J Mays (born October 15, 1954 in Maysville, Oklahoma) is currently the Vice President of Design and Chief Creative Officer at Ford Motor Company. His name is simply "J" - he was named after his grandfather "SJ Mays". He graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, in 1980.
Mays is known for his "retrofuturistic" cars - designs that put a futuristic spin on classics like the VW Beetle and Ford Thunderbird. His focus on the past has been criticized by many, however.
At Ford, Mays worked on the Ford GT, the retro Thunderbird, and the latest Explorer/Mercury Mountaineer. His design vision for Ford was demonstrated in his concept cars, the Ford Forty-Nine, Jaguar F-Type, and Volvo Safety Car Concept. He was also responsible for the Lincoln Blackwood, one of the greatest flops of all time.
Prior to joining Ford, Mays worked at Volkswagen, where he designed the Concept One (which became the New Beetle). He began his career at Audi, where he was part of the team working on the Audi 100, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Polo, and Audi Cabrio . He is also known for the Audi AVUS concept car which set that company's design direction.
Mays also worked at BMW in the 1980s, working on designs for the 5- and 8-Series.
