Dick Ruzzin

Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 4

May 22, 2023 By pete

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

Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 3

May 15, 2023 By pete

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

Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 2

May 8, 2023 By pete

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

May 1, 2023 By pete

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

Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of Design V 2

August 1, 2022 By pete

Forever Young and looking toward the future: The Lamborghini Lp1 800-4

Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of Design
By Gautam Sen with Branko Radovinovic and Kaare Byberg
ISBN 978-185443-317-6
784 pages, 2 volumes, hardcover, dustjacket, slipcase
1070 illustrations
U.S. $250

Review by Pete Vack
All photos from the book

Read review of Volume One

Review by Pete Vack

While you and I got old, Lamborghini, under Mimran, Chrysler and Audi, somehow managed to stay forever young. And thank goodness for that. Gautam Sen’s Volume Two of his epic Lamborghini, At the Cutting Edge of Design, leads us into unaccustomed territory, taking us from the Silhouette to the Terzo Millennio, from Mimran to Audi, detailing the models we’ve rarely thought about and introduces us to rare variations we never knew existed. Naturally, we are aware of the supercars and hypercars that were developed by Lamborghini in the 1990s to date. But not by any means too familiar; too many models, too many owners, too much money, too fast and too furious. [Read more…] about Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of Design V 2

Arguments on the Origins of the Miura

July 25, 2022 By pete

From the VeloceToday Archives, 2016

VeloceToday recently completed a two-part book review on the work of Marcello Gandini authored by Gautam Sen. We are also reviewing a book about the De Tomaso Mangusta, by ex-GM designer Dick Ruzzin. In October, author and collector Paul Wilson allowed us to spend some time with his Lamborghini Miura. The three are uniquely qualified, if not over-qualified (read bios at end of the article).

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Mangusta vs Corvette C8: The Drive

October 6, 2020 By pete

The Mangusta has a wonderful Italian driving spirit and the C8 Corvette is built with the force of American enthusiasm for performance.

By Dick Ruzzin

Read Part 1

THE MID-ENGINE CONCEPT AS ADDRESSED BY DE TOMASO AND CHEVROLET

The Mangusta platform potential was never realized, it came out before it was fully developed and production was stopped after 401 cars were built. That was done so that De Tomaso and Ford could start building the Pantera, mid-engine also but a totally different car. The Mangusta’s P-70 racing chassis was created by Alessandro de Tomaso and Carroll Shelby, but the iconic design by Giorgetto Giugiaro is so visually powerful that their contributions to the creation of the car have been forgotten. [Read more…] about Mangusta vs Corvette C8: The Drive

De Tomaso Mangusta vs Corvette C8

September 29, 2020 By pete

A half century separates the 1969 De Tomaso Mangusta and the 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette.

By Dick Ruzzin

What drives a company like De Tomaso or Chevrolet to demonstrate its soul by creating cars that will hopefully outperform those of its peers? To put its image on the line and be confident that it will win? To challenge what is considered the best in all the world and not be afraid?

This is really a story of two companies, one very small and one very big. Fifty years separate the two landmark mid-engine efforts, the Mangusta and the C8 Corvette. For Alessandro de Tomaso, it was very personal, as he wrote in the Mangusta Owners Manual. Fortunately, in the history and heritage of General Motors and Chevrolet, there remains a spark called Corvette, which still displays the very essence of what an automobile is about.

Herein, we examine both cars from an owner’s perspective. [Read more…] about De Tomaso Mangusta vs Corvette C8

Learn the Art of Restoration at Academy of Art

April 24, 2018 By pete

Story by Brandes Elitch

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Academy of Art showroom in San Francisco. I had just come over the Golden Gate Bridge in morning rush hour traffic, which requires quick reflexes and nerves of steel. I went up Lombard and turned on Van Ness, still a little dazed from the drive, which is kind of like open wheel racing. During the twenties and thirties, this is where all the great automobile showrooms were located, and some of them still exist today in their mostly original form. At the intersection of Van Ness and Washington, I idly looked to my right and saw a mirage: a thirties showroom with period cars in the showroom window, except that they were not like any cars there before – Bugatti, Delahaye, Delage, Alfa Romeo, Minerva, Daimler, Duesenberg, Packard – it looked like the lawn at Pebble Beach. I was transfixed, and then rudely summoned from my reverie by a horn in back of me. What is this place, I wondered. [Read more…] about Learn the Art of Restoration at Academy of Art

A VeloceToday Design Forum

December 20, 2016 By pete

Also, we are offering FREE to VeloceToday readers, a PDF of the first 52 pages of “Gandini, Maestro of Design” (read review). This gives you, our readers, a chance to join in on the discussion and read the complete fascinating story of Gandini and Miura. Click here for details.

While discussing the Gandini book (in which he was quoted), Ruzzin offered some thoughts about the nature of the Miura design. “When an artist sits down to do his work, all of his lifetime experiences and values come to bear on what he is trying to create. This is inevitable and cannot be prevented, as art is a reflection of the essence of the artist’s intellect in the form of sculpture, music, painting, or car design.” Although no one is challenging Gandini’s role as the designer of the Miura, the images that Ruzzin sent along were nevertheless thought-provoking.

In short, Ruzzin presented this argument:

Art and the Design of the Mangusta Part 3

July 12, 2016 By pete

A scale drawing of the production Mangusta.

Story and Photos by Dick Ruzzin

Read Part 1
Read Part 2

Be sure to watch this extremely interesting interview with Dick Ruzzin on Sean McElroy’s Autoline After Hours. The segment with Dick begins at about the 49 minute mark, right after the commercial. If you don’t know Dick’s background as a GM designer, you will be impressed.

Vehicle Architecture

The mid-engine architecture is very exciting to design around as it provides unique proportions that can be interpreted in profile with almost a single curving line. The Mangusta design is enhanced greatly by the architecture, the short overhangs, wide front and rear tread, the low front suspension, and the large wheels and tires encourage the design of a shape that is very idealistic. The architecture delivers proportions that are very dramatic and the idea that there is an inherent special high performance functionality included in the vehicle concept only enhances the simple, sporty and elegant design solution that was conceived and executed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. [Read more…] about Art and the Design of the Mangusta Part 3