B.C. senior recalls becoming trailblazing car designer
To appreciate why Mimi Vandermolen is so pleased to notice one particular vehicle she’s walking past, you need to know that seeing this many cars in one place would have been unimaginable when she was growing-up in the post-war Netherlands.
“I think that only increased my interest (in cars) because there were so few,” says Mimi, adding she mostly saw people travelling on bicycles.
Young Mimi relished receiving Dinky Cars for her birthday, before spending her allowance on car magazines, including Motor Trend.
“Definitely design was my first love,” says Mimi, who was interested in how cars looked both inside and out.
After her family moved to Canada, Mimi studied Industrial Design in college —where she was the only woman in a class of 28 men.
After she graduated, she became one of the first female automotive designers at Ford.
“The first thing one of the (male) designers said, ‘OK, you’re the woman – go get the coffee and donuts,’” Mimi recalls with a laugh. “I looked at him and I said, ‘No.’”
Mimi says she encountered two camps of men: guys who resented her, and dads who appreciated the potential of her.
“They thought this was so neat,” Mimi recalls with a smile. “Maybe their girls could do something like this.”
And what Mimi ended up doing was working harder than her colleagues, and earning the respect of her team, before rising up the ranks to design a car that was a “$4 billion bet” for the company.
“A lot of people were very nervous,” Mimi recalls.
Critics wanted the new car to be more conventionally square, and look less like “a jellybean,”
But Mimi and her team fought to keep their softer look, and the execs ended up agreeing.
“It was exciting to be there,” Mimi smiles.
But nothing could compare to the feeling of seeing her Ford Taurus become a best-seller and a design trend-setter, named “Car of the Year” by Motor Trend, the magazine Mimi used to read as a girl.
“When you can stand there and watch a (manufacturing) plant spitting out hundreds of thousands of your car, that’s pretty darn exciting,” Mimi smiles.
Which brings us back to the beginning of this story, when Mimi walked past a Taurus.
“I worked on that,” Mimi smiles, pointing at the car. “I was part of that team!”
While she’s still pleased to see her product on the road, Mimi will always be grateful for the car-loving girl she once was, who had the perseverance and talent to become a global trailblazer.
“Don’t just accept the normal stuff people throw at you,” Mimi says when asked what she would tell her younger self. “If it’s really what you love, keep going and doing what you’re doing.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Tensions flare between Poilievre and Singh in the House after NDP says it will back Trudeau Liberals
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got into a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Thursday, just minutes after Singh announced his party would not be supporting the Conservatives' first non-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
'It's disgusting': Quebec minister reacts after body of boy, 14, found near Hells Angels hideout
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Missing six-year-old boy disappeared after school breakfast program: Manitoba RCMP
Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.
Woman dead, toddler uninjured following B.C. police shooting, watchdog says
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
PM Trudeau names Anita Anand transport minister after Pablo Rodriguez quits cabinet
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped Treasury Board President Anita Anand to take on additional duties as Canada's minister of transport on Thursday.
Canadian women among those who allege Harrods boss sexually abused them
CTV News has learned there are multiple Canadian women alleging they were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of the late Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including machine-guns
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
Shohei Ohtani becomes the first major league player with 50 homers, 50 stolen bases in a season
Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, with the Los Angeles Dodgers star going deep twice to reach the half-century mark and swiping two bags to get to 51 against the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
Francois Legault wants the Trudeau government to fall
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is calling on the Bloc Quebecois to topple the Trudeau government next Wednesday and trigger a federal election.