Secret Fords

£39.99, Seven Spoke Publishing (stevesaxty.com), ISBN 978 1 8382232 0 5

Former Ford product designer turned brand consultant Steve Saxty revealed the secrets of Seventies and Eighties car advertising in our December 2020 issue. In his latest book, Secret

Fords, he does the same with Ford’s design and engineering departments, digging out the styling sketches, design models and engineering projects that either evolved into something more recognisable, were canned before they got close to production, or ran into difficulties in testing.

Some, such as the GT70 and RS1700T rally car projects, are already well-known. But various lost sports cars and input from Ford designers give us new understanding. Above all, Saxty’s insight into the marketing of cars, and the way in which official stories shift in response to public opinion, are the most fascinating. For example, we were deprived of an Escort Coupé partly because of the poor public image of the Morris Marina Coupé.

Promisingly, this is just Volume One. Volume Two, covering the Nineties and beyond, is coming soon.