All three BAT cars for $15 million feels like a deal.
Here's the story on the Lucid Air up on the net with a comment or two...that site accepts comments from readers, you don't have to describe. https://**********.com/2020/10/lucid-air-pitching-to-the-right-audience.html
Hummer EV Design Critique: Let the brickbats fly.... I gotta give GM credit for chutzpah because they took a name which was despised by the eco-types for being first a military vehicle (the Hum-Vee) and then a look alike for that in the gas greedy H2 and now they came out with a eco-warrior, the third generation. But it will be loved by ecologists. Why? Because it's all electric. Note no exhaust. Yet that doesn't mean it's meek. No, with over 1,000 horsepower there is no musclecar of the past that can challenge it. So mechanically it seems like something that should give the Jeeps a run for their money, basically making them suddenly look old, old, old. Here's my commentary on the design. FRONT Grille is kind of cornball, reminds me of cheap kitchen appliance, laying in the chrome so you think it's quality, But having the upswept area below will help a lot if you have to ease over rocks, Probably a market for extra skid plates to attach over what's there. the way the tow hooks are part and parcel of it The running lights built into the leading edge of the roof are good for safety and for separating it from other SUVs.I predict long distance lamps will be plug in units as soon as these cars began to arrive in showrooms. I like the way the top of the fenders come up with the hood, then you don't have to lean over fenders to get at the bits next to the engine. SIDE The squared off fenders are slightly Jeep like but needed to be there to indicate Hummer DNA. ,When you realize the front seats can be exposed to solid sky instead of a strengthening bar down the middle to the windshield frame, you realized they accomplished something (In fancy cars this is a sedanca de ville) It looks like the rear seat doors are rear hinged which is another feature from luxury cars of the '20s through the '60s. In one picture it looks like a decorative ring screwed onto the wheel. To me the last thing you want after haulin' through the mud is to clean an intricate wheel. Tell me I'm wrong... INTERIOR I don't like big consoles but in the case of an off roadster you do need something to keep the occupants separated. I hope the screen moves, as that glare from the open roof is gonna wash out the screen. REAR Very ordinary pickup truck, vertical tail lights even seem Dodge-like.. The tailgate becomes a sort of stairway up into the short load bed area, handy for shorter people and kids. IN SUM...This one has all the bells and whistles. i think through adroit PR (like donating some to ecology groups) this rig can find two audiences, the rough and ready types who want to roar across the desert and the quiet-as-church-mouse types who want to see game without scaring them away and reach new areas of wilderness they couldn't before. It ain't pretty like a Range Rover but it sure as hell is functional--suiting American off-roaders' needs. Anybody agree or disagree? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
What is Camilo Pardo up to now? I read a PR release where he's typing in with a super dealer to make some specials of Ford truck? Has there been any stories about other cars he designed independently for private owners once he left Ford? Or has any of the furniture/clothing he designed being mass produced? I want to see the kid make it because I want to believe there's a future for guy who broke loose from the harness....
Image Unavailable, Please Login Last I heard was he was continuing his painting/art career. He just completed a huge car mural in downtown Detroit. camilopardo.com
Bill Mitchell's swan song, the Phantom. Mitchell’s 1977 Pontiac Phantom October 29, 20207 CommentsBill Mitchell Image Unavailable, Please Login Pontiac Phantom (Madam X) by Karl Smith Published on Car Design News, May 12, 2017 William ‘Bill’ Mitchell spent his entire 42-year career at General Motors, much of it served under the leadership of the flamboyant Harley Earl, GM’s Vice President of Design for over three decades. Earl appointed Mitchell as Cadillac’s first design chief in 1936. In 1954 he was promoted to Director of Styling, serving directly under Earl. Finally, after Earl retired, Mitchell stepped into Earl’s place and was Vice President of Design from late 1958 until his own retirement in 1977. Mitchell, like Earl, was a large presence at GM. He was tall and physically imposing. His personality was equally, if not even more imposing; his exploits – carousing, sophomoric hijinks and profanity-laced tirades – were the stuff of legend, which made him a man feared and reviled by some, but worshipped by others. But his successes in design were beyond compare. He took the Chevrolet Corvette and turned a quirky roadster into an American icon. He spearheaded a successful program to overtake Ford in the personal luxury car market. His work with the 1955-1957 Chevrolet Bel Air made that car a classic, too. Unlike Harley Earl, who preferred Rubenesque cars with generous amounts of chrome and ornamentation, Mitchell promoted what he termed a ‘sheer look’, with more tailored forms, and little in the way of