Dick Teague

This stylist got off to a shaky start before discovering the magic of platform sharing

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HE WAS A MASTER of expediency, a designer who could garnish parts bin castoffs with a little styling magic and create a new model in no time at all.

Richard Arthur ‘Dick’ Teague knew how to make a little go a long way, but then he had plenty of practice. This urbane designer was one of the USA's premier automotive stylists for more than half a century, but he spent most of that time on the backfoot. Forever trudging forwards, perennially fighting his corner, he was responsible for many a miracle, this being the man who made AMC products hip.

That he achieved such an improbable feat is all the more remarkable given his start in life. Born in Los Angeles on Boxing Day 1923, Teague seemed to be persistently afflicted with one ailment or other. Nevertheless, his artist mother Thia had big plans for her offspring, landing him a role in the Our Gang movie ‘shorts’ when he was just five years old. Dick changed sexes to become Dixie, but his early brush with the limelight ended abruptly after a drunk driver spun out and hit the car the youngster was riding in. Teague was propelled through the windscreen, but survived minus an eye.