Genius of Late Ford GT Designer Is Worth Recognizing
Ford GT designer Christopher Svensson sadly left this world far too early. But he left us with quite the legacy.
The automotive world received some very sad news recently when we learned that Ford GT designer Christopher Svensson had lost his battle with cancer. The 53 year-old Englishman was a little-known but much-heralded designer in the automotive world, spending his entire career at Ford. Most recently, Svensson held the title of global design director for Ford’s SUV, truck, and commercial vehicle lineup. But it was his work in his previous role as the American design director that produced one of his finest works. We’re talking, of course, about the Ford GT.
Svensson’s passion for car design began at an early age, eventually leading him to both Coventry University’s automotive design program and the Royal College of Art vehicle design course. When he graduated from the latter in 1992, Svensson joined Ford’s German design center. It was there that he came up with the concept for the Ford Ka. A car whose production form closely resembled its initial sketchings.
The biggest source of frustration for any artist/car designer, of course, are limitations placed on them by the penny counters. But Svensson fought through that to deliver cars with emotional design.
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“Desirability is really key,” he told design site Form Trends in a 2014 interview. “People really need to want to buy our products because they find them sexy or appealing or functionally they just over-deliver on expectations. Desirability is key to moving forward.”
That passion eventually culminated in Svensson’s finest product, the current Ford GT. It was a car he loved so much that he also became one of the car’s very first owners, taking delivery earlier this year. Sadly, Svensson’s time with the car, as well as his wife and two daughters, was cut short. But the genius of his design will live on for eternity.
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