Camilo Pardo, Chief Designer of the Ford GT Creates Mural and Mag Cover

Camilo Pardo, chief designer of the Ford GT and accomplished artist, precisely paints the details to complete his largest composition yet, a 15 x 30 foot mural showcasing the 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 and Ford GT in a unique project with Winding Road magazine. Photo credits: James Morse-Winding Road Magazine. (08/30/06)

Camilo Pardo Mural: Two performance icons, the 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 and the 2006 Ford GT were painted on a 15 x 30 foot canvas by Camilo Pardo, chief designer of the Ford GT and accomplished artist to support a project with Winding Road magazine for their September cover. Photo credits: James Morse-Winding Road Magazine. (08/30/06)

By Chris Kassab, FCN

When Winding Road, a monthly digital magazine for car enthusiasts, contacted Ford about doing a cover story comparing the Ford GT with the new Shelby GT500, they had something very special in mind for the artwork.

"We approached Ford with an idea to commemorate these two iconic, Detroit-designed vehicles by painting a mural on one of their buildings, which would become the cover of our next issue," said Reilly Brennan, Winding Road editor. "Ford liked the idea and worked with us to make this project very special."

Ford not only wanted to make this project unique but a piece of art that the Dearborn community could also enjoy. They asked Camilo Pardo, chief designer of the Ford GT and accomplished artist, to get the job done and decided to display the finished mural outside at the Conference and Event Center (CEC) across from the Henry Ford.

Winding Road provided Pardo with images of the specific vehicles they planned to feature, and Pardo went to work.

"I took those images and messed around with them on my computer, repositioning them and changing backgrounds until I came up with a composition that I liked," said Pardo. "The computer is just another medium. It's like paint, only it doesn't have a canvas."

Pardo stretched out a 15-feet-by-30-feet canvas on one of the walls in the showroom at the Product Development Center and then projected the computer-generated image onto the canvas.

"I just outlined the shapes, almost like a Peter Max painting," said Pardo. "I take it from reality and walk it into something very graphic like that. It's a lot of fun, and it turns into something very cool."

Once the outline was complete, Pardo transported the canvas to his Detroit studio for painting.

"I have a plan, and I have all the colors selected," he said. "I'll do all the black, then all the blue and then all the orange. Pretty soon, I'll have it all filled out, and then I'll do a few adjustments here and there."

Pardo says he's excited about the work of art that he's creating.

"It's fantastic because it's cars like the Ford GT and the GT500 that got me into this business," he said. "I was able to pay tribute to these icons through my composition symbolizing the evolution of these vehicles."

The mural will be displayed over the upcoming weeks outside of the CEC beginning today.

"We're honored to feature this exclusive composition of performance icons created by a design legend like Pardo," said Brennan. "We couldn't be happier with the outcome of Pardo's incredible work and Ford's involvement, and we encourage everyone to both view the artwork in person and read our new issue, which features the full story and behind-the-scenes video of how he created it."