Originally appeared on Automoblog.net

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“There is nothing you can write in a book; you can?t write a process or a flow chart,” said Dave Pericak, Global Director of Ford Performance. “You can prove things with data but what you can?t do is capture that visceral element of doing a car.”
It’s a sunny and warm Monday afternoon in the Motor City as Pericak shares what goes into the perfect automobile.
“It is something you have to feel; something that comes from within,” he said.
The film A Faster Horse chronicles Pericak and his team bringing the 50th Anniversary Mustang to life. At the time, Pericak was Mustang’s Chief Engineer, tasked with upholding Ford’s most significant nameplate during the worst economic downturn in Detroit’s history. In one particular scene, Pericak declares the car isn’t ready. The team has the Mustang in a capable, even confident place, but something is missing. When Pericak drives it during testing in Arizona, he knows. 
“It’s that intangible, sixth sense that makes it go across the finish line in a way that is absolutely spectacular, and everyone who drives it will comment on it,” Pericak said. “Not everybody can get a car to that place but everybody can recognize when a car is in that place.”
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