Frederick Morrell Zeder

Frederick Morrell Zeder
Zeder in 1922
Born	(1886-03-19)March 19, 1886 Bay City, Michigan, US
Died	February 24, 1951(1951-02-24) (aged 64) Miami Beach, Florida
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Occupation	Engineer automobile designer

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 (industrial machinery) and Studebaker (pioneer automobile manufacturer). Along with Carl Breer and Owen Skelton, he was one of the core engineering team that formed the present-day Chrysler Corporation. His innovations included rubber motor mounts that contributed to Chrysler's success. He was the first president of Chrysler's Institute of Engineering.

Early life[]

Zeder was of Irish descent, and was born on March 19, 1886.^[1] At this time his family lived in Bay City, Michigan. Zeder's parents were Rudolph John Zeder from New York and Matilta Jane (McKendry) Zeder from Canada. Frederick had four brothers and one 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 machinist's apprentice for of Bay City, a manufacturer of railroad cranes.^[4] At age 12 he was a railroad call boy, responsible for waking up the train crew in the morning, for $30 a month (equivalent to $933 in 2020).^[5] He was then employed by the Michigan Central Railroad,^[6] where he oversaw railroad car axles ensuring they were properly oiled and greased.^[7]

Middle life[]

While at high school, Zeder became a machinist at Michigan Central Railroad in their Motive Power and Train Divisions. After graduating from the public high school at Bay City in 1905, Zeder attended University of Michigan and worked part-time.^[8] He graduated from the university in 1909 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.^[1][2][3]

Career[]

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 the University of Michigan, Zeder was hired by the Allis-Chalmers Company in West Allis, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee, for their apprentice course as an erecting engineer.^[8] There he met Carl Breer as another attendee of the course. Allis-Chalmers selected twenty-five of the best students of mechanical engineering from top universities of the United States. Zeder was a college graduate from the University of Michigan and Breer was a graduate from Stanford University. Zeder and Breer became close friends during their training at Allis-Chalmers.^[3][9][10]

Studebaker to Willys[]

Zeder then was hired in 1910 to help build a power plant in Detroit. His next job, later that year, was at the E-M-F automobile 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] The Studebaker brothers, who were horse-drawn wagon builders, bought the E-M-F automobile company 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] In 1914, at the age of 28, he became Studebaker's chief engineer.^[2][3]

The Three Musketeers[]

1918 Studebaker Big Six

Studebaker reached its production peak in 1916, but it had major financial problems and was close to bankruptcy. 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, his main job 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]

When Zeder enticed Breer to come over to Studebaker to work with him in their engineering department their relationship became 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 transmissions and Breer had technical engineering design abilities.^[13] Zeder was the chief engineer at Studebaker until 1920.^[14] 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 were brought by Walter Chrysler over to the nascent Chrysler Corporation in 1924 and became the core 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 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 experienced by 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 (51 kW) 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 proven engineering techniques.^[22] There was a test performed in 1930 on the rubber engine mounting that lifted a De Soto Straight Eight automobile 2 feet (0.61 m) off the ground for five minutes. The test was a success with the rubber mountings stretching only 0.125 inches (3.2 mm) under the weight of the car, that demonstrated the strength of the mountings.^[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 the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1998.^[25] He died of a heart attack on February 24, 1951.^[18]

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Ackerson, Robert (2016). Chrysler 300/America's Most Powerful Car. Veloce Publishing. ISBN 9781845849610.
• Curcio, Vincent (2001). Chrysler: The Life and Times of an Automotive Genius. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195147056.
• Iacocca, Lido A. (1984). Iacocca: An Autobiography. Bantam Books. ISBN 9780553051025.
• Yanik, Anthony J. (1994). The Birth of Chrysler Corporation and Its Engineering Legacy. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers. ISBN 9781560915249.