Former Boat Designer Brings Ford Edge

Press Release

Sketching cars on scraps of paper

You may have seen one of Doyle Letson's designs jetting across the ocean in the 1980s television series Miami Vice.

Prior to joining Ford in 1993, Letson, chief designer for the new 2007 Ford Edge, was designing high-performance Wellcraft boats, many for celebrities like Chuck Norris, Hulk Hogan and Miami Vice's Don Johnson.

"At Wellcraft, we designed a lot of the boats that appeared on Miami Vice," said Letson. "In 1992, we designed a boat for Don Johnson called the Don Johnson Signature Edition 43-foot Scarab with twin $50,000, 650-horsepower Lambourghini engines."

It was a glamorous life in many respects, but after a decade in the boat business and 50 production boats to his credit, Letson says it was time for a change. When the market for high-end boats took a dip in the early 90s in the wake of a new luxury tax, he decided it was time to explore other opportunities.

"I would come up to Detroit for the auto show every year to look for trends in the auto industry that we might be able to utilize in designing boats. And I fell in love with it," said Letson.

After seeing the new vehicles and concept cars, Letson found himself sketching cars on scraps of paper at lunch and at home.

"I compiled a portfolio of my drawings and came to Ford to apply for a job," he said.

Letson says that there are a lot of similarities between designing boats and designing cars.

"It's basically the same kind of design work, but there are so many more government regulations that you have to work with then you're designing a vehicle," he said. "It takes a lot longer to produce a car than it does to produce a boat."

The first car that Letson worked on at Ford was the Ford Thunderbird. He carries a number of other vehicles on his design belt, including the Five Hundred, Freestyle, Mercury Cougar, Mustang, Fusion, Escape, Mercury Mariner and the new Edge.

"It's exciting because driving to work every morning, how many cars do you see?" Letson said. "Everyone has to have a car. And just that ability to be designing products that everyone owns is truly exciting."