Cooper Hewitt says...
John Reinhart attended the Central Academy of Commercial Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he studied automotive and product design, commercial art, lettering and graphic design. He also trained at the Ohio Mechanics Institute, Los Angeles Polytechnic Institute, General Motors Design School and The Belsky Technical School in Detroit.
His first job in the industry was for General Motors’ Cadillac Studio in 1936, where he helped to design the interior of the 1938 Cadillac 60 Special. He went on to work for Gordon Buehrig at Auburn Automobile before settling at Packard in the late 1930s. By 1941, Reinhart was the supervisor of Packard’s Rolls-Royce account.
When the United States entered World War II, Reinhart took a position at Budd Manufacturing illustrating military vehicles. In 1943 he was hired by Raymond Loewy’s studio, where he worked as a designer for the 1947 Studebaker. After the war ended, the timely retirement of Packard’s Chief Stylist Werner Gubitz left an opening, and by 1947 Reinhart was the Chief Stylist at Packard. In 1951, facing increased competition from Cadillac, Reinhart completely redesigned the Packard. The success of his redesign led to a position at Ford Motor Company, where Reinhart was hired to design the luxurious, limited-production Lincoln Mark II, which debuted in 1956.
During the 1960s, Reinhart led a team of talented designers at U.S. Steel to create innovative steel products for the automotive design industry. There, Reinhart brought in former Ford designer Syd Mead to create a series of futuristic illustrated concept presentation books which would show the exciting potential uses of steel. Reinhart returned to Ford in the mid-1970s, where he worked in an interior design studio on special projects before retiring in 1980.
