????汽車設(shè)計(jì)師杰?梅斯宣布即將退休的消息引發(fā)了對(duì)他33年傳奇職業(yè)生涯的無(wú)數(shù)報(bào)道。這33年來(lái),，他先后效力曾經(jīng)于奧迪公司（Audi）,、大眾公司（Volkswagen）和福特汽車公司（Ford Motor），并分別推出了數(shù)款赫赫有名的車型,，如新甲殼蟲(chóng)（New Beetle）,、奧迪TT（Audi TT）和2005款野馬（Mustang）。

????與此同時(shí),，梅斯的職業(yè)生涯再次引發(fā)了一個(gè)讓汽車業(yè)觀察家困惑已久的問(wèn)題：具體到他工作室推出的車型,，這位首席設(shè)計(jì)師到底承擔(dān)多大責(zé)任？在福特效力期間,，梅斯要監(jiān)管多個(gè)工作室中多達(dá)900位設(shè)計(jì)師的工作,，這些工作室有時(shí)候要同時(shí)負(fù)責(zé)八個(gè)不同的品牌,。就算是管理有方，這個(gè)職位也很難讓他有多少時(shí)間設(shè)計(jì)一款全新的葉子板或是挑選一套大燈組合,。早在1999年,，《紐約客》（The New Yorker ）的一位作者造訪梅斯位于迪爾伯恩的辦公室時(shí)就發(fā)現(xiàn)，那里沒(méi)有他能用來(lái)畫(huà)素描的工具,。因此這位作者寫(xiě)道：“梅斯……不再親自操刀他早年還要干的那些手工活了,。”就梅斯的這一點(diǎn)來(lái)說(shuō),，由于他近幾年一直常駐倫敦,，致使進(jìn)一步探討變得更加復(fù)雜——倫敦是高端汽車集團(tuán)（Premier Automotive Group，福特公司1999年成立的一個(gè)分公司——譯注）的前總部所在地,，但跟福特公司當(dāng)前的業(yè)務(wù)毫無(wú)關(guān)系,。

????梅斯最常用的是所謂“復(fù)古未來(lái)主義”（retro-futurism）的設(shè)計(jì)理念，即將史上曾有的車型及其特點(diǎn)用于現(xiàn)代車型的設(shè)計(jì),。但等到這種設(shè)計(jì)風(fēng)靡一時(shí),，其他品牌紛紛效仿之后，梅斯就開(kāi)始不再沉迷此道了,。他曾對(duì)一位來(lái)訪者表示：“我設(shè)計(jì)全新甲殼蟲(chóng)和奧迪TT時(shí)還沒(méi)人能這么設(shè)計(jì),。但今天你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)迷你（Mini）、菲亞特500（Fiat 500）身上都有我設(shè)計(jì)的痕跡,，我還能再舉出12款這種車來(lái),。這說(shuō)不上是對(duì)是錯(cuò)。但如果大家都這么設(shè)計(jì),，我就得另辟蹊徑了,。”復(fù)古未來(lái)主義為他在這個(gè)大人物比比皆是的行業(yè)里贏得了非凡的地位,，他一度努力把這種名望拋在腦后,，但從來(lái)沒(méi)有完全成功過(guò)。

????多年來(lái),，梅斯的大名總是和一些完全配得上“標(biāo)志性的”這個(gè)用濫形容詞的車型聯(lián)系在一起,，也跟一些不那么著名的車型相關(guān)。下面就來(lái)看看這位明星設(shè)計(jì)師職業(yè)生涯中的幾款輝煌之作：

????The announcement of the pending retirement of car designer J Mays has produced a flurry of accounts of his 33-year career at Audi, Volkswagen, and Ford Motor, which produced such notable cars as the New Beetle, Audi TT, and 2005 Mustang.

????At the same time, Mays' career raises anew a question that has long perplexed industry observers: How responsible is the chief designer for any individual model that comes out of his studio? While at Ford, Mays oversaw the work of some 900 designers in multiple studios for, at times, eight different brands. Done properly, that executive job hardly leaves much time for shaping a new fender or choosing a headlight assembly. Even as long ago as 1999, a writer from The New Yorker who visited Mays' office in Dearborn found no sign of the tools that he would use to make sketches. "Mays ... does not do the kind of hands-on work he did earlier in his career," the writer concluded. In Mays' case, the discussion is complicated by the fact that he has been based in London for the last several years -- home to the former headquarters of the late Premier Automotive Group but not any ofFord's (F, Fortune 500) current operations.

????Mays was most associated with a philosophy known as "retro-futurism," which involved adapting historic shapes and cues for modern designs. But as its popularity caused its use to spread to other brands, Mays grew disenchanted. "When I designed the original New Beetle, the Audi TT, nobody was doing it," he told an interviewer. "Today you've got the Mini, the Fiat 500, I could go on for about another 12 cars. It is not a right or wrong. But if everyone's doing it, I'd be going the other way." While retro-futurism brought him prominence in a business filled with big personalities, he tried to leave it behind, never completely successfully.

????Over the years, Mays was associated with some cars that deserve the overused adjective "iconic," and some less so. Some big moments from the career of a star designer:

1998款大眾全新甲殼蟲(chóng)

????大眾汽車在1994年北美國(guó)際車展上推出了老款隆背車甲殼蟲(chóng)的全新概念版,，可謂轟動(dòng)一時(shí),，于是1998年再次投產(chǎn)了這款全新甲殼蟲(chóng)。這款車是梅斯與其長(zhǎng)期伙伴弗里曼?托馬斯在大眾位于加州的設(shè)計(jì)工作室合作的結(jié)晶,，正是它被認(rèn)為開(kāi)啟了復(fù)古風(fēng)潮,。它完美的推廣贏得了懷舊的嬰兒潮一代發(fā)自內(nèi)心的熱愛(ài)，一直到2011年才停產(chǎn),。

1998 Volkswagen New Beetle

????Volkswagen unveiled the Concept One revival of the original hump-backed Beetle at the 1994 North American International Auto Show, and it created such a sensation that was put into production as the New Beetle in 1998. Designed by Mays along with his longtime associate Freeman Thomas at VW's California design studio, the New Beetle is considered the car that inaugurated the retro craze. Perfectly pitched to capture the affection of nostalgic baby boomers, it remained in production until 2011.