Look who's talking: Jack Telnack - Interview

Automotive Industries, Feb, 1998 by Majorie Sorge

Jack Telnack bleeds Ford blue. He was born in Ford Hospital in Detroit 61 years ago. His dad worked in the automaker's powerhouse. One of his first fond memories is riding his bike past the elegant Ford Rotunda in Dearborn, Mich. When he left for the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., he took an old friend along -- a souped up '41 Mercury.

Telnack got an acetylene torch, blasted six inches out of the firewall and dropped the body over the chassis so it would look like a lincoln Continental. The steering wheel was so low it rubbed a hole in his pant leg while he cruised out to California. No matter, "I was really cool," he says.

With that background its little wonder that Telnack headed straight for his first design-job at Ford after graduation. He worked on the '61 Ford Galaxy. "I couldn't design a Chevy if I tried," he jokes.

Last month, after 39 years on the job, Telnack turned over the reigns of Ford's design operation to J. Mays. He's designing a new home in Florida and expects to spend a lot of time on his 58-foot boat called the Mirage.

Q: You developed a design concept called "aero." What were the first vehicles designed with that in mind?

A: We'd used aero first in Europe on the 1972 Fiesta. It was the most exciting program I ever worked on while I was in Europe. It was the smallest car we'd ever done and, at $800 million, the most expensive in terms of investment. The 1979 Mustang was the beginning of aero design in the U.S. It was the first car with a tapered front end. That led to the '83 Thunderbird, our first real attempt at sot rounded aero shapes.

Q: The 1986 Taurus was the big volume U.S. car for aero design. You stretched a long way from its predecessor. How did you convince the company this was the way to go?

A: It was breakthrough design. We had (retired Ford Chairman) Phil Caldwell's slapport. Phil came into the studio many times and asked, `Have you reached far enough?' He really empowered us.

The Taurus had a dramatic effect on the industry. Our competition called it a jelly bean or a `potato' design. But we said, `Let them say what they want, our competition will have to follow us. They can't continue doing boxes.'

We held the design in-house for three to six months to see if it wore well. It did, so we knew we were on the mark. Aero design took people out of their comfort zone. You have to do that; otherwise it means they've seen it before and they'll get bored.

Q: Aero worked well for years. Now Ford's gone to `edge' design -- why the change?

A: Edge design is the next generation of aero. We have all of the aero attributes -- functional shape, sculpted form with full shapes meeting with hard intersections. It suggests the technical attributes of the car, a more precision look.

It goes along with how society has changed. People are more environmentally conscious, more health conscious. Architecture is showing a minimalist look. But it is still absolutely important to have emotion in the vehicle. Edge does that.

Q: Some people say the car will become a commodity. Are they right?

A: This is where designers play the most important role. We can give our products unique differentiation. Being a commodity sounds very boring to me. Go to any auto show in the world -- they are jammed. People are genuinely excited. I don't think that love affair is dying out one bit. Cars continue to be an extension of a person's personality.

Q: What are your favorite vehicles?

A: The Model T, the '53 Studebaker coupe, the Mercedes 300 SL gullwing, Ferraji Daytona, the Mark 11 3.8 Jaguar, '97 Jaguar XK8, the Audi A6, the '86 Taurus and the '96 Ford F150. 1 also like the '49 Ford woody wagon. Its shape and form influenced the '86 Taurus and Sable.