Ford’s J Mays Talks Mustangs, Travel, and Design with Esquire

Esquire had a chance to sit down with Ford’s lead designer, where he spouted his feelings about the designs of yesterday and where they are headed tomorrow. J Mays has been with Ford for some 12 years and currently holds the title of Chief Creative Officer. Mays is possibly best known for his work on the Ford GT supercar.

Mays delved into the decades of unpopular Mustangs in Ford’s history. The car seemed to lose something after its first generation as the following models remain unpopular today. In order to bring back the popularity of the pony car, Mays “basically erased thirty-five years of Mustangs.” We at Automobile like the newest Mustang offerings and expect them to remain popular for some time to come.

“Cars in the fifties had tail fins. They looked like they were built with rockets in them. That was a reflection of the optimism of the time,” Mays stated. Do we really need monumental events to occur for quality designs to be brought forth? Mays continued on about the declining cultural influences cars have on us today. “They’re not writing songs about cars anymore.”

For the designers at Ford to stay at the top of their game, Mays pits his team against each other for the best possible work to be produced. “I encourage friendly competition among the design team. But I also remind everyone that their colleague sitting across the desk is not the enemy,” said Mays. “That’s Honda and Toyota.” Mays went on to say that well traveled designers are much more able to produce higher quality work. “If you’ve had experiences around the world, you’ll be able to design a much richer story for people to enjoy.”

“I still measure myself against the hunger that I see coming out of college. At the point that I don’t think I can cut them off at the knees, then I’ll get out of the business,” said Mays. “But I still can.” Implying that at age 50, he still has a long career ahead of himself.

Source: Esquire