????汽車設計師杰?梅斯宣布即將退休的消息引發了對他33年傳奇職業生涯的無數報道。這33年來，他先后效力曾經于奧迪公司（Audi）、大眾公司（Volkswagen）和福特汽車公司（Ford Motor），并分別推出了數款赫赫有名的車型，如新甲殼蟲（New Beetle）、奧迪TT（Audi TT）和2005款野馬（Mustang）。

????與此同時，梅斯的職業生涯再次引發了一個讓汽車業觀察家困惑已久的問題：具體到他工作室推出的車型，這位首席設計師到底承擔多大責任？在福特效力期間，梅斯要監管多個工作室中多達900位設計師的工作，這些工作室有時候要同時負責八個不同的品牌。就算是管理有方，這個職位也很難讓他有多少時間設計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就發現，那里沒有他能用來畫素描的工具。因此這位作者寫道：“梅斯……不再親自操刀他早年還要干的那些手工活了。”就梅斯的這一點來說，由于他近幾年一直常駐倫敦，致使進一步探討變得更加復雜——倫敦是高端汽車集團（Premier Automotive Group，福特公司1999年成立的一個分公司——譯注）的前總部所在地，但跟福特公司當前的業務毫無關系。

????梅斯最常用的是所謂“復古未來主義”（retro-futurism）的設計理念，即將史上曾有的車型及其特點用于現代車型的設計。但等到這種設計風靡一時，其他品牌紛紛效仿之后，梅斯就開始不再沉迷此道了。他曾對一位來訪者表示：“我設計全新甲殼蟲和奧迪TT時還沒人能這么設計。但今天你會發現迷你（Mini）、菲亞特500（Fiat 500）身上都有我設計的痕跡，我還能再舉出12款這種車來。這說不上是對是錯。但如果大家都這么設計，我就得另辟蹊徑了。”復古未來主義為他在這個大人物比比皆是的行業里贏得了非凡的地位，他一度努力把這種名望拋在腦后，但從來沒有完全成功過。

????多年來，梅斯的大名總是和一些完全配得上“標志性的”這個用濫形容詞的車型聯系在一起，也跟一些不那么著名的車型相關。下面就來看看這位明星設計師職業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

????大眾汽車在1994年北美國際車展上推出了老款隆背車甲殼蟲的全新概念版，可謂轟動一時，于是1998年再次投產了這款全新甲殼蟲。這款車是梅斯與其長期伙伴弗里曼?托馬斯在大眾位于加州的設計工作室合作的結晶，正是它被認為開啟了復古風潮。它完美的推廣贏得了懷舊的嬰兒潮一代發自內心的熱愛，一直到2011年才停產。

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.