Re: Concept drawings

Posted by 58L8134 On 2009/12/28 19:01:47

Hi Gentlemen

Interesting concept renderings. The overall design and features are consistent with European trends. The similarity to the Mercedes-Benz 300D 'Adeneur' sedan, Jaguar Saloons as well as coach built Rolls-Royces and Bentleys by James Young is most striking.

As to their marketability here: only for '48-'50 as follow up to the 21st Series Clipper and then only as Senior models. It would be folly to buck the GM styling trendsetting by shear saturation taking place at the time. This is not to say they should have dismissed the classic radiator design for the senior line, just integrated it onto contemporary body architecture.

The Predictor-styled 1957's: my view is these cars would have been held on par with the Chrysler Forward Look lines. Finally, cars completely competitive with the Big Three offerings. Long, low, clean, rectilinear, and contemporary: at last, separating Packard from Clipper allowing each to compete in its specific market. Fact was an introduction before the '58 model year was nearly impossible. Just wish they had built this last series before their demise.

That Cadillac styling model labeled "1946 Cadillac Interceptor" was developed into a running prototype called the Cadillac C.O. (Commissioned Officer). Regarding this design, the following is quoted from the book: A Century of Automotive Style: 100 Years of American Car Design by Michael Lamm and Dave Holls. Page 110

"...., though, while Hershey was interim head of the Cadillac studio, he'd designed what came to be called the "Cadillac C.O." The C.O. was very much an expression of what GM had envisioned a postwar car to be: rounded, high, fat beltline, pontoon fenders, wraparound windshield, coved headlights. In 1946, Cadillac made a running metal prototype of the C.O. and tested it at the GM Proving grounds near Milford, Michigan. While the C.O. performed well, Harley Earl and the Cadillac people weren't at all taken with the styling. What Earl didn't like was the high beltline. It made the body look over-weight and bulky. According to Bill Mitchell as interviewed by C. Edson Armi, Earl came in one day and said "To hell with that big, blown-up thing [meaning the C.O.]", and he started in a totally different direction. "If he [Earl] saw something wasn't going" Mitchell told Armi, "he wasn't a diehard."

At the cost of raising the ire of 22nd & 23rd series enthusiasts, I wish Ed Macauley had done the same thing before approving that design for production!

Steve