“I thought it looked like something from another planet,” Munson said. “It looked like a concept car driving down the road. The Coupe definitely includes a shock value… however in a good way.”
The CTS Coupe quickly has become one from the most-heralded new cars for the 2011 model year. It is the most dramatic form yet inside a Cadillac line that follows a style described in design language being an archer’s bow pulled taut.
Road & Track described Cadillac’s new luxury sports coupe as “a head-turner on the scale of the Exorcist.” A New York Timesreview said the CTS Coupe “looks as though a stealth bomber just touched down within the neighborhood.” Popular Mechanics named the CTS Coupe one of the Top ten Cars of 2011, and AutoWeek recently selected the high-performance version, CTS-V Coupe, since it’s The best Car for 2011.
The introduction of the CTS Coupe was a special project, said Munson, who began his career in GM design in the 1970s while attending what’s now Kettering University in Flint, Mich. For Munson and the Cadillac design team, the Coupe was as close to an unfiltered creative process since it gets. While early design sketches usually serve as inspiration for that final automobile, the initial drawing from the CTS Coupe was followed almost as closely like a blueprint.
Munson first drew the lines that will get to be the CTS Coupe in 2004 included in a workout by Cadillac designers to describe the showroom of 2015. One evening at home, he sketched a two-door coupe that featured sharp angles, bulging wheels pushed towards the corners and a fast, almost horizontal line in the roof to rear.
The coupe shape provided him a chance to focus on form, Munson said. Sedans and SUVs, by their nature, have more design constraints than coupes.
“Coupes are emotional,” Munson said. “They still need to function. You have to be able to drive down the road and carry groceries. You still need a back seat. However the emotional side weighs more heavily in a coupe of computer does in a sedan.”
Mike Simcoe, then executive director of The united states exterior design, saw the sketch hanging on the Cadillac studio wall and asked for a scale model of it as being a side project. Paul Scicluna, a competent sculptor at GM, brought the sketch alive. Bob Lutz, then vice chairman of global development, and Ed Welburn, v . p . of global design, saw the full-size clay model and insisted it be turned into a full-fledged automobile.
As the car moved from concept to production, Cadillac designers and engineers worked closely to preserve the most minute details. The Coupe wasn’t meant to be simply a two-door version of a sedan. The track was widened, roof lowered and length shortened to give the Coupe a more aggressive stance.
Engineers worked to guarantee the dual-exhaust remained within the center, allowing the back fascia to be wrapped tightly in the corners. Special metal stamping techniques were developed to preserve the dramatic lines and angles of the original design. An organization was created to learn how to make the pointed tail-lights, placing a futuristic twist on the classic Cadillac tailfins.
Munson said he’s pleased with the results. The Coupe’s design has helped it stand out in the crowd. A Wall Street Journalreview described the Coupe as “wicked, cool, extralegal…the car Frank Gehry and ‘Batman’ animator Bruce Timm would design if their lives depended on it.”
“We always knew it would be a polarizing design,” Munson said. “Some individuals are going to love it. Many people are likely to hate it. To me, you’re not doing all of your job if you don’t have that type of reaction. There’s lots of coupe and sedan designs that are understated. They’re not trying to be considered a ‘look at me’ type of car. The Cadillac CTS Coupe is very much an in-your-face, you-can’t-help-but-notice car.”
The introduction of the CTS Coupe was driven with a group having a passion for automotive design, Munson said. At its core, the CTS Coupe is a designer’s dream car delivered to life.
“As a designer, you attempt to obtain better with each design,” Munson said. “I’m definitely still pushing myself to achieve that, but I’m going to be honest. After doing the CTS Coupe, it will be tough to top that design. If this is what I’m remembered for, that will be okay.”
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