MX-6 Counterpart
It doesn’t get much more American than a Ford Probe, you’d think. Yet, there’s a striking and stubborn Dutch touch to Ford’s failed Mustang successor.
In a fit of efficiency, Ford had its Mustang for the 90s developed by Mazda. The result was a sleek, aerodynamic, front-wheel-drive coupe, based on the Mazda 626, just like the Mazda MX-6. There was little wrong with it, but both within and outside Ford, there was much indignation that the brand was destroying a pure-blooded American icon and replacing it with what was, in fact, a Japanese car. Even before its introduction, Ford reversed the decision: the old Mustang remained in production, and the new front-wheel-drive version was introduced alongside it, receiving a different name: Probe. Once it was no longer a Mustang, the storm quickly subsided. The car even sold well, good enough in any case to develop a successor.
Work on this started around 1988 under the leadership of Mimi Vandermolen, a Dutch-born designer from Canada. Vandermolen became responsible for both the interior and exterior of the Probe II, making her the first female Design Executive in the automotive industry. She may have been the only woman in a management position, but Vandermolen did not adapt. On the contrary: during the development of cars, the needs of women were hardly taken into account, and that had to change.
For Vandermolen, it was very simple: “If I improve usability for women, it becomes a better car for men too.” She didn’t focus on typical ‘women’s things’ like removable bags and makeup mirrors, but on genuine improvements. And she wasn’t afraid to make unconventional choices. She made her designers wear long fake nails to feel how difficult it was to open a door or operate certain switches with them. She had little patience for men who found all of this nonsense. She threatened to make them wear a short skirt so they could experience what it’s like to get out of the back of a three-door coupé. With her clear vision and headstrong character, Mimi Vandermolen ensured that the American automotive industry made significant strides in terms of ease of use and passive safety. And the Ford Probe II deserves a place in automotive history as the first car developed entirely under the responsibility of a – Dutch! -woman.
The Probe was available for sale in the US starting in early 1993. The European version only appeared a year later. This original Dutch example is an early Probe II from April 1994. It’s a two-liter four-cylinder; there was also a V6. The Probe II lasted four years. Its successor was the European version of the Mercury Cougar, which we know as the Ford Cougar.
Mimi Vandermolen was born in Geleen in 1946 as Wilhelmina van der Molen. In 1951, the family moved to Canada. The government actively encouraged emigration during those years; over half a million Dutch people left the poor, crowded Netherlands for a new future, particularly in Canada, New Zealand, or Australia.