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.
Along the way Pininfarina was allowed to see what we were doing but we were not allowed to see their design proposal that was under development. That was not fair but the reasons were never disclosed to me by Chuck Jordan and I was not about to ask as he knew Sergio Pininfarina well and was a big Ferrari fan.
TRIAL BY PRODUCT CLINICS
At GM, Product Clinics were very controlled data gathering events that presented a future product to a very select group of buyers to gauge acceptability and strength of product design. Questions were carefully crafted by the marketing groups with help and approval from the Cadillac Design Studio. Interpretation of the gathered data was very carefully analyzed by both groups together. The results of the clinics would have an influence on the fate of all future design programs.
PININFARINA ELDORADO, DRIVERS SIDE.This is the master side of the Pininfarina Eldorado design that was commissioned by Cadillac Division of General Motors. The passenger side is a slightly different design. The car is also shorter than the Cadillac Studio proposal and of very different character in both graphic, form language and harmony. We immediately saw it as beautifully finished but a design that was static, a car to be looked at, not one to be driven. We wanted more, a car that when seen would make you want to drive it.
The product clinic results showed that Cadillac owners were adamant that their cars should be protected and never scratched or dented in any way. The Pininfarina design had a body side protective molding and our many proposals, by a Design and Cadillac mandate, did not. Consequently, their proposal won all the product clinics, and was chosen through clinic results to be the production Eldorado. Pininfarina had an advantage over the Cadillac Studio; we were the underdogs. Why Pininfarina had that advantage was never explained to us but I will give you my idea of why the situation existed.
The front of the Pininfarina proposal was immediately seen by everyone as too close in graphic design character to the 1990 production Cadillac Deville, which was a less expensive car.
After seeing the Pininfarina Eldorado, we in the Cadillac studio did not think that their design was the answer. We could not understand what they were thinking, but we had lost the contest with Pininfarina for the Eldorado design at that point due to the product clinic results. The passion to create the ideal design remained with us in Cadillac Studio but the competition was over for the Eldorado design. We were obligated to create a release model of the Pininfarina design and proceeded to do that while at the same time still searching for a Seville design.
Three weeks later in a Chicago color clinic the Pininfarina Eldorado was compared with the new proposed Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Trofeo design models. The Pininfarina Eldorado was a catastrophic and stunning failure. It was not the color but its first comparison to other cars with body side moldings. The clinic clearly showed that the Pininfarina car was the weakest design of the three by far. The clinic not only tested the new colors of the three but also the strength of the design where it was seen as the weakest of the three.
The rear of the Pininfarina proposal for the 1992 Eldorado. Note that the rear quarter and sail panel are slightly different than as seen on the drivers side of this model. The rear on this car was very close to the Cadillac Studio proposal in form but stiffer in shape. The black details like license box and front parking lights do not match the expectation for a Cadillac that was known for high quality detail.
This was “it”, after two years. This final Eldorado paper mock-up design was constructed on an existing fiberglass model. Look closely, it is pasted together with black tape, cardboard and silver paper. Three were done in two days and then a fourth was developed by taking the most appropriate and harmonious design features from the first three and combining them. The design was then further developed until the release for production. This paper mock-up finally demonstrated the expected dynamic sporty elegance that was desired by the Cadillac Studio designers.
TOTAL FAILURE
After two years of work by Pininfarina and GM Design, Cadillac had nothing and the release date for the Eldorado had passed. The entire effort by Design, Pininfarina and Cadillac was a complete failure, no design was available to be released for production. We had all failed.
This gave the Cadillac Studio another chance to create what would be the final design. We were delighted with the turn of events and I was very confident that we would succeed because now everyone involved had an appetite for something completely new and it was revealed to us that the strength of the Pininfarina Eldorado was that it had a protective body side molding. We then created a new design in a four day flurry that started the two week process of design approval by all parties and final development and release of our Eldorado design to engineering. Strategically this was done before Cadillac could reengage Pininfarina. There also wasn’t time for them to regroup as we were close and very mobile. Also, throughout the process the Cadillac Studio designers had developed design techniques using unconventional methods that had never been seen before, allowing us to develop and display convincing new full-size designs in a very rapid fashion. That is how we were able to create a new Eldorado design in only four days.
SEIZING THE MOMENT
Cadillac thought that we were still preparing the Pininfarina car for engineering release. We had stopped as it was a dead horse in the Chicago clinic and under Chuck Jordan’s leadership, we immediately started another design, much to their surprise. I am not sure even today that we were supposed to do that, but we did. We all were on a mission and I was confident that we would be successful. Chuck Jordan without hesitation seized the moment and directed us to immediately create another design. He reluctantly asked me to do another car, stating that he was surprised about my enthusiasm since we had done so much work. It was the first and only time that he had acknowledged the severity of our task and how hard we were working.
The fourth paper paper mock-up became the final design proposal that was released for production two weeks later. The Cadillac Studio’s Eldorado design proposal was chosen over the design by Pininfarina from Italy. Here it shows an elegant and dynamic force that the Pininfarina design did not have. One can see the body side shape curving in all directions. The shape easily met sheet-metal tooling criteria as well as being in concert with good aerodynamic practice. I measured each design proposal by its potential of what I knew to be good aerodynamics based on my many wind-tunnel experiences on previous design programs. The Eldorado’s drag was slightly higher than the Seville at a coefficient of .34 which was excellent considering the high volume of cooling air required for the Cadillac V8 engine.
After the release was over and a fiberglass model of our Eldorado was built Sergio Pininfarina came to see our design and he spent some time in the Cadillac Studio. He took a good long look at our Eldorado and said, “A great design, perfect for America.” I am sure he was disappointed as it would have been a tremendous amount of business and prestige for his company with more possible Cadillac design work to come. We took this as a compliment, but in retrospect perhaps it was not. He could have been given direction by Cadillac to design a car with International design character. If that were the case, then he might at that instant realized that he too had been played. Later, one of our sculptors put up a small sign in the back room where he had gone to use the restroom. “Sergio Pininfarina Peed Here”, with the date.
GM Design and Cadillac Studio had won a design contest against the Italian company Pininfarina, highly respected and one of the best car design companies in the world. We won and we deserved to win as everyone involved on both the Cadillac side and the Design side agreed that our last proposal was head and shoulders above the Eldorado from Pininfarina. This was confirmed shortly by a large Corporate product clinic that showed that our Cadillac Eldorado was the best and strongest car in the show, as we will explain in Part 4.