Why are Ford cars called Martin front grilles?
3 Answers
Ford cars are called Martin front grilles because their design imitates the front grille of Aston Martin. Introduction to Ford: Ford (Ford Motor Company) is one of the world's most famous automobile companies and a brand under the American Ford Motor Company. It was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan. History of Ford: In 1913, Ford Motor Company developed the world's first assembly line, a groundbreaking achievement that enabled the Model T to reach a total of 15 million units, setting an unprecedented world record. On February 4, 1922, Ford acquired the Lincoln brand. On December 1, 1989, it acquired Jaguar Cars. On January 28, 1999, it purchased Volvo's global passenger car business. On August 20, 2021, the 2021 Hurun Global 500 was released, with Ford ranking 303rd with an enterprise valuation of 3.
I heard the designer talk about this at the tuning show last time. Ford's 'Martin Face' actually refers to the front fascia borrowing design elements from Aston Martin. The most obvious examples are the hexagonal 'big mouth' grilles on the Mondeo and Taurus, paired with slender LED headlight clusters, which bear a striking resemblance to the front fascia of Aston Martin's DB series. This can be traced back to 2010 when Ford's design director was replaced by a former Aston Martin designer, who directly brought over this aesthetic DNA. Now even the Focus follows this design language, with hood creases and fog light area treatments subtly echoing Aston Martin sports cars. However, Ford has optimized the details, such as replacing the grille interior with chrome dot matrix patterns, making it look younger than Aston Martin's horizontal bars. This design language indeed makes Ford vehicles look like they've gained 100,000 yuan in premium appeal.
As an automotive photographer, I've shot numerous Ford models with the 'Martin face' design. The core of this design lies in three key elements: a low-slung trapezoidal grille occupying 60% of the front visual weight, horizontally aligned hood seams and headlight lines that visually widen the car, and fog light areas featuring sports car-inspired concave cuts. The most iconic example is the new Mondeo - under dealership lighting, the chrome grille's flowing light reflections make it look like an affordable version of an Aston Martin Vantage. Ford's approach of achieving luxury sports car sculptural aesthetics at mainstream prices is quite clever, though material differences remain noticeable, such as the slightly plasticky feel of the grille.
