Freeman Thomas - Ford never planned to build the Interceptor
Freeman Thomas with the Airstream concept
During the concept car ride that Ford held at their Dearborn proving ground this week, some of Ford's top designers including Peter Horbury and Freeman Thomas were on hand to answer questions from the gathered journalists. Thomas currently leads Ford's Advanced Design Studio in Irvine, California, and made his name being involved in designs like the Audi TT and Volkswagen New Beetle. Now he is trying to help revive the design team at Ford and bring them them some new hits.
During a wide ranging discussion out on the track, he acknowledged that design had definitely not been a priority in the product decision making process at Ford. In the process of creating some cars that offended no one they also excited no one and that has to stop. Not every vehicle is going to appeal to everyone and they need to strive to create vehicles that really excite a significant number of buyers. He gave high praise to Alan Mullaly and Derrick Kuzak for the support they are providing to the design team.
Thomas told the Detroit News what he had been told at the Detroit Auto Show that the Interceptor concept was never intended to be developed into a production vehicle. When Alan Mullaly was told that after seeing the car and loving the bold design, he was dismayed. Based on the reactions to cars like the Interceptor and Lincoln MKR, Ford is now revisiting their designs and elements of cars like the Interceptor will appear in the future. We will also be seeing some of the "kinetic" design that debuted on the new Mondeo in the US market in the coming years.
You can listen to the discussion we had with Freeman Thomas at the Dearborn track here. Sorry about the wind noise in spots.
[Source: Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Yaroukh 7:43AM (7/12/2007)
And the reason probably is that the Interceptor is not enough bland.
Well, fu** you, Ford.
Yaroukh
the Ford-fan
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Rafa 8:01AM (7/12/2007)
This can´t be true.
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jesda 8:07AM (7/12/2007)
Ford needs excitement? Has anyone seen the Toyota lineup?
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Max Finkel 8:25AM (7/12/2007)
Well Mr. Thomas, thank you for ruining my day.
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Darien 9:14AM (7/12/2007)
The Interceptor was never intended to be built?!?!? Are you friggin kidding me? Idiots...
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Will 9:19AM (7/12/2007)
I don't think any of you read the article.
It says this, "Ford is now revisiting their designs and elements of cars like the Interceptor will appear in the future. We will also be seeing some of the "kinetic" design that debuted on the new Mondeo in the US market in the coming years."
This is what we have all been asking for...the European Mondeo. Yet you still bash Ford...
You should all read the entire article before you post.
Yaroukh 12:45PM (7/12/2007)
> I don't think any of you read the article.
What makes you think that?
Or do you think it is OK that they are _NOW_ "reconsidering" the idea so that they can water it down & deliver in 3yrs...?
C. McFeeny 8:30AM (7/12/2007)
This article infuriated me. What a waste of time and money. Stop making the concept cars you've got no intention of putting into production! You don't need to bring "design study" material to AutoShows and you don't need to pimp them out reporters if you're NOT EVER GOING TO MAKE THEM.
I've been a pretty staunch supporter of Ford around here, but this just pisses me off.
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Nick 9:15AM (7/12/2007)
Fuck putting 'elements' into future cars, just build what everyone -really- wants, the concept cars. If there was never any intention or probability of getting production versions of them, why spend multiple millions of dollars developing them? Such an incredible waste. The Cobra Concept, the GR-1, the Interceptor, the 427, the MKR, the 49 Concept, the Bronco Concept, and on and on, where the hell are they?
Christ, and if they do take a good concept to production, where does it go? Ford Europe of course! The Iosis concept resulted in the new European Mondeo, but of course North America doesn't get it, just like we don't get any of their good products. Where is our Focus ST? Where was our Escort Cosworth? Where is our Mondeo?
/tired
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Thunder 9:49AM (7/12/2007)
I think GM actually has an idea of what they need to do and is following through on a decent plan. Although they seriously need some good looking fun-to-drive lightweight (under 2500 pounds) sporty cars.
In fairness most every auto company could improve on something though, some more than others. But how many years does the Ipod have to be popular before you add a simple aux. plug to the stereo? Yeah total integration is nice, but a simple plug would make it compatible quicker and with any mp3 player.
I think Ford still really hasn't awoke to reality, they claim to be Bold and spend millions on marketing but they're still not listening to the public. Except for their trucks they're trying to sell the same old moldy bread and cheese. I hope they wake up soon before it's too late.
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Thunder 9:59AM (7/12/2007)
I think GM actually has an idea of what they need to do and is following through on a decent plan. Although they seriously need some good looking fun-to-drive lightweight (under 2500 pounds) sporty cars.
In fairness most every auto company could improve on something though, some more than others. But how many years does the Ipod have to be popular before you add a simple aux. plug to the stereo? Yeah total integration is nice, but a simple plug would make it compatible quicker and with any mp3 player.
I think Ford still really hasn't awoke to reality, they claim to be Bold and spend millions on marketing but they're still not listening to the public. Except for their trucks they're trying to sell the same old moldy bread and cheese. I hope they wake up soon before it's too late.
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Thunder 10:00AM (7/12/2007)
Oops, slow system.
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Rboyett 10:01AM (7/12/2007)
They have better stop revisiting and build the damn car. Why is it that GM has finally pulled their collective head out of their ass but Ford is shoving it in further.
The Interceptor wasn't a breath of fresh air. It was a friggin' hurricane. Ford would have a bonefide hit, instead they've got the Flex. I guess they need that Flex to get their head squarely up the 3rd point of contract.
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Avinash machado 10:16AM (7/12/2007)
Well remember the Thunderbird concept. Public response seemed to be good so Ford decided to put it into production. However it flopped in the marketplace. Perhaps that is why Ford is more cautious about putting concept cars into production now.
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Nick 10:35AM (7/12/2007)
Maybe because the Thunderbird was an overly retro impractical FWD piece of crap? If they had given it some balls and made it RWD, maybe it would have attracted some more attention. As it stands, it was just a slap in the face to the originals. Hell, even the '90s Thunderbirds had the right idea, particularly the SuperCoupes.
Sam Abuelsamid 12:02PM (7/12/2007)
Actually the T-Bird was rwd, built on the DEW98 platform from the Lincoln LS/ Jaguar S-type
SM 1:12PM (7/12/2007)
Maybe because they priced the Thunderbird at $65,000.
Price this Interceptor at $27,999 and big cars will be cool again. (As they should be).
john 10:08PM (7/12/2007)
The T-Bird took 3 tedious years to hit the market. By that time the newness had already worn off. Chevy better be careful as the same thing is happening with the Camaro. The T-Bird was priced at 35K and ran to 42K fully equipped, nowhere near 65K. Way too many gready dealer added ADM's to the car which certainly didn't help sales. (FYI; ADM's are one of the reason's the new GTO never caught on. Dealers have to learn that raping their most loyal customers is hardly the way to get new customers into the door.)
realworld 10:40AM (7/12/2007)
Umm, the last T-Bird was in fact RWD, using the same platform and coming down the same Wixom, MI assembly line as the Lincoln LS.
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Nick 11:42AM (7/12/2007)
So it was, my mistake there. I don't know why I thought it was FWD then... Either way, the point still stands that it was overly-retro and tacky.