Secret Fords Volume Two

Everyone loves a secret, and this book is full of them.

 

Secret Fords Volume Two continues an extraordinary journey into the never-seen world of prototypes, one-offs and design studies that have been kept under wraps until now. Readers get to see how the most iconic cars of the late ’80s through to the now-collectable twenty-year-old Focus RS were born. Last year’s Volume One was nominated as a finalist for RAC’s Book Of The Year and awarded ‘Best book 2021’ by Classic Ford Magazine. The second volume ups the game as it creeps closer to the present. The story is all the more fascinating as it examines the highs and lows of some cars that were memorable for the right – and sometimes wrong – reasons. 

 

These are some of the book’s head-spinning disclosures, illustrated with hundreds of never-seen photographs and sketches –

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• The fascinating story of how one man’s determination got the Escort Cosworth – a rebodied Sierra underneath – down the line and up on to the top step of the podium

• Why ’91 Escort’s failure happened and how its fallout jolted Ford into making best-in-class cars 

• The never-told story of how the Focus was inspired by a single sketch of a 28-year-old former intern.

• The GN34 supercar – what happened when Italdesign faced off against Ghia to style a car to challenge the Ferrari 328 and NSX using a British-designed chassis and Yamaha-Ford power

• The secret 2000s replacement Scorpio, inspired by a Mercedes and styled by a famous designer to look like an Audi

• An astonishing series of sketches by Ford's current design team in the exclusive RS Special Collector's Edition

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Alternate designs for each of these cars are seen for the first time, as they help plot a meticulous tale of how Ford created the cars we came to love – and occasionally loathe. There has never been a book written like this before that peers so far inside a car company, effectively creating a whole new genre of “secret” motoring book.

 

Six Thousand Images Picked Over For One Book

Ford was so impressed by Volume One that they went all-in. The author was given permission to pick over six thousand images to tell this unique story. For what may be the first time in history, a car company offered to scan every one of the previously unseen images in its design archive – most of them still bearing the foreboding STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. 

 

Ford’s commitment to the book was remarkable – trusting the author to tell the story without asking for a review so that current and former employees reveal exactly how these secret cars were lived or died, warts and all. The secretive world of product planning is laid bare for readers to see in a unique way, as some of Ford’s most senior former planners divulge their dark arts for the first time.

 

Richard Parry-Jones wrote a foreword for Volume One and enjoyed the experience so much that he wrote another for Volume Two – sadly these will be his last ever words. They make for a vibrant celebration of his abilities and lend a poignancy to the new book’s historical significance. Ian Callum, a former colleague of the author during their time at Jaguar, wrote a complementary foreword of his time at Ford and the cars he designed for Ford at TWR. These two entrées – from the most celebrated engineer and designer of their generation – stands testament to the author’s standing and sets the tone for a vibrantly-written journey through almost 20 years of Ford, as it initially stumbles and then reinvents itself with the astonishing Focus.

 

Unique Perspective From An Insider

Steve Saxty started at Ford as a product designer, moving to more senior marketing roles at Mazda, Porsche, and Jaguar. This gives him an insider’s ability to bring to life the complex processes of product planners, designers, engineers, marketers, and management that result in fascinating cars. It is why Ford granted him unprecedented access to its archives, and why he was able to talk as a peer to almost every member of the former design team who enthusiastically passed on information and images they had kept private for decades.

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