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Retiring Ford chief designer J Mays talks 2015 Mustang

Alloy07

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Short interview in today's Detroit Free Press with retiring designer J Mays regarding the 2015. No new info but I was surprised that they started working on it in 2009.

http://www.freep.com/article/20131222/BUSINESS0102/312220044/Ford-Mustang-J-Mays-auto

QUESTION: Is it harder to redesign an iconic vehicle?

ANSWER: No. Itā€™s a joy to work on a car like this. You get people lining up at your office door ready to work on a Mustang. So this is an absolute honor.

Q: How long was the next-generation Mustang in the planning?

A: We started doing the planning in late 2009. The sketches were already starting to come across my desk three minutes after we kicked the program off.

Q: Was the convertible designed alongside the hardtop?

A: Yes, exactly the same time because we had to have a profile that worked for both the fastback and the convertible.

Q: Did you have to include all the traditional Mustang cues?

A: We have been thinking about the essential elements of this car for quite a long time. When you design a car there are thousands of sketches. There are about 15 models of the car. Itā€™s like making a movie. Much of it ends up on the cutting room floor. The biggest trick was editing down all of the Mustang cues because we could have put more on, but we found we didnā€™t need to.

Q: What is your favorite aspect of it?

A: The tri-bar tail lamps. Iā€™m just a sucker for history.

Q: Did you have to make changes knowing it will be sold globally?

A: We wanted to design a Mustang first and foremost and offer that to the world. Iā€™ve lived overseas long enough to know people who live in Europe and Asia love it because of its Americanism. No watering down. We had to bring the faithful along. We couldnā€™t possibly lose them. And we wanted to attract a new audience as well. I think we struck the right balance with this car.

Q: How do you market and sell it in Asia?

A: You donā€™t have to sell it. If it doesnā€™t sell itself, youā€™re probably not a Mustang fan.

Q: How will the new Mustang do in the market?

A: You have 50 years of pent-up demand. So the number of people craving to get into a Mustang overseas will, I think, surprise us.

Fordā€™s design chief J Mays retires at the end of the year after a 33-year career ā€” 16 of them at Ford ā€” and rides off with the design of the next-generation Mustang as one of his final acts.

Mays, 59, joined Ford in 1997 with a portfolio that included the Audi TT and the concept for the revived ā€œNew Beetleā€ while he worked at Volkswagen.

The native of Pauls Valley, Okla., worked at his familyā€™s auto parts store when he was young and graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., in 1980.

He moved to Ingolstadt, Germany, to work for Audi, left for a brief stint at BMW in 1983, but returned to become senior designer for Volkswagen and Audi. In 1989, Mays returned to the U.S. as Volkswagen of Americaā€™s chief designer where he worked on the concept that became the New Beetle.

At Ford, the man in the trademark black turtleneck spent years leading design and added the title of chief creative officer in 2005. He also played consultant with Disney/Pixar for the movie ā€œCars.ā€

Mays oversaw the design team that created on the current Fusion that some critics have likened to an Aston Martin. The Fusion ā€œranks up there as the most satisfying car to date Iā€™ve done at Ford,ā€ Mays said a year ago when the design team won the Detroit Free Press Automotive Leadership Award for design. ā€œI think it is the car that will change peopleā€™s perceptions of Ford as a design leader.ā€

Before he leaves, Mays talked to reporters about designing the all-new 2015 Mustang.
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Vickstang

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Good article thanks for posting. I like all his answers, seems like Mays really 'gets it'

He said he was getting sketches at his desk 3 mins after they started the program. I'd love it if ford one day released those. I'm sure one of them will end up as the refreshes, SE's etc.
 

ford4v429

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No new info but I was surprised that they started working on it in 2009.
theres a pic floating around of a 1969 skinned mustang station wagon- dated 1965. it takes a few years to design/build tooling/etc...its really pretty amazing they keep them under wraps as well as they do, when you consider the near final clay models must be done years in advance...
 

let me ride

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Harder to keep under wraps once it becomes more final and suppliers and the media start to see it. Then chazcron renders it for us :p

At least we'll always have conspiracy theories to keep the surprise going even if it leaks. Ah I kinda miss those. ;)
 

Wild Stang

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"Q: What is your favorite aspect of it?

A: The tri-bar tail lamps. Iā€™m just a sucker for history."

This happens to be the reason why I still don't like the new headlights. The bars just don't seem intuitive with rest of the car IMO.
I disagree, I think they look sleek and are integrated well into the the trunk area. A Mustang that is designed to pay respects to its ancestor HAS to have tri-bar taillights. And I like that these are significantly different than the S197.
 

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I disagree, I think they look sleek and are integrated well into the the trunk area. A Mustang that is designed to pay respects to its ancestor HAS to have tri-bar taillights. And I like that these are significantly different than the S197.
I agree.
 

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