The Cadillac Allanté Story & Pininfarina: An Interview with Cadillac Chief Designer Wayne Kady

Learn more about the story behind the Cadillac Allante and why GM decided to outsource its styling to Italian design firm and coach builder Pininfarina, all from former Cadillac Chief Designer Wayne Kady.

[@GeelongVic7140]

Wayne is such a Gentleman, one who obviously understood the value of collegial Espirit de Corps and of maintaining the pride of his staff. A wonderful, but ultimately sad look behind the curtain at GM's Cadillac at that time. Thanks to both of you. Cheers.

[@mvd4436]

Talks with car designers is amazing content. Hope you find more of these guys Adam

[@wilsixone]

Going back awhile on this one, but I was just looking at it again. Having never been upper management like Cady, as I listen to him talk I realize how much he's got going on upstairs and how he had the instincts they needed for him to do the job. I think I could do it now, but certainly not back during that time.period.

[@carlweitzel1753]

I love this guy. I've said it before -- I had a chance to meet him once and came away in awe of his humility and intellect. I'm in the middle of a frame-off restoration of a 1972 Eldorado convertible, and Wayne makes me want to do the very best I can to honor his team's design efforts.

[@ProudDad1976]

Such a beutiful car, I really love the Riveara of the early 1970s as well but to be fair, GM designers of that time where the best of the best.

[@Offthbadan]

I liked this car in 1986 and I still like it today. One of my top 10 favorite Caddies.

[@paulelephant9521]

Full respect to Wayne Kady for talking about what must have been a very difficult time for him and his team. It's easy to talk about your success's but examining your failures takes moral fibre. These interviews will be a key resource for future historians, well done Adam.

[@klwthe3rd]

With all due respect, that picture with both Wayne Kady and John Manoogian looks like a rebadged front drive Regal from 1988-1996. I immediately thought of the Regal coupe of that generation when i say that picture. A far cry from the drawings that John produced during his interview which looked sooo much more advanced. Although i'm a huge fan of the 1988-1996 Buick Regals(as i own a very rare GS model myself), if that car would have went into production, the Allante would have been called a badged engineered cousin to that car in my honest opinion. Pinifarina did a WONDERFUL job designing the Allante.

[@scottmiller8791]

Ya it looks like a cross between a regal and a Buick Reatta

[@Jordi7174]

And some of the drawings John had looked like the first generation Saturn sedan.

[@klwthe3rd]

@@scottmiller8791 Yeah i do see the Reatta coupe treatment now that you mention it. I guess when Wayne Kady went to Buick, he took that design with him.

[@RareClassicCars]

John later became asst chief designer of Saturn

[@YuToob7]

@@klwthe3rd I was thinking the same thing. It probably also gave Wayne an idea of how successful his design team would have been versus Pininfarina's and freed him of the blame of a design not being successful. However Cadillac would probably have spent a lot less on what ended up being a failed attempt at a "sports car" by going with the in house design. IMO, the Pininfarina design was superior (though the silver in the tail lights never appealed to me) but was priced too high as mentioned by Wayne.

[@kroge007]

Just a great interview with Wayne and the vehicle history. Thanks Adam for capturing this info. The vehicle in the picture with Wayne and the crew looks like a Buick Regatta. Happy Belated birthday Adam!

[@davidfrania8990]

Adam, These "insider interviews" are so fascinating to me. To hear these stories from the actual gentlemen who lived them is so much more interesting than reading about it in a book. It really comes alive for me. I never personally cared for the Allante and I believe the Cadillac design studio probably would have come up with something better, had they been given the go-ahead and budget to design the car themselves. In fact, some of those renderings in this interview I thought were more attractive than what actually made it to market.

[@mvd4436]

I think the Italian one was slightly cleaner but it wasn't low enough to the ground. The in house designs are lower

[@davidfrania8990]

@@mvd4436 Maybe that's it. I always felt that something just wasn't right about it.

