Every single Ford model that's come out in the past few years has seen Ford turn it over to tuners before hitting the market. It's called the Ford/SEMA Technology Initiative and they've been doing it for a decade and in fact didn't even start until after the Focus was released.
They've sued companies that have tried to make use of their copyrights, yes, but never stepped in the way of mod development and support aftermarket companies MORE than any other automaker.
If you can't remember them you must not pay much attention to SEMA. Donated Fords are all over the place, including versions of cars not yet released -- the '04 and '09 F-150 had dozens of each displayed at SEMA and hundreds of parts made available the day it was released, the '05 Mustang did as well (as will the '10), several Fusions were given out with developed parts shown at SEMA prior to release, almost every single vehicle Ford is developing is made available to SEMA members prior to release.