Former SVT Head, John Coletti, Speaks

An interesting interview...

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The Mustang Source recently had the opportunity to interview John
Coletti who lead the skunkworks that saved Mustang from
front-wheel-drive disaster in the mid-1990s and began the Special
Vehicle Team. He retired from Ford in 2005 after capping off his career
with the Ford GT.

Mr. Coletti,

First off good morning and thank you for taking the time to answer a
few questions for us. Brad, TheMustangSource.com members, and myself
are extremely excited about sharing our questions with you. It is a
rare opportunity for an enthusiast to get a chance to sit down with one
of the true pioneers in current generation Mustangs.

The Mustang Source: What was your path through Ford?

John Coletti: I started with Ford in January, 1972. I was hired into
the General Products Division as a product design engineer and was
assigned to the Autolite Spark Plug division. This was a great
opportunity since one of my primary responsibilities was to support the
Autolite racing program. Not only did it mean I had to attend the USAC
races, but I worked with A.J. Foyt and got to meet all the Indy greats
of the time...Mark Donahue, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al
Unser...everyone.

TMS: Where were you before?

JC: I joined Ford right out school. I attended Wayne State University
in Detroit, Michigan where I earned a Bachelors of Science in
Mechanical Engineering (BSME). I never worked anywhere else as an
engineer.

TMS: What positions did you hold until you retired?

JC: I held a variety of engineering and management positions during my
first 15 years with the company. Upon completing my MBA from Michigan
State University in 1987 (By the way - I am a big supporter of
continuing education). I got my big break and was transferred to the
Ford Vehicle Office. It was here that I got the opportunity to lead the
"skunkworks" team that saved the Mustang from being cancelled and
resulted in the introduction of all-new 1994 model which we called the
"SN95." After that program, I became the Director of the Special
Vehicle Team in 1994 until I retired in 2005. While we had a ton of
wonderful successes in building all those great SVT vehicles I was
particularly pleased to see that Ford let us build one of the strongest
customer relationship programs in the industry. And finally, when we
were given the chance to design, develop and build the Ford GT...that
was the icing on the cake as far as I was concerned.


TMS: What is your favorite Mustang of all time?

JC: Without question, my favorite Mustang of all time was the 1969 Boss
429. Of all the vehicles that I had a chance to do, my favorite Mustang
was the BOSS 10.0L. I was so proud when this car beat the hell out of
the 572cid Camaro ZR-1 car.


TMS: Favorite SVT Mustang?

JC: My favorite SVT Mustang was the 2003 Cobra. The "Terminator"
was a car that I thought would never see the light of day, but our team
hunkered down and pulled off a great one. Who would have ever thought
that you would see a supercharged DOHC V8 under the hood of a Mustang?
It's a good thing that GM cancelled the Camaro/Firebird in 2002,
because this Cobra was armed to terminate the war once and for all.
That's why we called it the "Terminator."


TMS: Favorite SVT vehicle?

JC: While I have a special place in my heart for all the SVT models
that we put on the road, I think the 1999 F-150 Lightning was a
benchmark in the evolution of the SVT group. But I have to say that the
three Cobra R models, the SVT Contour, the SVT Focus, and all the
Mustangs, each made a unique performance statement in the marketplace.
I am proud of them all.


TMS: The story is that your team designed the 1993 Mustang Mach III
Concept Car on a tight timetable based on some moves the competition
had made. Could you give us some insight into that car's development
and back story?

JC: The primary reason for doing the Mach III concept vehicle was to
blunt the introduction of the all-new 1993 Camaro at the Detroit Auto
Show, and the second reason was to signal to everyone that a new
Mustang was on its way. So why did we do a two-seater sports car? Well
if you have any gasoline running through your veins and you get a
chance to do an all-new ground up car, I think 99% of the enthusiast
that I know would opt for two-seater sport cars. It represents the
ultimate expression of performance, excitement and fun. The development
of the car was very straight-forward once I made the decision to build
a two-seater with a supercharged V8. Isn't it amazing how many times
I stuffed a supercharged V8 in a prototype during my years at Ford? I
guess I just a fan of the blower.


TMS: The first photos we saw of what would be the 1994 Mustang showed a
Ford oval in the grille, not the running pony. Was it the original plan
to use the Ford oval there? What were the responses when the return of
the pony was proposed?

JC: Our team proposed using the "running pony" right from the
get-go. I don't remember us ever building a car with a Ford oval.
There was never any controversy about putting the running pony back in
the grille. This was one of the design commandments that you must do
when you're doing a new Mustang. I think if you look close [at the
magazine cover below], you'll see that it was the artist rendition of
what they thought the car would look like. I don't believe it was an
official photo from Ford.


Automobile Magazine, November 1992

TMS: Can you give us any information regarding future Ford engine
programs (i.e. Hurricane)?

