Don Frey, chief engineer on the Mustang - RIP

Frey started working for Ford in 1950, managing Ford’s metallurgy department[3] and later receiving appointment to Vice-President — and Chief Engineer in 1964. In addition to the many industrial innovations Frey oversaw at Ford, Freey oversaw the prototype styling of the Ford Mustang and its later development.
Frey pursued the Mustang after Henry Ford II had rejected it four times, in no small part because of the Edsel's spectacular failure.[3] Without formal approval, Frey met with Lee Iacocca and other engineers and designers in a motel and in a storage room to continue developing the car.[3]
Speaking to USA Today in 2004, Frey said "The whole project was bootlegged, there was no official approval of this thing. We had to do it on a shoestring." Consequently, when Henry Ford II did approve the project, he put Frey in charge and told him he would be fired if the Mustang was not successful.[3]
Mike Mueller quoted Frey in his 2009 book “Mustang: An American Classic” as attributing the inspiration for the Mustang to GM's strategy of incrementally improving the Corvair. “I guess in desperation they put bucket seats in the thing, called it the Monza, and it started to sell.”[3]
He was later involved in the development of the Ford Bronco, and played a key role in Ford Motorsports.[5]
In 1967, he received an honorary Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Michigan. He was very concerned that the U.S. was losing the "global race" because there is little interest in investments for innovation and thus an increasing "gap".