[@markv78]

My dad had a 89 silver on red with recreo seats. And optional hard top . Man that was a fun car to drive . The electronic dash was like a spaceship I can remember crusing at night with the top down and at stop lights people breaking there necks to get a look at the digital dash . That 4.5 V8 had an amazing exhaust note and would light those front tires up .. good times the dealer ship had a special tech for these cars and bay only for allante service . The cars came with a 7yr 70,000 mile warranty which in 89 was unheard of. I can't remember having many issues with it .

[@danr1920]

I love these when you interview someone from the industry.

[@madmanmapper]

Not gonna talk about how those designs became a Buick? Which now makes perfect sense since Wayne Kady moved to Buick. The 1988 Buick Regal coupe looks exactly like it.

[@DavidHall-ge6nn]

Happy birthday, Adam! These interviews are not only excellent and entertaining, but also vital in documenting automotive lore. To hear about these times from the people who lived through them is as invaluable as it is interesting. You did a great job, and Wayne tells a great story. Thank you both!

[@OBC-radio]

Another great conversation (& cocktail) with Wayne. There's an engineer, designer, assembly worker and product planner behind each and every component on a car. I'm reminded of these men & woman, people who are family, friends and neighbors, every time I sit behind the wheel of one of my GM vehicles. Those of us who grew up within the industry in Michigan know this on a personal level, but most just think of these cars as product's of a faceless corporation. Thank you for continuing to spotlight and provide a more general recognition to the talented people behind these great companies.

[@RapperBC]

A gentleman and a scholar. Thanks a million for your stories and insights, Mr. Kady.

[@michaelbrown5601]

Martinis with Wayne. An enviable experience. His team’s efforts weren’t lost on Buick! They carried the Regal for quite a long time, and just as Wayne said: their designs were profitable.

[@allenwayne2033]

Excellent interview! Total respect to Wayne Kady! The pics that were shown looked a bit too Regal/Reatta/Riviera for my taste, but I can completely understand and sympathize with him! He's obviously a dedicated designer/manager that took pride in his work and cared deeply for his design staff! Happy belated birthday Adam! Hope you enjoyed those Martinis! Thanks again for a great interview that highlighted a great human story!

[@12yearssober]

I always liked them. Just wish the Northstar engine was better.

[@joshuagibson2520]

You know what they say. Wish in one hand and shit in the other. See which fills quicker.

[@12yearssober]

@@joshuagibson2520 🤣🤣 that is true!!!!!

[@12yearssober]

@@joshuagibson2520 If I were in charge I would have put the Corvette engine in it and made it RWD.

[@joshuagibson2520]

@@12yearssober you ain't kidding. That would have been much better.

[@bradhoward9055]

Wow! What a great episode. Mr. Kady is one hell of a gentleman to have endured that corporate backstabbing with such class. I’ll bet his team felt blessed to have worked with him.

[@turdferguson4124]

Wayne is as gracious as ever. As much as it would have been a slap in the face to the GM design staff, it is understandable that Cadillac decided to go with an outside design house for the cache of the Pininfarina brand. In my opinion, the Allante was limited by its front wheel drive platform. It was never going to be seen as a fully legitimate competitor for the SL Mercedes with a transverse engine and front wheel drive.

[@docjohn5986]

What a lovely interview! Such insight is rare these days. Thank you.

[@Flies2FLL]