JC: Unfortunately, I have no insight to the future engine programs like
the Hurricane. Since we always had our unique performance objectives in
SVT, we always found ourselves developing our own engines.

TMS: On what automotive projects are you currently working or are you
fully taking advantage of retirement?

JC: The answer is none. Since I had a great deal of fun during my 33
years with Ford working in the automotive industry, I've decided to
try a career change and go into the business world. By the way - I
was retired for six months when I concluded this is not what I want to
do for the rest of my life.

TMS: Given the state of gas prices, how feasible is an engine like the
one shown on the Super Stallion prototype?

JC: I think the feasibility is quite high. Don't you see a similarity
between the Stallion's engine and the engine in the Ford GT? The
beautiful thing about supercharged V8 engines is that not only do they
put out a great deal of power and torque, but they do it very
efficiently. Just ask someone with a Ford GT or a Mustang Terminator
what fuel economy they get on the highway and don't be surprised when
they tell you in the mid to high 20's. Isn't it wonderful that our
engineers were able to create performance vehicle that could run
twelve's in the quarter mile and still not be classified as a gas
guzzler. I was particularly proud of this achievement on the 2004
Cobra. Yes performance is important, but performance without efficiency
just won't cut it in today's world. God Bless those SVT engineers.


Regarding the Shelby GT500:

TMS: What was your role in developing the 2007 Shelby GT500?

JC: My two contributions to this program are as follows:

1. Bringing Carroll Shelby back into the Ford corral had been a
personal objective of mine for the last ten years I worked at the
company. Carroll and I developed a strong and wonderful relationship
and when the opportunity presented itself on the Ford GT, we brought
him back.
2. Obviously with the new 2005 Mustang coming, we were working on
prototypes for the new SVT Cobra. The new Shelby launched off of these
early prototypes. But once again, my hat is off to the SVT engineers.
Based on everything I read it looks like they did a hell-of-a-job.


TMS: How would it have been different if you were still at SVT?

JC: Who knows? And more importantly what difference does it make? It
really doesn't matter.

TMS: What are you favorite and least favorite features of the car?

JC: I love the power, and the styling. It's absolutely awesome! I
don't have any least favorite features, since I think it represents a
great next step of the Mustang carline evolution.

TMS: What are your thoughts on the name Shelby GT500 vs. SVT Cobra?

JC: Given the fact that I worked so hard to get Carroll back into the
fold at Ford, either name is fine with me. Remember "The Car is the
Star."

Current and Future SVT:

TMS: What were the reactions from above when you proposed building the
Cobra Rs and supercharging the 2003 Cobra?

JC: Naturally a lot of people thought we were nuts. But what matters is
that we did it, and that the Mustang enthusiasts loved the cars.


TMS: What vehicle would you have liked to have given the SVT treatment?

JC: This is a hard question to answer since we pretty much always got
to do the vehicles we wanted to do. The only disappointment I had
during my tenure at SVT was that we couldn't do the supercharged 1998
Thunderbird as an SVT model. But given the fact that the Thunderbird
carline was cancelled by the company, it was understandable.

TMS: Was an SVT Thunderbird ever considered?

JC: As I mentioned above, we definitely wanted to do an SVT version of
the old MN12 Thunderbird. We never gave the new two-seater Thunderbird
any real consideration.

TMS: Would you have pushed for the SVT Adrenalin?

JC: I don't think it is fair for me to comment, since I'm not
familiar with the program.

TMS: Describe what the features might be on a John Coletti S197 Cobra
R.

JC: Powerful, fast and dominant!

TMS: What are your thoughts on the current state of SVT?

JC: All I know is what I read, and I read that Ford is fully committed
to SVT.

This is a question from one our members, which ties into the previous
question:

TMS: As you are aware, product loyalty is an integral part for the
success of automobiles with tradition. There is a feeling among the SVT
faithful that Ford has taken quite a few steps to slowly and
diplomatically distance it from those who have been associated with
and/or purchased SVT products.

There is also a feeling you are no longer associated with SVT because
of your resistance to those changes and your close ties with SVT
owners.

What logical reasons could Ford have for this actions and change of
direction?

JC: While these are all very interesting questions, I don't believe
that serves any purposes for me to speculate on the answers. I can only
thank Ford from the deepest part of my heart for the 33 years of
wonderful opportunities that they afforded me and my family. Ford gave
me the opportunity to accomplish more than I could ever have hoped for,
and for that I am extremely grateful. But in everyone's life there
comes a time when you've got move on. In January 2005, it was my time
to move on and I did.

JC: In closing, I would like to thank each and everyone in the Mustang
hobby for all the support that they have given me during my tenure at
Ford. I would like to extend my best wishes to all Mustangers for their
continued success of the hobby.

You guys were the greatest, and it was my pleasure to work on your
behalf.

Last edited by TheMustangSource : August 10th, 2006 at 07:25 AM.

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=51506

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Patrick