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Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 4

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The GM Tech Center

In this article we will make a strategic and technical comparison of the design efforts of Pininfarina and the Cadillac Studio. I will try my best to be completely impartial in my assessment of their actions.

By Dick Ruzzin
Photos courtesy GM Design Archives

The Cadillac Allante as designed by Pininfarina should have been considered as a design influence for their 1992 Eldorado design proposal. However, the Eldorado presented to Cadillac Division looked nothing like the Allante. The Allante was the most expensive Cadillac at that time but it was quickly determined that the hoped for “Italian Design” cachet was not important to the American luxury car customer. [Read more…] about Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 4

Royal Ferraris of Belgium

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Story and Photos of 0488 AM by Alan Boe
From the VeloceToday Archives, October 2018

Three Kings met, with historic results: King Leopold requested it, Enzo Ferrari built it, Pinin Farina styled it.

Royalty and expensive motor cars just seem to go together. You know the types…Park Ward Rolls-Royces, Grosser Mercedes, and stretched limousines of various manufacture. They’re a normal part of any royal retinue. And why not? We’ve come to expect it.

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The Quail Motorcycle Gathering, 2023

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Bert: “…but, is the shadow really black ENOUGH?”
Nigel: “Oh, I see what you mean – there’s a sort of greyishness to it…”
Morton: “And, of course the main part, the LARGEST part, has the greenish tinge of the turf to consider: Zoysia – Fescue…?”
Herbert to Thorndyke (Standing): “Vincent who?”

Our caption winner is Rick Hayden who wins a year’s subscription to VeloceToday!

Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

If you were seriously interested, really interested, in motorcycle history and design, where would you like to go if time and money were not an issue? There were over 2500 bike manufacturers since 1900 and of course you would like to see many of them.

Most collectors, restorers and historians would mention the famous Isle of Man TT, held in late May/early June. I suspect this would be first on most peoples’ lists. [Read more…] about The Quail Motorcycle Gathering, 2023

Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 3

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Cadillac Studio made an early presentation to Cadillac management showing that the added length by Cadillac Engineering was still not enough to arrive at a proportion that would result in a good design for the Seville and Eldorado. The proposed extensions added rear seating space and luggage capacity that also resulted in lower aerodynamic drag that improved fuel economy, higher than the shorter 1986 Seville. A more design enhancing and functional package was the result of the additional length. The proposed extensions, shown on the left side front and rear, added more rear seating space and luggage capacity. The longer car also resulted in significantly lower aerodynamic drag resulting in improved fuel economy, helping to make the 1992 Seville higher in fuel economy than the shorter 1986 Seville. The new more design enhancing and functional package was the result of the additional length to be added front and rear as seen on the left side of the clay model.

By Dick Ruzzin
Photos courtesy GM Design Archives

Cadillac Studio had won the battle with Pininfarina for the Eldorado design, but earlier, when the production release dates came for both the Eldorado and the Seville, we had missed them, which was a financial disaster for the Corporation. There is an enormous stream of work to design and engineer the full line of GM products so when one program gets out of phase from a timing standpoint the pre-production development process suffers delays that are very costly. [Read more…] about Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 3

A Tribute to Giotto Bizzarrini

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Giotto Bizzarrini passed away on May 13 2023 at the age of 96. This article originally appeared in VeloceToday on December 17, 2008

By Wallace A. Wyss

Bizzarrini Strada and America photos courtesy Funktionauto
Lead photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt

If ever I had a defining moment it was when I was a young lad. Not a defining moment of the caliber of those little girls in Mexico who saw the Virgin Mary, but it was defining enough that it changed my focus in life.

I was college-age, and in a library looking for books on poetry when I opened a magazine called Autosport and lo and behold there was a story on an odd Italian car called an Iso Grifo A3C. That car later became the basis for what was the Bizzarrini Strada.