You would think that considering his history of working with GM Connie Kalitta would have been the person of choice to provide the movement of the body from Italy to KDTW, De-Toilet. BUT that was not the case~ I flew for Kalitta Air from 2003-2006 and we carried cars all the time. When I was Captain of the 747, I saw the prototype Infiniti FX45 on my airplane, but the doors were locked. You see, halfway across the Atlantic I typically took a big walk, going down the ladder from the second floor to the main deck. I needed to get out of the seat about every two hours, and that is typical of pilots by the way. One time we had a Diablo on a "cookie sheet" and I tried to open the door and it opened! I held the door, worried that it would hit the ceiling of the 747, but it didn't. I did not climb in, I figured that that would be rude, so I just looked it over and SMELLED the awesome leather smell! I drove a Porsche 928S2 at the time and it had the full leather package, to include the dashboard and door cards. -Get this: When I was a Captain at Kalitta Air, we had a customer in Honolulu who put his Ferrari's on our planes on a regular basis; I asked the load chief about this and he told me that he hired Kalitta Air to have his Ferrari's detailed in one particular shop in Los Angeles, so this was why we were constantly putting his cars in the lower belly compartments on our 747-200 freighters. I have no idea how much that cost, flying your cars 2500 miles to be detailed and then having then flown 2500 miles back, but as a dedicated Porschephile....I applaud his efforts. If not his spending habits~

[@777jones]

I think they nailed the styling and proportions. The only major problem was FWD mechanicals. Inexcusable mismanagement. Beautiful car.

[@bwsescal]

Again I say...it's Impossible to overstate the Greatness of this channel...Love all the cars featured...from the McGarrett Mercurys to my obsession of Cadillacs!! Love the interviews with Mr. Wayne Kady!!

[@arnepianocanada]

THANK YOU for posting a design and leading designer I requested long ago. To Mr. 'Buick Regal' comparer: remember these are not finalized but adaptable concept designs.

[@dennqus1]

My father worked at the Cadillac Engineering building on Clark St. as a wood model maker from 1965 to 1995. I remember him saying the Allante was a piece of junk and they had a pile of them sitting in the basement at Cadillac that they couldn’t sell.

[@AlexanderWaylon]

These videos are liquid gold. To listen to this man speak, to me is like talking to a deceased president or a religious icon. He mentions Grettenberger, Clark St, GMs 80s disconnection which I believe was caused by fear and their realization they were going broke at their then present rate. The man is a magician. I think the allante looks like a dodge … Plymouth acclaim front and rear. I agree with him I think he could have done it better. But that’s just me. And his final shout out I have the right to be wrong was one of those older gentleman’s antecdotes that you should write on the wall. Happy birthday sir, as well. Keep living the dream.

[@timothymabry6663]

Excellent video. Wayne Katy is one of my favorite interviews. (Had to stop it early and pour my own martini also before proceeding.) I love all the behind the scene details. The sketch at 2:20 was my favorite by far. Your car videos are great but I much prefer the designer interviews. Keep them coming and keep up the good work.

[@commodorenut]

I like that the wheels from this sketch became the actual wheel design for the car, and how this body design sketch was taken down a few notches, and so much of it remained on the final result - from a totally different studio. Just proves they could have kept it in house and had a great car anyway.

[@errorsofmodernism7331]

I'm sorry to say but the in-house version looks like a Buick Regal from the side.I have never understood why Cadillac did not draw inspiration from it's iconic 1954 Cadillac and do an updated version.

[@markallen2984]

I was about to say the same thing.

[@peter455sd]

Because there's a thing called CAFE that is destroying the industry for the past 50 years,that's why.

[@mistert7958]

Or. It became the Buick Reatta.

[@Rfk1966]

Was cheering for the in house team until I saw their design. A uglified Reatta. Swear the accountant had a stool next to the designers.

[@martinliehs2513]

I saw the Buick Reatta as well.

[@christopherkraft1327]

Thanks Adam for sharing another interesting & informative interview with Wayne Kady!!! 👍👍

[@bigcrowfly]

The in-house design at 2:00 did not become the Buick Reatta, it became the 1988-1996 Buick Regal Coupe.

[@tedlym.3390]

Thank you for this excellent presentation. I love my 1993 Allante.

[@christopherdouglas8471]

With all due respect for Mr. Kady, and I mean this sincerely, I think the way the Italian designed Allante came out is more appealing than any of the Cadillac clays that were shown today. Front, rear, and side. But, having said that, I expect that if the Detroit design team had more time, they could and would have refined the car even further. Alas, the die was set. What a pleasure to listen to Wayne. He’s the kind of gentleman that you could pass hours with. So Adam, let’s get Wayne on the record with the ‘92 Skylark (the name of the show car it was based on eludes me at the moment). I believe that was one of his.

