FORD’S LIVING LEGENDS STUDIO-PUTTING CREATIVITY ON WHEELS

5/25/2002

Dearborn, Mich. — In a quiet corner of a Ford design studio in Dearborn, Mich., working after hours, a skunkworks crew of designers toiled away on a top-secret project. It was 1953, and the team was developing a car to compete with the new roadster from their cross-town rival. Two years later, their efforts came to life in a vehicle that would quickly earn a place among the greatest automotive nameplates of all time: the 1955 Ford Thunderbird.

Fast-forward to 2000. After successfully interpreting and modernizing the original design of America’s dream car – first as a concept in 1999 and later as the all-new, award-winning 2002 Ford Thunderbird – a special group of designers in Dearborn begins work on other projects that will someday become legends in their own right.

These are the designers of Ford’s Living Legends Studio. They are responsible for the design of the some of the world’s most well-known and well-loved automobiles: the Ford Thunderbird, Mustang, Forty-Nine concept and GT40 concept.

“This is a dream job for the designers in this group,” says J Mays, Ford Motor Company vice president of Design. “To have the opportunity to work on designs like these every day makes coming to work a lot of fun. You can see the passion we have for the Living Legends in the work that comes out of this studio.”

THE LIVING LEGENDS STORY “One day, we were just talking about how fortunate we are to have ‘powerbrands’ like Thunderbird and Mustang in our portfolio and we characterized them as ‘Living Legends,’” says Mays. “The phrase caught on, and we made a conscious decision that we were going to leverage these nameplates and connect with customers.”

Ford followed the 1999 Thunderbird concept car with a production version in 2001 and, at the same time, introduced its next Living Legend, the Forty-Nine concept. While much of the work on the Forty-Nine took place in Ford’s California Design Studio, the direction came from Dearborn. It was during the period when Forty-Nine was taking shape that Mays came up with the notion of creating a Living Legends Studio.

“We’re extremely fortunate to have a heritage at Ford that is unmatched in the industry,” adds Mays. “The competition can build cars, but they can’t win customers’ hearts the way Mustang and Thunderbird have. We intend to leverage that advantage by rolling out new versions of our current legends and gauge the market’s appetite for other historically significant automobiles.”

Production cars such as Thunderbird and Mustang are often considered relatively low-volume “image-vehicles” that help define an automotive brand’s allure and provide a halo of goodwill for other products and services offered by the brand. In Ford’s case, these products are lower in volume, based on the breadth of the Ford lineup, but still combine for nearly 200,000 cars per year. That means Ford sells more image cars than half of the automotive brands in North America sell in total volume.

“I don’t believe that you can have too many ‘aspirational’ or image cars,” says Chris Theodore, vice president of Ford North America Product Development. “Our plan is to ensure that every Ford is someone’s aspiration. When someone buys a Focus, he’s not necessarily compromising the dream of owning a Mustang. He’s buying a quality Ford car that suits his needs and, yes, his aspiration for individual style. The Mustang and Thunderbird are the polish that helps put the luster on the Ford oval.”

THE DESIGNERS Doug Gaffka was named director of the Living Legends Studio in July 2000 and given the task to oversee the creation of a new spate of production and concept cars. Gaffka is a 25-year veteran designer with Ford who has influenced a wide array of Ford cars from the Mustang to the Taurus. Gaffka’s most visible recent work is in his contributions as chief designer on the 2002 Thunderbird. He worked on Thunderbird from the inception of the project, before it officially existed as a Ford program. As director, he oversaw the process through the final design that brought the 2002 Thunderbird back to the road.

Doyle Letson is chief designer for the Ford Thunderbird and Mustang. Ongoing improvements in the Thunderbird, aimed at keeping the classic dream car design fresh, are under Letson’s direction. Already, the depth and breadth of the Thunderbird’s appeal have been shown in two follow-up design exercises from Letson and the Living Legends Studio -– the Thunderbird Sports Roadster and the Thunderbird Custom.

Letson also is charged with the design of the Ford Mustang. He oversaw the creation of the design elements of the runaway hit 2001 Mustang Bullitt GT.

Camilo Pardo is chief designer of the GT40. Pardo began his career in Ford’s Advance Design Studio where he focused on visionary designs of the future, from form-fitting interior components to future car aerodynamic studies. Pardo’s handiwork is featured on the 2003 Mustang SVT Cobra. In addition to his talent for creating rolling works of art, Pardo is an accomplished painter and clothing designer.

Larry Erickson is chief designer of Forty-Nine and advance projects. He joined the Living Legends group in the fall of 2001 to oversee feasibility studies for advanced designs. Prior to joining the Living Legends Studio, Erickson worked in Ford’s European Design Studio.

THE STUDIO The Living Legends Studio and staff operate out of two buildings on Ford’s Product Development campus in Dearborn, Mich.

Entrance into the main studio requires one to go through as many as three security checkpoints. There are windows on the walls to allow natural light to enter, but they’re 20 feet above the floor. For direct sunlight, a door to the studio opens into a courtyard encircled by a wraparound brick wall that stretches 20 feet into the sky.

The main studio shares space with other Ford car programs but giant, movable walls separate it from the rest. The walls are awash in colorful images depicting Living Legends, performance, driving passion, sketches, blueprints and other renderings.

The Mustang bays, for example, are surrounded with performance car paraphernalia: images from films such as “Bullitt” with Steve McQueen, sketches of Mustang muscle car ideas, computer renderings of new designs in every color on the spectrum. At center-stage in the bays are clay models, mimicking the full-size blueprints on the walls.

Thunderbird bays hold the Thunderbird Custom and Sports Roadster. The walls are covered with dozens of 24-inch metal "bubbles” painted in various colors intended for consideration on future models. There is a car painted a vivid turquoise, just like the 1955 original. This car has been painted different colors and driven out to the courtyard for review at least a dozen times. It will be repainted again in a few days.

Across campus is Living Legends Studio II, home to the GT40 design project. Each morning, Camilo Pardo and his team have to pass through as many as four security checkpoints. This studio is similar to the others, but has racing photos of the 1960s combined with technical drawings and original Le Mans race photos. There are swatches of leather, plastic, vinyl, aluminum, stainless steel and painted metal discs.

There are photos of actors James Garner and Steve McQueen; photos of drivers Jacky Ickx and Dan Gurney. One moveable wall features a life-size photo of an original GT40. Racing stripes are everywhere.

Pardo’s office, which opens directly into the studio, is filled with detailed die-cast models of GT40 racecars. On his desk is a miniature clay model of a seat design. He has a television and VCR in the room. In addition to powering up his computer each day, he turns on the movie “Grand Prix,” watches the opening scenes and listens to the sounds of the race for inspiration – then, it’s back to work.