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HARRY F. BARR
1 904-1 990
BY ROBERT A. FROSCH
HARRY F. BARR, engineer, inventor, automotive industry
leader, and vice-presicient of General Motors (GM) engineering
staff, died on March 5, 1990, at the age of eighty-five.
Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1965, Mr.
Barr was the first automotive engineer to receive this distinction.
He was frequently regarcied as "an engineer's engineer." He is
known for his innovation, leadership, and contributions to
automotive engineering, and for his service to several engineer-
ing societies during his forty-year professional career and into
· .
ills retirement.
A native of EnicI, Oklahoma, Mr. Barr was born on August 28,
1904. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of
Missouri before enrolling at the University of Detroit in 1926,
where he received a bachelor's degree in automotive engineer-
ing three years later.
Mr. Barr began his General Motors career in February 1929 as
a laboratory technician for Cadillac Motor Car Division. His first
assignment was in the development of the V-16 passenger car
engine.
For a short time during World War II, Mr. Barr worked on a
tank development project en cl on a lightweight flying bomb.
Following his war projects, he was promoted to Cadillac clivi-
sional engineer in charge of engines. In 1945 he was named staff
engineer and was responsible for the development of the 331-
13
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14
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
cubic-inch overhead valve engine, introduced on 1949 Cadillacs.
During the Korean War, Mr. Barr became the assistant, and
then the chief engineer at Cadillac's Cleveland, Ohio, Orcinance
Tank Plant. While there, he assisted in the development and
production of the M41 Walker bulldog tank and the M-42 twin
Bofors 40-mm gun carriage.
Following his Cleveland assignment, he moved to Chevrolet
Motor Division in 1952 as assistant chief engineer and became
chief engineer four years later. Under his direction, Chevrolet
introduced a number of new models, including the Corvette and
the Corvair, and features, together with important develop-
ments in transmissions, engines, and suspensions and an all-new
truck line in 1960.
Coinciding with his appointment as chief engineer, Mr. Barr
oversaw the clevelopment of the engine for the 1960 Corvair.
This vehicle was innovative for the current U.S. market because
of its rear-mounted engine. The engine was a horizontally
mountecl, opposed 6-cylinder, air-cooled design. It was the first
modern all-aluminum engine in the domestic inclustry, the first
automotive air-cooled engine since the early 1930s, and the only
application of the horizontal opposer! configuration in the
domestic industry.
It was cluring this time that Mr. Barr became known for his
contributions to engine design and development, including the
reduction of exhaust emissions. He receiver] nine U.S. patents
during his career, more than half in the area of engine structure
and lubrication.
Upon Mr. Barr's death, GM Chairman Robert Stempel said,
"Harry Barr was both a fine gentleman and an imaginative
engineer who was highly respected throughout the industry for
his knowledge of automobile engines."
In March 1963 Mr. Barr was elected vice-president of General
Motors in charge of the engineering staff, a post he held until his
August 1969 retirement. The engineering staff's mission was to
explore and develop future vehicles en cl technologies en cl to
coordinate corporate safety programs.
His responsibilities included chairing the GM Engineering
Policy Group and the General Technical Committee, both of
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HARRY F. BARR
15
which coordinated corporate and divisional engineering and
technical matters. Also under his engineeringjurisdiction were
the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan, and Mesa,
Arizona; GM's test facility in Manitou, Colorado; automotive
safety engineering; the new devices section; parts fabrication;
technical liaison section; and engineering standards.
During his tenure as vice-president, the federal government
began its involvement in automotive safety and emissions. Mr.
Barr worked with the government and automotive manufactur-
ers as an engineer and industry spokesperson. A year before his
retirement he said, "As responsible engineers, it is our duty to
lead and inform administrators in the governmental depart-
ments that are charted by law with the task of applying new
regulations to our industry.... At the same time, we must
continue to see that our customers receive the greatest possible
value for the cost involved in all these public interest areas, such
as safety and air pollution."
New safety features that Mr. Barr supervised included thicker
laminate windshield glass, beginning with the 1966 models, to
prevent ejection from the vehicle; energy-absorbing steering
columns in 1967; and better highway design. This work was
based on a research program at the GM Proving Ground, which
demonstrated that clearing obstacles from roadsides can reduce
the severity of injuries in single-car accidents.
In addition to his election to the National Academy of Engi-
neering, Mr. Barr was a fifty-year member and fellow in the
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). He held a number of
positions in the SAL and was its president in 1970. For ten years
he represented the society on the Board of the Coordinating
Research Council. He also was a member of the Engineering
Society of Detroit and the honorary engineering fraternity Tau
Beta Pi.
Throughout his career. Mr. Barr r`~eive~H ~P`~f~r~1 hnnr~rc
__ ,~ art. In,, ~ ~~$ v ~~ ~w V w~ C~1 11~llV! O~
including the Alumnus of the Year from the University of
Detroit's College of Engineering ( 1970), the Outstanding Ca-
reer Achievement Award from Automotive Industries magazine
(1968), and the Missouri Honor Award for Distinguished Ser-
vice in Engineering from the University of Missouri (1965~.
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16
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Based on his many years of observation, Mr. Barr summarized
the qualities of successful engineers in a 1964 GMEng~nemng
fournal article. According to Mr. Barr, successful engineers have
initiative, and they have the ability to make their own decisions
and have an open mind. They dare to be different, are enthusi-
astic team members, effective communicators, and continue to
learn about their profession, he said.
"These elements, then, are what ~ consider to be essential for
an engineer in pursuit of success. But possession of them floes
not assure continual success," Mr. Barr said. "The engineer must
expect to encounter failure. In fact, failure is a reality at some
stage in most engineering projects. It may, however, be consid-
ered as part of the path to success."
There's no doubt among anyone who worked with or knew
Harry Barr, that he was one of the successful engineers he
described. Mr. Barr's legacy to automotive engineering is still
reflected today in GM's cars and trucks.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
automotive engineering