[@howebrad4601]

Buick bolero was what it was I believe

[@christopherdouglas8471]

@@howebrad4601 Yes, that’s it! Thank you.

[@averyparticularsetofskills]

Wayne took the headlight treatments of the studio's proposed Allante and used them ALL imo, of the few front end we saw here one was used on the Buick Century one for the Regal and one for the Park Avenue(with the signal light bar place _directly_ beneath the headlights). Its just cool stuff to see and hear!

[@Primus54]

It is clear that Wayne understood the necessity of engaging in a morale-boosting, team building exercise at that time and as it eventually turned out, the elements of the designs lived on during the downsizing of GM’s luxury coupes in later years. Thanks for a great video, Adam. Belated Happy Birthday. 👍👍👍

[@don1863]

I really enjoy your interviews with past automotive leadership. Listening to their stories, experiences and reminiscing about projects that they’ve worked on and the people that they worked with across the different brands. It takes you back and gives you a neat look behind the scenes and kind of gives you a better understanding of the hows and whys things happened. Thank you Adam

[@DSP1968]

My thanks to both Wayne for sitting down to tell us about his experiences around the design of the Allante, and for Adam for getting him to talk about it. In the proposals from Wayne's team, I definitely see some '88 Regal design features.

[@johnhenrymcmahon6878]

Wayne is an awesome older guy! Love hearing his stories, and the ease with which you interview him, Adam. Happy birthday! Tho a martini is a good big boy beverager any day lol !! JV Johnny

[@funguylance]

Just catching up on some missed episodes. These design guys are absolutely fascinating to listen to, and I always find myself looking to your next interview. As always, thanks so much Adam. Cheers!

[@ddhsd]

Happy Birthday and another good interview with Mr Kady

[@ricksand6477]

Thank you for the great history, Adam & Mr. Kady! This was a tumultuous time for GM and especially for Cadillac. One can understand senior management going for the Pininfarina "designer label" to add prestige to Allante - just not for the manner in which it was handled internally. Interesting that Cadillac still had Irv Rybicki and Wayne Kady give final blessing to what became the final production car. Another case of trying to make everyone happy and pleasing no-one. Mr. Rybicki was the design VP who replaced Bill Mitchell upon his retirement. While a very good designer, word was he was chosen by senior management to take over for Mitchell because he was much more of a team player than Mitchell and more easily "handled". From everything I've heard and read, Mitchell would have probably gone to war over the Pininfarina decision. Kudos to Wayne Kady for defending his turf and standing up for his people without a parachute. Class and integrity always win in the end.

[@kurthirschfield7596]

Another excellent vid. Next topic in Pininfarina’s involvement, and what’s truly unique about the story: The Allante Air Bridge.

[@RyDawg084]

Thanks for this great interview!.

[@technologic21]

A very nice looking coupe. Coincided with Dick Ruzzin's K-body Seville design, an incredibly sleek and subtle design that lasted until 2004. The STS is an incredibly attractive car that took ques from the Allante.

[@777jones]

Agreed. I can’t believe how crude Cadillac design became soon after. The final eldorado was also nice.

[@rogergoodman8665]

Happy Birthday Adam! I love these interviews!!!! Wayne & John are legends & it's terrific they're willing to do these interviews / discussions about their careers, specific cars, and the ups & downs of it all. I learn alot from them and envy them.

[@mercator79]

The look and stance of the red car and the one with the team behind it is STUNNING. The Reatta looks somewhat like some of the models.

[@jimhailey5481]

I so love these videos. I’ve had the honor of being friends with Dennis Little, who was chief stylist of Cadillac for one decade, aka 1990 to 2000. Love to introduce you if interested. Also thank Wayne Kady for making the most memorable cars of my lifetime. Jim Hailey

[@RareClassicCars]

Sure. That’d be great.

