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AOD:
How did you
get into the
realm of design?
PETER
HORBURY:
At the age of
seven, that’s
what I wanted
to do. Around
my mid-teens,
I wrote to car
companies and
asked how to
go about it.
Because career
advice in England
in those days
was rather thin
– you
either joined
the Navy or
the Army or
insurance or
banking. Beyond
that, the imagination
had run out.
So, I had to
do it myself.
I discovered
that I had to
go to art school
and design school
and followed
the advice that
I was given.
And presto!
Became a fully-fledged
designer in
1974. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang. |
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AOD:
What school
did you attend?
PETER
HORBURY:
I first went
to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
College of Art
and Industrial
Design,
in the northeast
of England,
and received
my undergraduate
degree in 1972;
then to the
Royal
College of Art
in London, where
I received my
Master’s
degree in Automotive
Design in 1974. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang:
Customers who
select the Premium
interior package
will harness
the power of
the 2010 Mustang
through a leather-wrapped
steering wheel
that features
genuine aluminum
spokes, which
along with the
audio controls
have been ergonomically
designed. The
new 2010 Mustang
pony design
in the badge
on the steering
wheel is stamped
aluminum. |
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AOD:
How did you
get your start
at Ford Motor
Company?
PETER
HORBURY:
In 1991, I was
head of design
for Volvo.
I was brought
in to change
Volvo’s
identity to
something safe
and exciting.
So, having done
that, when Ford
bought Volvo,
they asked me
to come over
to America and
help out by
doing a similar
exercise in
Ford,
Lincoln,
and Mercury. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang. |
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AOD:
How many people
in your team?
How does the
design process
work within
the team? Do
they each have
an area of responsibility?
PETER
HORBURY:
The creative
team makes up
of a chief designer,
a manager exterior,
a manager interior,
and each of
them will probably
have two or
three designers
to help them.
There are color
materials, of
course, which
is another two
people. So the
creative team
is around eight
to ten designers. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang:
A more-aggressive,
more muscular
Mustang hits
the road for
the 2010 model
year. The 2010
Mustang builds
off a proud,
45-year heritage
with modern
execution. |
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AOD:
When designing
the 2010 Mustang,
were you given
a blank canvas
or were you
given set guidelines
and design criteria
to follow? What
was the approval
process? How
long was this
project? When
did it start/end?
PETER
HORBURY:
I think in my
entire career
– spanning
over 34 years
– I have
yet to see a
clean sheet
of paper. And
a whole vehicle
is a rarity
because often
you’re
basing it on
something like
the previous
model or something
from another
model. What
we call a ‘platform’
may be common
but the ‘top
hat’,
in other words
everything you
see –
the body and
the interior
– would
be new. But
it’s all
based on known
entities. So
there are certain
dimensions that
are given.
In the case
of the Mustang,
we carried over
the roof and
the windshield,
but the rest
was new. Albeit
based on internal
sheet metal.
In other words,
the inner sheet
metal was an
outside ‘A’
surface and
there’s
an inside ‘B’
surface. And
much of the
‘B’
surface is carried
on from the
previous model.
So again, it’s
a great challenge
to make something
look quite different
based on what
was there before.
85% or 90% of
what you see
on the outside
is new. And
100% of the
inside –
the visible
items –
are new. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang:
speedometer
and tachometer. |
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AOD:
How do you decide
what to keep
and what to
change?
PETER HORBURY:
It's a business
decision, definitely.
But within that,
the design department
has a big say
because we are
the judges of
what is necessary
to move from
the current
model to make
sure it looks
new. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang:
A leather-wrapped
shift knob part
of the Premium
interior package
for the 2010
Mustang. As
an added example
of the attention
to detail found
inside and outside
of the 2010
Mustang, the
trunk release
and traction
control buttons
have graphics
of a Mustang
rather than
a generic car
icon. |
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AOD:
How do you know
when the design
is completed
and ready to
market?
PETER HORBURY:
We do a lot
of research
and, to be honest,
the timetable
is very rigid.