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Building BAT Better Part 5

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Story and photos by Paul Wilson

Those breaking-wave fins are the feature that I love best about BAT 7, and with just minor changes, I wanted similar ones on my BAT. For better side vision, mine would rise from slightly further back. I don’t think that large slot in the tall areas has enough thematic connection with the overall design. And on the sides, did I want the crease extending back from the top fender line to fully disappear, as it does on BAT 7, or continue all the way to the rear? Yet again, I had the rare advantage of being both the designer and fabricator. I could make up something, see if I liked it, and change it if I thought it could be improved. [Read more…] about Building BAT Better Part 5

Italian Car Day: Alfa, Lancia, Maserati

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Alfa Romeo Giulia enjoys the shade offered Vickers Vanguard G-APEP (EP). EP first flew from Brooklands on the 29th November 1961, joining BEA (British European Airways) on the 13th December of that year. After 9 years of passenger service EP was converted into a Merchantman before re-entering service carrying freight in the early 1970s, retiring on the 30th September 1996.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

This year’s Auto Italia Italian car day, held on April the 29th at Brooklands in Surrey was, as you can see from the number of people in the background of many of the shots, particularly popular with the general public. When I arrived just after the museum had opened the place was already filling up nicely.

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Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 2

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The Allante design model is presented to Vice President of GM Design Chuck Jordan by Sergio Pininfarina and his son in the Design Patio. On the right is Stan Wilen, Design Director for Cadillac at the time.

By Dick Ruzzin
Photos courtesy GM Design Archives

As stated in Part 1, Cadillac had contracted the world-class Italian design company of Pininfarina to submit an Eldorado design proposal in competition with us in the Cadillac Design Studio. This proposal did not include the Seville, only the design of the Eldorado.

Many of the key Cadillac executives wanted Pininfarina to win the contest, as they had formed a good working relationship with the company during the development of the Allante. Furthermore, Cadillac’s relationship with the Cadillac Studio was not the best. In the end they made the right decision and strongly supported our design of the final car, the Cadillac Studio Eldorado. [Read more…] about Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 2

Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 1

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This small sketch was created for the introduction of the 1992 Seville one year early at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January of 1991. It represents the spirit of the design that was created by the Cadillac Studio team at General Motors Design Staff.

By Dick Ruzzin
Photos courtesy GM Design Archives

The 1992 Cadillac Eldorado and Seville were a turning point for the American automobile industry. The new Cadillacs clearly showed for the first time that their light weight and fuel-efficient luxury cars could match those of the European manufacturers. The Seville won the 1992 Car of The Year Awards from the four major American automotive magazines as well as the 1992 Industrial Design Excellence Award from the Industrial Design Society of America. The aerodynamic, sporty and elegant designs with internationally recognized performance and appearance represented a new Cadillac culture that inspired them again to seek to become the Standard of the World. No automobile had ever won every leading magazine award until Cadillac did in 1992. But getting to that point meant an intense competition with the most prestigious design offices in the world, Pininfarina. This is the story as told by the leader of the design team at Cadillac, a contributor to VeloceToday we all know, Dick Ruzzin.

My father had long promised to give a new Cadillac to my mother, and in 1986 he bought her one of the new small Sevilles. They lived in a country town outside of Detroit where Cadillac was a highly respected brand. [Read more…] about Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 1

Salon Prive London, 2023

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Details below

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

I doubt if you will ever see a for sale notice on any entrant at the Pebble Beach Concours, but every entrant at Salon Prive London, held again in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea on April 22-23, had one. Agreed it was a much more discreet QR code on a board in front of the car rather than a hand written note blue tacked to the rear screen, but they are for sale never the less.

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New Ferrari Roma Spider

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Text by Wallace Wyss
Ferrari Photos courtesy Ferrari SpA

When Ferrari brought out the Roma coupe awhile back it was a refreshing new direction–for it was not festooned with race-like accoutrements like hood scoops, side vents, spoilers on stilts, and other “boy racer” stuff that would be almost embarrassing on a car meant 100% for the street. The car is almost Jaguar-like, but of course much more lithe than Jaguar’s F-type sports car. [Read more…] about New Ferrari Roma Spider

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