[@---Avalon---Sky---]

2 Fine gentleman,who deserve 2 Fine drinks,for a most entertaining informative candid and revealing look at the creation and compromise s that resulted in the Cadillac Allante, which still looks clean and pure, compared to other cars of the era. Excellent conversation, thanks for sharing. 👍🙏🚗

[@CalTxDude]

Best Birthday wishes Adam!! Another very informative and thoroughly enjoyable interview with the supremely talented and ever humble Mr. Kady! Thank you! I could listen to him all day!!!

[@Paul1958R]

I think Mr. Kady was is a difficult position and Im glad he told this story. I think that GM/Cadillac made a huge mistake/blunder with that vehicle. All that effort to sell just 21K cars over 7 models years. Too arrogant for their own good.

[@markdc1145]

Another fascinating interview with Wayne Kady. Interestingly, Pininfarina was probably more broadly known in the US in the early 50's due to the Nash Healy and other one-off Cadillacs. Happy Birthday Adam!

[@ronjohnson7976]

Now that's a real man. a true leader. I can easily picture Wayne at the wheel of a '68 Eldo, window down, forearm resting ,elbow protruding ,stubby cigar clinched between his showing teeth. contemplating battle plans for his men at the studio. One word.. BOSS

[@rtchrg440]

Another fantastic get together with Wayne - great stuff! Thanks Adam and Happy Birthday!

[@robertmills3682]

Happy Birthday Adam! Hope you had a great day. Thanks for all the great content and putting all the time into these videos for us.

[@mikeeggert3381]

Nice to learn some inside details about Cadillac’s historical and constant floundering… but I agree with many others posting here… that in house design would have died quicker than the Pininfarina design - and it’s down right ugly looking at it today… Allantes still look better than most cars penned in the 80’s. They will rise in value at some point…. I knew John Grettenberger and Sergio Pininfarina personally in the late 90’s and they were still rightfully proud of this car, despite its sad sales numbers and demise.

[@OLDS98]

Thank you for a informative interview. The Allante' story is quite interesting as it it all makes sense putting it with what I know. You have to wonder what would have happen if the American design team had succeeded. Thank you for bringing Mr Kady back again. The insider perspective is quite interesting. Happy birthday to you Adam.

[@jonathanabbott8579]

Another insightful interview with the always humble and informative Wayne Kady. Happy birthday, Adam🍻

[@averyparticularsetofskills]

The fact that Wayne went on to Buick after Cadillac makes PERFECT SENSE when you look at his then second chance to bring a "2seater Halo car" into GM production!! His(& Cadillac studio's) Passed over Allante was slightly tweaked & simply renamed, _Reatta_ Very interesting, full circle.

[@Akasnacker]

I like how Wayne defended his crew of designers and didn't Enlighten anybody about the internal conflicts of GM which we all know can kill off Brands like Saturn, Oldsmobile,Pontiac???? which were big mistakes in my opinion way to go Wayne! I'm now a fellow Cadillac El Dorado owner too I just bought one a couple months ago a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible awesome car! I'm a big big fan!

[@kayerickatson4814]

A wonderful interview! I do enjoy your videos.

[@EmmyJune212008]

Wayne's insights and perspectives are always appreciated. Personally, I love the design that was ultimately produced. I would argue Allante's real problems weren't design related. Instead, they were: -- Front-wheel drive -- A ridiculous and unnecessarily complicated and expensive assembly process -- The high price that was likely necessitated by the assembly process as well as a desire to seem more exclusive -- Pricing that was arguably too disconnected from any other model at the time

[@aaron.hudacky]

This is a great video. Thank you for making it. It's interesting to learn the man who was involved with the design of, in my opinion, the most iconic Cadillacs of all time, went through this.

