mustang, and for his contributions to the 1955 Ford Thunderbird. Oros was also an artist, sculptor, painter and industrial designer, having designed appliances and other products.

Oros was born to non-English speaking Romanian parents. He was moved up a grade from 3rd to 5th because of his fantastic art work even though his math and science skills were questionable.

Oros died on August 2, 2012 at the age of 96. He lived in Santa Barbara, California with his wife Betty Thatcher Oros, until her death in 2001. His house was full of his own artwork, including paintings and sculptures. Oros was working on a 3D model of the earth depicting all the original settlers. In 2009, he was about 1/4 of his way through it.