visual jewelry. In 1976, Mitchell was looking ahead and saw his 65th birthday looming in the next year. GM’s mandatory retirement age is 65, so Mitchell decided to create one last concept car, one that he hoped he could literally drive off into the sunset on his last day. Mitchell recruited Bill Davis, a young designer he had worked with on numerous projects. The mysterious Studio X, Mitchell’s ultra-secret personal design studio was reopened (it was periodically shut down by management) in the styling building’s basement and work began. Mitchell’s brief was simply stated but difficult to implement—capture the essence of the ‘Mitchell Era’ design philosophy while resurrecting the glamour of the French Carrosserie of the 1930s; the Delahaye, Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza aura combined with Mitchell design cues was the goal. The car would be a personal luxury car, a format that Mitchell perfected in his quest to surpass the Ford Thunderbird in both sales and prestige. Image Unavailable, Please Login Davis and a small team set up shop and began designing and modelling on the car that was dubbed ‘Madam X’ – in part because the project had no official ‘XP’ status, in part because of the secret studio that initially housed the project, and finally as a tongue-in-cheek reference to John Singer Sargent’s scandalous portrait of the famous Parisian socialite. Bill Davis was given a free hand in the design, without much interference from Mitchell who acted as the patron and stepped away from the drawing board. Within a few months, a clay model was built, and while Mitchell generally approved of the design, there were some changes necessary. The original clay was a notchback, for example, but Mitchell was fastback man. The finished full scale model was prepared with a special nitrocellulose black paint that had been used in the 1930s on GM luxury cars. The car was painted double black and polished to a beautiful liquid finish. At the scalloped wheel wells, a special red was used to highlight the sculptural underbody. The presentation to Mitchell and other management was made in the famous styling dome in an all-black setting with dramatic lighting, accompanied by professional models dressed, naturally, in black gowns, reminiscent of the infamous Madam X. Mitchell was delighted. Several GM divisions were contacted for sponsorship of the next level of development of the car, and it was Pontiac that bought into the project. A Grand Prix chassis was donated for the finished car, while trusted contractors, including Pininfarina, were asked to submit bids. In the end, only the body shell was built, due to the costs of sculpting the voluptuous body. It also acquired a new name along the way: The Pontiac Phantom. The final design was a statement about Mitchell, not a look forward to the future of Pontiac. Many noted the mixture of Grand Prix and Firebird styling themes, while others noted the similarity to the V16 project of a decade earlier. Some also noted the influence of the Pontiac Scorpion concept of 1961. The Phantom featured the long bonnet of the V16 project cars, with the prominent prow flanked by rectangular headlights (Mitchell was not fond of retractable lights). The long, sweeping lines at the sides recalled both the classic 1930s cars and GM retro designs like the 1971-4 boat-tail Buick Riviera. A curved fastback terminating above quad exhausts completed the composition. The interior of the car, as well as the drivetrain, were not completed. Mitchell had hoped to present the concept to the Board of Directors to obtain additional funding to complete the project, but was blocked by Howard Kerl, a powerful executive who led the product planning and technical staffs—and Mitchell’s sworn enemy, having endured many a tirade over the years. The car, technically a possession of Pontiac, was placed in storage to await its date with the crusher, the typical fate of GM concept cars of the day… but a team of designers quietly intervened and negotiated with GM and the Sloan museum in nearby Flint, Michigan, to save the car and put it on display. It remains there today. As for Mitchell, he retired soon after, with no new concept car to drive home. He was not without transportation however, as he adopted over 50 GM vehicles—concepts, special editions and personal customs for his own collection. Mitchell launched his own design consultancy and ran it for almost a decade, until health issues forced a permanent retirement. He died in 1988. Enthusiasts’ opinions differ on Mitchell’s most significant contribution to GM’s automotive legacy. Some say the Corvette, some say his stewardship of Cadillac through four decades, but many point to the personal luxury car as his greatest contribution. Even though he did not invent it, he certainly perfected the format and helped define the romance of a car that promised a great presence on the road, with lots of power and style. A perfect car for the times—and a challenge to us in a new era of automobiles: can we design an automotive statement that would be its equal? