József Galamb: The Hungarian Who Gave Americans Drive

It’s truly astounding to discover just how many brilliant European immigrants, when provided the freedom and the support to showcase their talents, contributed to the incredible innovation and success of the United States in the industrial age.

One Hungarian mechanical engineer reached his full potential in America and transformed the face of American life forever.

His name was József Galamb.

Galamb was born in Makó, a small town in southeastern Hungary known for its exceptional onions and its hot, dry summers.

With no intention of growing onions himself, Galamb earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Budapest Industrial Technology Engineering Course (today’s Óbuda University Bánki Donát Politechnical College) and went to work at the Steel Engineering Factory in Disósgyör as a draftsman.

After later completing his military service, Galamb won a postgraduate scholarship in Germany and worked at Adler — a German automobile and motorcycle manufacturer — assembling engines.

Motivated by the idea of attending the American Auto World Fair in St. Louis in 1904, Galamb used his savings to travel to the United States by ship in October 1903.

Galamb applied for work at three automotive plants in Detroit and received job offers at all three. Ultimately Henry Ford retained the talents of the twenty-four year old builder/designer.

At Ford Galamb became the chief designer of the first mass produced car in the world — Ford’s Model T. Galamb also co-developed of the factory assembly line.

The Model T is still today widely regarded as the first affordable automobile that opened automotive travel to everyday Americans. This is due largely to Ford’s innovative and efficient design and assembly line fabrication and production.

József Galamb became an American citizen in 1917. Later he set up a Ford dealership and mechanical shop in Hungary. Galamb also founded an engineering scholarship program for talented, underprivileged students in his hometown of Makó.

*Wikipedia was used as a source in writing this piece.