Amos Northup was not just the leading designer for the independent  automakers in the thirties, he was the most independent of designers.

Amos Earl Northup was born October 23, 1889 in Bellevue, Ohio,a small town midway between Cleveland and Toledo. Early in life he discovered a passion for design, which he ambitiously pursued in his studies nearby at the the Cleveland Polytechnic Institute. Upon his graduation, his early professional work focused on furniture and interior design until he joined Pierce-Arrow in Buffalo, New York in 1919 and found his true calling.

Northup then opened his own studio in Buffalo, where he designed the 1924 Wills Sainte Claire and others. Soon his talents drew the attention of the industy leaders,  including the Murray Body Corporation, one of Detroit’s largest body suppliers, and in 1927 the company hired him as its chief of design. While Ford was Murray’s biggest customer, the company was also supplier to a number of independents, including Graham-Paige, Reo, and Willys-Overland. Typically, these smaller automakers lacked in-house styling departments and relied on independent designers and the body suppliers to help with the exterior sheet metal.

1932 Reo Royale Sedan

It was at Murray that Northup produced his most striking designs, including the 1930 Graham-Paige, the A400 Convertible Sedan body style for Ford, the Reo Royale, and the groundbreaking 1932 Graham Blue Streak (see our feature on the influential Blue Streak here): He also briefly served as head of design at Willys-Overland, where he  created the Willys-Knight 66B Plaidsides and the 1930 Whippet, before returning to Murray. However, back at Murray he continued to produce designs for Willys-Overland, including the 1933 Willys 77 and 99 and the 1937 Willys.

1938 Willys Coupe

The unusual styling of the Willys 37—which boldly eliminated the radiator gille as the dominant styling element—foreshadowed Northup’s Spirit of Motion theme for the 1939 Graham, his most memorable car. As designer for the independent carmakers, Northup enjoyed freedom that was not to be found at the Big Three, and that suited his creative vision just fine. His work was always original, often even polarizing.

1934 Graham Coupe

With its laid-back verticals, faired fenders, and integrated elements, the Graham Blue Streak is regarded amont styling authorities as one of the most forward-looking car designs of the thirties. In 2017, the Historic Vehicle Assoction elected the Blue Streak to the National Historic Vehicle Register.at the Library of Congress.

Sadly, Northup died on February 13, 1937, two days after a fall near his home in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, just outside Detroit. At the time, his final design for the Spirit of Motion Graham—more commonly known as the Graham Sharknose—was not yet completed, and he never got to see it in production form. His patent drawings for the Graham (below) show an even more radical vehicle than the eventual result, with totally enclosed front and rear wheels and a teardrop rear deck. In the Motor City, Northup was the most independent of auto designers.