It’s so
disciplined
that we are
working to such
strong constraints
based on timing
– it’s
a three-year
program. Week-by-week
is calculated
as to what should
be done when
and when we
should be finished
with one part
and the next
part. And all
the time narrowing
down the design
options to one
– eventually
– where
we’re
sure this is
what the customer
is going to
want –
three or fours
years from now.
It’s really
a combined decision
from a number
of different
disciplines
– manufacturing,
marketing, design,
engineering,
and finance.
It’s a
very, very complex
thing. The number
of parts, for
example, of
an interior
– the
visible parts
– we will
calculate somewhere
around 400 separate
items which
need to be designed,
engineered,
tested. Re-engineered,
re-tested. And
then sourced
to our manufacturers
and then tools
made to manufacture
them –
and eventually
put together
in a confined
space of a car
interior in
a factory.
I don’t
think there’s
anything in
the consumer
market, and
that includes
buildings, I
have to say.
Houses are not
such a complex
piece of design
work, in my
mind. And that’s
just the interior. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang:
World-class
craftsmanship
and attention
to detail are
immediately
apparent in
the 2010 Mustang
gauge cluster.
The speedometer
and tachometer
are fully encircled
in chrome rings
precisely inset
to the real
aluminum instrument
panel. The cluster
lenses are circular
cones capped
off with a silver
hub, echoing
Mustang design
heritage. |
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AOD:
The design for
the 2010 Mustang
has a lot of
masculine, sport-racing
influences?
What type of
buyer were you
designing for?
PETER
HORBURY:
We almost identify
a customer by
name, age, and
then we look
at their likes
and dislikes.
We then interview
them. We do
invite a number
of this customer
type to discuss
their desires
and their thoughts
on automobiles
and design.
We find how
they live, what
they finish
their homes
with, how they
dress, etc.
So you build
up a picture
of this customer,
who you then
design more
specifically
for and then
check with on
the way. And
sometimes it’s
a man and sometimes
it’s a
women. We know
there are a
lot of women
who love their
Mustangs. Convertibles
are a very popular
purchase with
many women.
The macho image
of the Mustang
is only one
part of it.
Free living,
free spirit
is also a major
part of Mustang
and we know
there are a
huge number
of women purchasing
it. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang
reveal at 2008
LA Auto Show. |
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AOD:
How did you
decide on the
color offerings?
PETER
HORBURY:
Our color experts
do have their
finger on the
pulse of trends
throughout all
industries such
as fashion,
furniture, and
house interiors.
So there’s
a definite trend
in each area
for color. Reds
one year will
be a yellow
type red or
more orangey
red. Then it
gradually may
change to a
bluish red.
And sometimes
both are popular.
So we do have
a trend analysis
running all
the time.
The development
of a color will
take about two
or three years
to get the paint
absolutely right
for our paint
system. We make
sure all the
pigments are
right. There
needs to be
consistency,
of course. You
don’t
want the color
to start to
vary through
the life span
of a vehicle.
So, that in
itself is highly
complex. But
we do have color
reviews, rather
like fall fashion
review, each
year with dealers.
We narrow it
down to say
four new colors
a year for a
particular model.
It’s not
by chance. There
is some gut
feel, I suppose,
when it comes
to design itself,
but with colors
especially.
But, a professional
approach is,
by far, the
best because
we will come
up with a color
for two to three
years from now
which many people
today may think
is hideous –
we can’t
do that. But
by preserving
and keeping
it going, it’s
absolutely right
for the moment
it’s launched...whenever
that might be. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang
at 2008 LA Auto
Show. |
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AOD:
Will Ford produce
a Hybrid Mustang
in the future?
PETER
HORBURY:
That’s
not in the plans. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang
Convertible
at 2008 LA Auto
Show. |
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AOD:
Do you have
a future project
you are working
on that you
can share with
us?
PETER
HORBURY:
No. I have lots
of future projects
I’m working
on. We’re
always busy
– working
years in advance,
of course. In
fact, we have
a lot of new
products coming
out; 45% of
our product
range will be
new or freshened. |
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| 2010
Ford Mustang
at 2008 LA Auto
Show. |
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