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login 7 Comments October 29, 2020 at 1:44 am Karl Ludvigsen I remember this design so well because I was asked by Mitchell to write the press release for its reveal. I’m certainly on the side that loves it as a striking expression of fine design. The man who was so negative was Howard Kehrl. As fate would have it he became the technical and design guru to hapless GM chief Roger Smith, who was clueless about cars and should never have been elevated to that position. Kehrl was behind the elaboration of GM’s operating structure that devastated the GM divisional system that had worked so brilliantly for decades. It’s criminal that the Phantom was never made a running car. October 29, 2020 at 3:20 am Edmond Phillibert In 1930’s, Madame X was also the name for a Cadillac’s special serie. For the drivetrain, I’ve read in a book that Bill Mitchell relied on a future FWD Cadillac Eldorado’s powertrain. October 29, 2020 at 10:09 am EMC “He was not without transportation however, as he adopted over 50 GM vehicles—concepts, special editions and personal customs for his own collection.” Out of curiosity, does anyone know which vehicles he took with him, and where they might be now? Would also love to know more about his post-GM design company, too. October 29, 2020 at 10:44 am John m. mellberg Thanks for presenting this unfulfilled concept car. Bill Mitchell’s stunningly beautiful and visually exciting Phantom shares a similar fate as the later Bob Lutz inspired Chrysler Atlantic. Both should have seen production. At least we still have them to enjoy as what might have beens. Bill Davis did a great job designing the Phantom as did Bob Hubbach with the Atlantic. Fate sometimes deals an unfortunate cruel hand… The car really deserves a great walk around photo shoot at a breathtaking setting to showcase its design! John M. Mellberg Automotive Designer (Ret’d.) October 30, 2020 at 8:21 am Ron Wilson The Chrysler Atlantic had a straight 8 cylinder engine combined from two 4 cylinder engines. I am not sure if it was a runner. October 30, 2020 at 11:19 am Robert We would have bought this instead of those trans ams what a beautiful automobile October 30, 2020 at 1:52 pm ROY VERNON LONBERGER Like his predecessor Harley Earl, Bill Mitchell wanted to design and build a special running personal car for himself as a retirement gift from GM. The project was initially called “Madam-X” because he wanted reference to the famous Cadillac V-16 showcar of the 1930s. His plan was to use two V-8 engines bolted together to achieve a V-16. Originally planned for a C-body Cadillac chassis, the name was later changed to “Phantom” when Cadillac reneged on providing the chassis, and Pontiac agreed to fund the project. In 1976 he resurrected his original Studio-X in the basement for one last project and assigned Bill Davis as his designer to create a vehicle that epitomized everything that was Bill Mitchell. It needed to capture his design philosophy of excitement, originality, power, elegance, extreme proportion, flowing lines, shear surfaces, and innovative features. The only design requirement was that it capture the glory days of the French custom body studios (Carrossiers) during the 1930s, He wanted a neo-classic piece of art, but expressed in a contemporary way. This car was intended to represent his own design aesthetic. He was the patron. It was his personal dream car. Excerpt from the book “Maestro: Bill Mitchell”.
I wish there were some good full sun light photos of the car outside to appreciate everything that went into the design. All the photos I've been able to find taken outside are in shade or shadows.
The car has been shown on occasion at local Concours, but not very often. It’s a ‘push mobile’ fiberglass model, so it’s difficult to move around. Believe it or not, and it shows how ancient I am, but I can still remember the first time I saw the car in the hallway at work. I was just a newbie designer at the time.
Chip Foose warms over an incognito BMW kidney-style grill: I won't say which is before and which is after. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Could be the current engine's bored to the water jackets and an anti-Tesla grille's part of the solution? Was always a fan of Rocky and Bullwinkle, though (say moose and squirrel!) - so kinda humor the giant chiclets. But maybe a little more grace in the Foose/G8 combo platter?
Final Critique of Roma (they need to put it in the model specific name list ) Which Chevy concept car are those taillights from? /**********.com/2020/11/at-last-the-ferrari-roma-in-person.html
Wind tunnel question: Why isn't the clay use soft enough so that the concept could be re-shaped by the wind as the wind speeds get up to 175 mph (fastest speed I've heard of a tunnel producing) Or would that lead to a big mess of blown-off debris at the end they have to clean up? I say they can't say such-and-such a car was "shaped by the wind tunnel" unless the wind is able to physically influence the shape of an already preconceived by man shape when it was rolled in.
I believe you answered your own question. If the clay was that soft it would turn into a blob. When they say it was 'shaped in the wind tunnel' it refers to the painstaking process of making changes to the clay then running a test to determine what effect the change had on the aero numbers. Hundreds and hundreds of hours are spent finding the best aero numbers WHILE retaining the ORIGINAL design intent. Not always an easy task.
