MacPherson was the chief engineer of the Chevrolet Cadet project, a compact car intended to sell for less than $1,000.

MacPherson developed a strut-type suspension for the Cadet, partly inspired by Fiat designs patented by Guido Fornaca in the 1920s (although the Cadet did not use a true MacPherson strut design) and a patent by Frank M. Smith of Stout Motor Car Corp.[3][4] After the Cadet was canceled in May 1947, MacPherson left GM, joining the Ford Motor Company later that year.

Ford's Poissy plant got off to a slow start with the Vedette, however, and the Fords Zephyr and Consul which captured the headlines at the 1950 London Motor Show have also been claimed as the first cars to appear "in mass production" with MacPherson struts.

[2] MacPherson became chief engineer of Ford Motor Company in 1952, a position he retained until his retirement in May 1958.

He died in January 1960, at Old Grace Hospital in Detroit, after he suffered a heart attack.