Word: auto
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...which presented its annual Excellence in Design award to, of all things, a car designer: J Mays, the 47-year-old Oklahoman who has been in charge of car design at Ford since 1997. Mays is a guy whose world is actively about more than cars. Call him the auto industry equivalent of a cross-dresser, because he's a serious advocate of good fashion, product design and architecture, and doesn't mind dissing his own industry's shortcomings. His approach has begun to draw a following that extends beyond the auto industry into the entire design world. The Harvard...
...real coup is the GT 40, a redesigned (mod!) version of the Ford Le Mans race car that was big in the late 60s - particularly with Steve McQueen in the John Frankenheimer film, "Le Mans." Ford introduced this new GT40 as a concept car at the Detroit auto show in January. It drew rave reviews and a cascade of calls and emails from interested buyers, including a gang of small businessmen from the East Coast who flew their jet out for a private viewing...
...architecture, and they've been trying to get away from the stodgy Harvard image for years (previous award winners include product wiz Phillipe Starck and conceptual artist and theatre designer extraordinaire Robert Wilson). Mays is a guy whose world is actively about more than cars. Call him the auto industry equivalent of a cross-dresser, because he's a serious advocate of good fashion, product design and architecture, and doesn't mind dissing his own industry's shortcomings. The approach has begun to draw a following that, likewise, extends beyond the auto industry into the design world generally. The Harvard...
...maybe Mays' real coup is the GT 40, a redesigned (mod!) version of the Ford Le Mans race car that won big in the late '60s. Ford introduced this new GT40 as a concept car at the Detroit auto show in January and it drew rave reviews and a cascade of calls and emails from interested buyers, including the gang of small businessmen from the east coast who flew their jet out for a private viewing...
...warned that the company may be taking the process too far, so that the cars are starting to look alike. "With the Volkswagen Passat and Audi A4 in some European markets, people know they can get a cheaper car that's bigger by buying the Passat," says Gregory Melich, auto-industry analyst at Morgan Stanley in London...