Tom Tjaarda nasce a Detroit il 23 luglio 1934. Figlio di John Tjaarda, un celebre designer di cui ricordiamo la Lincoln Zephyr del 1930.
E' ovvio che vivendo in una famiglia così creativa un giorno Tom sarebbe diventato un bravo designer.

Durante gli studi per la laurea in Architettura all'Università del Michigan, un professore di design industriale diede a Tom il compito di disegnare un modello in scala di una station wagon sportiva. Alla conclusione del progetto il professore fu così entusiasta che mostrò il progetto al suo amico Luigi Segre, responsabile dello Stile alla Carrozzeria Ghia.
Segre offrì immediatamente un lavoro a Tom e, come si suol dire, il resto è storia. Dopo essersi trasferito a Torino, durante il corso, durato due anni, Tom Tjaarda disegnò molte macchine di produzione, prototipi e show-car.

Dopo aver lavorato un anno sul progetto "Turin's Italia '61 Design Exhibition", Tjaarda fu assunto dalla Pininfarina. Qui, lavorò su molte macchine di produzione e prototipi.Tra i suoi lavori ricordiamo, due Ferrari, la Fiat 124 Spider, una Lancia una Mercedes-Benz ed il prototipo Corvette Rondine.
Nel 1965, Tjaarda fu assunto dalla OSI-Fergat, dove fu coinvolto nella produzione di stampi automobilistici e ruote. Quando Giorgetto Giugiaro lasciò la Carrozzeria Ghia nel 1967, Tom tornò a lavorare col suo primo datore di lavoro. Adesso come Responsabile del Design. Per i seguenti otto anni, era lui era la mente dietro i numerosi progetti della Ghia, tra cui forse le sue opere più famose, la DeTomaso Pantera e la Ford Fiesta.

Da metà degli anni settanta aveva catturato l'atenzione dei vertici della Fiat. Nel 1977, la più grande casa automobilistica italiana l'assunse come capo dell' Advanced Design Studio. in quegli anni fu il responsabile dei progetti della Tipo, della Croma e della Lancia Thema.
Nel 1980 passò alla Rayton Fissore, dove progettò la Magnum 4x4, una nuova tipologia di veicolo che ebbe un notevole successo rimanendo sul mercato fino al 1990.

A metà degli anni 80, Tom Tjaarda lasciò la Rayton Fissore e creò una sua formata, la Dimensione Design, poi tramutata in Tjaarda Design. Utilizzando il suo talento e quello di un piccolo, ma scelto gruppo di collaboratori nel corso degli anni è stato in grado di fornire un'alternativa intelligente nello studio e nella produzione di prototipi e auto di serie.

Per maggiori informazioni consultare il sito Tom Tjaarda.net

Tom Tjaarda was born on July 23, 1934. The son of John Tjaarda, a noted stylist whose creations included the streamlined Lincoln Zephyr of the 1930's. From Tom's youth it was obvious to those around him that he would one day become a superlative designer. While majoring in Architecture at the University of Michigan, a professor in industrial design gave Tom the assignment of constructing a scale model of a sports station wagon. Upon seeing his student's finished project, the professor was so impressed that he showed it to his friend, Luigi Segre, the then, head of Carrozzeria Ghia of Turin, Italy.
Segre immediately offered Tjaarda a job and, as they say, the rest is history. After moving to Turin, over the next two years, Tjaarda designed several production cars, prototypes and show cars.

After spending a year working on the city of Turin's Italia '61 Design Exhibition, Tjaarda was subsequently hired by the famed coach building firm, Pininfarina. Here, several production cars and prototypes were his designs, including two Ferraris, the Fiat 124 Spider, a Lancia, a Mercedes-Benz and the one-off show car, the Corvette Rondine.
In 1965, Tom was hired by OSI-Fergat, where he was involved in the production of automotive stampings and wheels. When Giorgetto Giugiaro left Carrozzeria Ghia in 1967, Tom soon found himself back with his former employer, now as head of design. For the next eight years, he was the styling force behind numerous, memorable Ghia designs, including two of its most famous; the sleek, mid-engined DeTomaso Pantera and the Ford Fiesta economy car.

By the mid-1970's, Tom had caught the eye of the styling executives at Fiat. In 1977, Italy's largest automotive concern hired him to run their Advanced Design Studio. Here, he oversaw the Tipo 4 proposals, the Lancia Thema, Fiat Croma, and others.
Rayton Fissore became his new home in 1980. Besides working with Chrysler in Detroit and Citroen of France, Tom put his stamp on the off-road, sport-ute market in 1985 with the Rayton Fissore Magnum 4X4, a vehicle that remained in production well into the 1990's.

In the mid-1980's, Tom left Rayton Fissore and formed his own company, Dimensione Design, now known as Tjaarda Design. By properly utilizing his talents and those of a small, hand-picked group of Turin's top, sub-contractors, for the past number of years, Tjaarda Design has been able to offer manufacturers an intelligent, cost effective alternative in the study and production of design ideas, prototypes and production cars.


Located in the heart of Turin, capital to Italy's styling industry, Tjaarda Design was originally formed in 1985 under the name of Dimensione Design. Since its inception, the firm has worked with some of the automotive world's most famous and respected names, from all market sectors. Included are mass manufacturers such as Chrysler, Saab and Fiat Iveco. Niche market and performance clients include Aston Martin, Bugatti and Bitter. Off-road/Sport-ute studies were done for LaForza and Sermac, while other clients have ranged from America's ASC Incorporated and PPG to Zastava and Piaggio. All were given timely, cost-effective solutions to their targeted market and design queries.

How is Tjaarda Design able to accomplish this, when production costs seem to spiral continuously upward? Simply, Tom Tjaarda has long maintained that a tightly-knit group of talented designers and craftsmen could best serve the global automotive community, thus displaying a "lean and mean" attitude similar to that found today in numerous American corporate entities in this era of downsized corporate structures.

Such an approach allows Tjaarda Design to quickly respond to markets that undergo changes or suddenly open and develop at a rapid rate. Additionally, for mature markets such as North America, Europe and Japan, studies and production of high performance motorcars, sport-utes and other niche vehicles have remained a cost-effective reality at Tjaarda Design. At the center of the firm is Tom Tjaarda himself. The wealth of knowledge he has accumulated during boom and bust periods of the business cycle over the past four decades has allowed him to survive and prosper in all business climates by being particularly responsive to an individual manufacturer's needs and requirements.

Tjaarda's lengthy experience in Turin has also led to a tight association with several hand-picked subcontractors who understand manufacturing deadlines and budgets. This allows Tjaarda Design to act incisively as a sounding board for design studies, develop scale and 1:1 models, design and build running prototypes, or oversee the production of limited production and niche vehicles.

For further information to consult the website Tom Tjaarda.net

Very special thanks to Stefan Dierkes for the collaboration to the layout of this page.