Tom Barnes, vehicle engineering manager
Background
Tom Barnes, vehicle engineering manager for the 2013 Ford
Mustang, immersed himself in car culture at an early age
and continues to devour all things automotive.
As a child he was into such vehicles as Speed Racer's Mach
5, the Batmobile and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Then it was
Magnum P.I.'s Ferrari 308GTS, Columbo's Peugeot 403 and,
yes, KITT from "Knight Rider."
Barnes, who has worked on the Mustang program for nearly
nine years, believes the 2013 Ford Mustang offers customers
what they want in terms of technology and design:
"A fresh-looking vehicle that signals higher technology is
incredibly important for sports cars right now. The new
design and technology upgrades signal that we're always
doing things to improve this car."
His life and passion
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Barnes holds master's degrees from both Michigan State
and the University of Michigan
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He likes to get outside for fun, with bird watching,
gardening, fishing and running among his interests
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His first car was a Cobalt Blue 1974 Maverick with bench
seat and automatic transmission. "It lived through high
school and college and beyond, and died in the hands of a
buddy who crashed it," he says
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A new 2012 Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca is parked in his
garage
What he does for Ford
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Barnes started at Ford in research, eventually moving his
way through chassis and vehicle integration into his
current role with Mustang
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He considers his role part of making the car functional
for customers - but it's always a team effort. "All of
the groups come together to share ideas and break down
the hurdles to get there," he said. "We all work together
to plan for the future, make sure the systems work
seamlessly and have a cohesive feel - it's an
across-the-board approach"
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