We were decades apart in age so our paths didn’t cross at Ford and I only got to know Richard three years ago when I started writing the two Secret Fords books. I approached our first discussion with a little caution. I’ve worked with, and for, many leaders within the car industry from CEOs to Chief Marketing Officers and Chief Designers. Most of the time, I have enjoyed working with them, but the Chief Engineers were sometimes a struggle. I might speak the two languages of design and marketing but stumble more on the finer points of vehicle architectures and production engineering. I should not have worried; the best engineers try and bridge the gap, to make their point clearly for the greater good — and by reputation Richard was one of the best, if not the best. But I had another worry, Richard Parry-Jones had a stellar reputation, but what if I discovered during my research that it was all PR hype? What if
