Todd Lappin
"The Thunderbird is about bringing back the unbridled optimism of the 1950s," says J Mays, VP of design at Ford Motor Company. "It's a little bit naive, very optimistic, and very confident." It's also an automobile design that is less about brand and more about lifestyle. This is a new approach for Mays, who spent […]
"The Thunderbird is about bringing back the unbridled optimism of the 1950s," says J Mays, VP of design at Ford Motor Company. "It's a little bit naive, very optimistic, and very confident." It's also an automobile design that is less about brand and more about lifestyle. This is a new approach for Mays, who spent 14 years in Germany creating cars for Audi and Volkswagen and focusing on modernist, functional design. Mays broke that tradition - and earned his giddy reputation - when he created the impossibly cute and wildly popular New Beetle. Then Ford set him completely free: "I can be functionally driven one day, playful the next, and create a luxury car the next." The nostalgia-soaked Thunderbird and the precious (My) Mercury are just the latest of his creations.
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