[@MyHumanWreckage]

I love this series of interviews with former automotive designers. These are really informative and insightful. Keep up the great work on your channel, from a very happy subscriber!

[@judethaddaeus9742]

Wayne is refreshingly honest and humble about how this project was denied him and his staff’s input. I will say that it makes a great deal of sense how he and a few others transferred to Buick shortly after they did the in-house Allante proposal, because there’s a lot of ‘87 Regal at the front and ‘88 Reatta at the B-pillar and deck/rear wheel arch relationship. The Allante as Pininfarina designed it, may have been a handsome car, but it was far from the legend that was the XJ-S, and the R129 SL that came shortly later instantly aged the Allante. Nobody in the industry imitated the Allante, which proved far too conservative and trouble prone. And given the fact that its tortured production process was responsible for its absurd pricing structure, GM got very little for their money by chasing that designer label at Pininfarina. GM should have made the Seville and Eldorado more special models than C/H offshoots that would have provided a more competent basis for the Allante. Especially in the engine department. But as it was, the Allante was far too expensive, too conservative, too slow, too poor handling, too under-equipped, and too poorly made and unreliable to succeed against the automotive legends it was up against. And the mere fact that it used the HT4100 at launch and had to share space on the showroom floor with the Cimarron, Eldorado and Seville that looked like the Olds Calais, and a carbureted Olds 307 equipped Brougham… it just got no help from the rest of the range. A halo car is supposed to get new people in the dealership so they end up more likely with something else, with more profit margin. But the Allante wasn’t exciting or pretty enough to draw many folks in. And the folks it did draw in had one of the worst overall ranges of Cadillac to choose from, especially relative to the competition they were trying to draw conquest sales from, when they got there. What a mess. And that’s not to take away from the merits of the Allante or what people love about it. But it failed in the market for many valid reasons. And it hurt Cadillac for many years to come, making them far too gun shy to attempt a new flagship even when they had great ideas on the table in the proceeding years.

[@pontiaccrest]

Just love your video’s! You and Wayne are so cool!

[@fhwolthuis]

Great interview! I always think the Allanté was the inspiration for the R129. Also an excellent car of course.

[@davidrupprecht2774]

A potential new name for the interviews: Cocktails and Cars. Happy belated birthday.

[@newerafrican]

Ah, Wayne went to Buick. Those drawings definitely had a Riviera look to them. Great interview.

[@BillofRights1951]

OMG my parents had a Plycraft chair just like the one in the background...they had it at our old beach house....over the years direct sun and salt air on the metal feet finished it off. Nice to see the midcentury furniture....I grew up with that motif in our house. Still have some of the pieces.

[@danielpalmer8713]

Please interview Wayne about the design of the 75-76 Electra. I grew up in a '75 225 and it became my first car. By far the best looking and riding C-Body of the time.

[@jamesmisener3006]

Nice wrap up on the Alante project focusing on the politics surrounding its birth to your recent episode with John on the actual counter designs by the in house Cadillac design team. Cheers 🇨🇦

[@briandurning9211]

Happy Birthday, Adam! Love these insider interviews. Great channel, even for a bean counter. :) Best wishes for continued success.

[@desertmodern7638]

Such a talented and delightful man. I must say, however, that Cadillac got its money's worth with the Pininfarina design, which remains stunning to this day. One wonders if a rear-drive chassis would have given it the greater market penetration the styling so deserved.

[@FrankPalmer]

Another wonderful and insightful interview as always! Cheers!

[@compu85]

The internal prototype has a lot of hints of a Buick regal up front, and reminds me of the Reatta.

[@SuperJoes70]

Great video !! I know about GM and politics remember at this time in history GM was still a leading force in the Automotive History . I think if they would have had a rear drive car and a one push button top the car would have made a great impact at the time .

[@markharkey3279]

Happy Birthday Adam!

[@stevebyrne4235]

A great personal touch to the Allante story; I bet they would have sold more than 21,000 if the project had been run by Mr. Kady. Birthday greetings, fantastic channel.

