Posted on 11/22/2004 12:19:23 PM PST by frankenMonkey
Ford Motor Co. said Friday that its head of advanced product development Chris Theodore will retire December 1, to be succeeded in the job by Hua Thai-Tang who led the development of the 2005 Mustang.
Hau Thai-Tang, 38, consolidates Theodore's job with that of the Special Vehicle Team (SVT). Thai-Tang will report to Martens. John Coletti continues as director of the Special Vehicle Team and will report to Thai-Tang. Besides the new Mustang, Thai-Tang developed the special edition Bullitt Mustang off the previous vehicle.
It was a white Mustang fastback with racing decals, probably a 1968 or 1969, that captured the imagination of the man who would become the 2005 Ford Mustang's chief engineer. Hau Thai-Tang had never seen a Mustang before, even though it was the early 1970s and he was maybe six or seven years old. "It was big, powerful, accessible," Thai-Tang says. "In that context, it stands for everything that's great in America."
Thai-Tang saw that first Mustang when his grandfather, a prominent Vietnamese businessman, arranged a private tour of a U.S. military base for him. But he didn't go home from the tour dreaming of working on Mustangs. He didn't know then that his family would someday escape Saigon as it fell to the Communist north. "My aspiration was to own a car."
In Saigon, Vietnam, where Thai-Tang spent his early years, most cars on the road in the former French colony were French. Thai-Tang's knowledge of big, powerful American cars came from Life and Time magazines his mother brought home from her job with the Saigon branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank.
Thai-Tang's family came to the U.S. in 1975, eventually settling in Staten Island, New York. The move to the U.S. raised Thai-Tang's aspirations, and he went after a job in the auto industry. He earned his engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University (for which he recruits graduates for Ford Motor Co.) and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Thai-Tang has worked for the automaker for more than 16 years, including a stint in 1993 on Nigel Mansell's CART team and a tour in Europe from 1995-1997 working on the Scorpio.
The designer of the new Mustang is...
the designer of the old Mustang.
The new one looks OK (For a Ford), but the exterior is little more than a ride on the way-back machine. It's a '66 fastback with a slightly smoother hip line.
The Vietnamese tend to contribute while the Hmong are another deal entirely. Hmong are the crazy hillbilly, Deliverance types, from that area. Laos actually.
What connection are you thinking of?
With a mullet too!
What point? There was a point?
Re: pic
Yummm!!
IMHO, the new car has all the best styling cues from the classic Mustangs. There's a bit of '67-'68 -especially on the inside - blended with the '69-'70 Boss and Mach 1 cars. It'll be interesting to see whether Ford lets Carroll Shelby have a whack at an in-house "tuner" hotrod version, as has been rumored.
That's what I thought.
The exterior looks would be the end of the similarity. All this retro stuff is getting to me. That Metrosexual chevy truck is especially ugly.
There are a few here that bother me.
Steve Kirsch and Carnegie Melon
McNamara to Ford Motors to World Bank to Soros.
I don't know. Maybe I just need more coffee.
OK then J Mays is not original.
Heh. You landed on the point and still missed it!
Ramius - new mustang ping.
It is very reminiscent of the 65-67 Mustangs, which is why I love it. I've owned a number of early models, and have been waiting for a return to the design roots.
I have heard that there is a Cobra version on tap for '06, I'm seriously thinking of risking divorce for that one....
That's the whole idea.
Instead of looking like a computer generated, back talking, computer chip on wheels (which, of course it really IS); it's intended to bring back the kick of driving an affordable but sporty car.
It's a Pony car again if only in the minds of buyers and 9 year old kids looking at pictures of them for the first time
I've now seen a couple on the freeways and they DO have the look that was missing in the past and blown on so many other 'retro' drives.
I love the retro look in newer cars. Hell, I wouldn't mind if they just re-released the entire 60s lineup as their new model year. Older cars had style and class. The newer ones for the most part are poorly designed plastic clunkers with grey plastic interiors molded to look like fake leather. Someone from the 60s who saw the real cars of the future would probably either projectile vomit or have a stroke laughing that someone might buy that junk someday.
Wasn't Lee Iacocca the father of the Mustang?
There are quite a few vintage (pre-1975) Mustangs, GTOs, Chevelles, and other classic muscle cars on the streets of Saigon. Leftovers from the days when servicemen and civilians could transport vehicles there courtesy of Uncle Sam. And somewhat like Cuba, the absence of road salts and inclement weather seems to preserve them.
Also notable is that the NVA seized every single Jeep from every U.S. base, and you see a lot of those as well in perfect working order. You can even buy a classic O.D. Jeep from one of the local restoration shops in Saigon.
No more wars for engineers?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.