Looking Back: A History of Willie G. at Harley-Davidson
by Brian Zerkel (Schumacher)
Born William G. Davidson, the grandson of Harley-Davidson co-founder William A. Davidson in 1934, was around motorcycles from the first minutes of his life. His father, William H. Davidson, was president of Harley from 1942 until AMF’s buyout in 1973. It was William H who brought “Willie G” into the company as a designer in 1963. In 1969, Willie G was promoted to VP of Styling. Willie had been working for Ford in their design dept previously, so he was already familiar with the process. From the start, his designs were met with skepticism. The older design team saw his ideas as radical and impractical, but one of his designs did eventually make it to the marketplace.