Back to the future.

By: Ted Biederman

“Retro-futurism” has become the new byword in design trends over the last decade. It’s back to the future and the power of the past over the future. It’s a postmodern look at Art Deco doing battle with Art Nouveau. It’s yesterday becoming today without loosing yesterday.

Retro-futurism has found its way into furniture and fashion and yes automobiles too. From Charles Eames’ chairs to Bob Mackie’s silk blouses to the automotive design work of Tom Gale, Freeman Thomas, Trevor Creed and J. Mays.

The Prowler and the PT Cruiser from Chrysler, VW’s New Beetle, GM’s upcoming SSR Pickup, and the Thunderbird from Ford are all key examples of Retro-futurism.

It’s Ford’s Mays who has become the darling and key proponent of
Retro-futurism. His thumbprint is on a number of vehicles from several manufacturers. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has an exhibit of Retro-futurism dedicated to Mays and his work and there is a new book about Mays and this unique and interesting concept of automotive design.

The newest concept from Mays (he is vice president of design) and his design team at Ford is the next Mustang, due in 2005. Revealed at the recent Detroit Auto Show the Mustang Coupe and Convertible lean heavily on the past, taking design cues from the 1966 classic Mustang and modernizing it.

According to Mays, “What we’re doing is we’re tying new designs to old memories in a way that recreates that original Mustang relationship. Anybody can design a sporty car, but only Ford can design a Mustang.” “(This is the way we) translate enduring values into today’s images.”

The Mustang concepts in Detroit showed a 400-horsepower 4.6-liter supercharged V8, with a six-speed manual in the Coupe and a five-speed automatic in the Convertible with torque rated at 390 lb.-ft.

Mustang will also ride on a new platform (from the new Thunderbird) with a new suspension. Current plans call for it to be built at the Ford/Mazda Alliance plant at Flat Rock, Mich.

So Mustang reaches back to go forward, the latest symbol of Retro-futurism. The concept was a huge hit at the show and Mays says that what we looked at was 90-percent plus what the final product will look like when it comes to market.

Other retro-futuristic themes could be found in a number of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury concepts – and if nothing else they all work at making us feel good. For me the concepts are cool. For my kids they are “rad” and for my grandkids, they are “phat.” Now that’s Retro-futurism.