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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

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

Alfas and Alpines in a French Junkyard

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The Alfa Montreal bought by Gerard Gombert for junk and now steadily sinking into the undergrowth fetched $13,000 at the Osenat Auction on November 9-11.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

From the VeloceToday Archives, November, 2016

Nothing much happens around this part of the South of France. The hot spots of Nice, Cannes and Monaco lie on the sunny Coast of the French Riviera but here, inland about twenty miles away, village life is about the same as it has always been. But on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week all that changed with one of the oddest auction sales I have ever attended. Here is the story.

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Building BAT Better Part 4

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Story and photos by Paul Wilson

To have any hope of finishing my BAT, I needed to take as many shortcuts as possible. An obvious one was to use parts from other cars if they were near-duplicates of the vision in my mind. The roof of a VW Karmann-Ghia, for example, was all but perfect. I couldn’t improve on the side window profile, and it was the right height and width. A windshield with more slope, and a rounded base at the cowl, would have been ideal. But making a custom roof, getting glass to fit, finding seals, just for minor improvements? It didn’t make sense. I got a K-G roof, which looks just fine. [Read more…] about Building BAT Better Part 4

Techno Essen 2023

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The German Fiat club exhibited this 1957 Fiat 1200 Granluce Wonderful, first shown by Vignale at the Turin Motor Show. It should be noted that it presents a Targa roof, seven years before Porsche invented it. Three to five cars of this type were built.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

The 33rd edition of the Techno-Classica motor show, held in Essen, Germany, was once again the focal point of the international classic car scene with more than 1,100 exhibitors.
If the manufacturers’ stands are less grandiose than before, the quality of the vehicles exhibited by the many dealers and brand clubs allows the visitor to get his money’s worth. It also seems that some prices charged in the past have returned to more reasonable values, although there are many exceptions of course.

Finally, it seems that the German public is always fond of little Italians, which allows you to see rarities in this show that you don’t see anywhere else except perhaps in Italy itself. This is what I invite you to discover now. [Read more…] about Techno Essen 2023

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