JOSEPH BAKER- 427 CHIEF DESIGNER
2003 NAIASDETROIT, Mich., Jan. 5, 2003 – A talented British designer recently took on the task of reinventing the American Ford sedan. His weapon is the 427 concept, a car that has the potential to define the future of sedan design at Ford. Since his thesis project at Coventry University School of Art, designing a functional Siberian off-road SUV for Russia, he has been working to incorporate social and contextual relevance into all of his work. One look at Baker’s Siberian off-roader and it’s easy to see the fresh perspective of what he thought a Russian vehicle should be like in the post-cold-war economy of Russia. He left school with a honors degree in Transportation design. He joined Isuzu Motors in the late nineties contributing to the interior design of the VX2 concept and developing the initial exterior themes of the Kai concept. The Kai debuted at 33rd Tokyo Motor Show and demonstrated the popularity of Baker’s social touches to design. Its design has been described as celebrating the controlled vitality of Japanese culture. In 1998, Baker started work as a Ford senior designer based in Dunton, England, working on the design of the new Ford Fiesta and other European small cars. He then moved to Ford of Europe’s design studios in Cologne, Germany and Turin, Italy. In 1999, he arrived at Ford’s Brand Imaging Group in Irvine, Calif. and began working on advanced concepts. Soon after, he began sowing the seeds for the 427 concept from the cultural experience he was having in the United States The 427 has been Baker’s personal project since arriving in Irvine and the young designer is truly excited to gauge public reaction to the car. “I have been waiting a long time to finally see what people think about a car that I believe Americans have been waiting a long time to have,” says Baker. Baker arrived at a fresh perspective for a modern 427 by studying Ford’s iconic sedans like the Galaxie, Fairlane and LTD of the 1960s and by watching dark and gritty American films of the 1970s like Scorsese’s Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. The car intertwines a culture and character that is unmistakably both “Ford” and “American.”