[@davepax982]

Wayne is such a humble human being. A true gentleman. In my eye his proposals were much more integrated and in keeping with Cadillac. The Pininfarina one has a certain gargoyle like quality with an extremely obvious front overhang that made it look ungainly. Of course this is just my opinion.

[@1995RangeRover]

The in house design at 2:13 reminds me of a Buick Reatta...Allante was a beautiful car!

[@jeffreysmith1625]

Priceless.

[@4af]

Facinating!

[@daydayy]

Happy birthday Adam. I really enjoy your channel 😊

[@bettermost]

I owned two new ones back in 91 and 92 loved the car. Wow some of those front ends look like later Cimarrons.

[@planestrainsdogsncars4336]

The trade off between a car manufactured in 2 different places and flown in a 747 half way around the world with a corresponding price tag was not worth a label on the side.

[@toddsholtis4470]

Another 5 Star interview with Mr. Kady! I would like to say that those "Allante" sketches and clay models look 85% like a Reatta, (I had a 1991 Reatta convertible). At any rate the Allante is one of my favorites believe it or not, but certainly not the three engines...the early 4.1 liter engine was weak and the 4.5 liter was a little better, but the last year of the Allante (1993) had the plagued NorthStar in it (which also made it more nose heavy) and in reality it should have been a rear wheel drive or AWD platform. Shamefully only 21,000 were sold 1987-1993, terrible! I bet when all was said and done, it cost GM/Cadillac another $40K in non-recoverable costs for each unit sold.

[@clyde7059]

I've always liked the looks of the Alante. I think Cadillac did make a few mistakes in developing the car, though. One mistake, I think, was making the car a front-wheel drive car. Serious, performance car enthusiasts prefer the rear-wheel drive platform, plus, it was obviously put squarely in competition with the Mercedes SL roadster (Then the SL380 I belive) and it was rear-wheel drive and had no aspirations of changing it's platform. This put the Alante at a disadvantage from the very beginning. While I love what Pininfarina did with the body, I think Cadillac should have bought the design from Pininfarina as well as the rights to manufacture the sheet metal themselves, here in the states, instead of having the body manufacured by Pininfarina and shipped overseas so the body could then be mated up with the rest of the car. Having the body shipped to the US from Italy was just too big of an expense and they didn't really get it back as sales weren't what they anticipated. A rear-wheel-drive Alante with a body made in the USA, (though designed in Italy), with a little more muscle under the hood might have been a much more profitable venture.

[@HowardLewis2]

I have opinions on the Allante. My parents bought one brand spanking new. The tested it against the Mercedes 560SL which the dealer let them have overnight and then the Caddy overnight. The Mercedes fit and finish, especially in the interior and door latch etc was nicer, but the Cadillac was more comfortable place to sit and travel down the road. The had it for about three and half years and never had any issues with it. Ultimately, having two seater along with a Fiero in the family just became too impractical. Anyway, at the time and even now I thought it was beautiful in design and looked quite tailored. Looking back the interior was gimmicky but at the time it was very high tech and very cool. I am intrigued what the car would have looked like if done in house. GM did a very nice job with the Reatta, and in some ways I preferred the Reatta to the Allante so maybe GM missed a big opportunity. The biggest problem with the car was the price. At the time the care had a lot of admirers and people would compliment my parents all the time, but that price for a Caddy was a bit too much. If it had a price around $40 or $45k maybe it would have sold and been a Halo car, but at $55k people just went with the tried and true Mercedes. As a teen driver I was able to take it out a few times. I took my driving test in it. I can also neither confirm or deny that the trunk with then rare pass through door could fit two high school marching band color guard girls in the trunk in a pinch when ferrying people home after practice. The Allante was a very good car, but I think just priced a bit too much.

[@Kizzle001]

Excellent, the Fiero story can’t be far behind….

[@brandonmorris2513]

Those martini's are on point!!

[@rightlanehog3151]

Happy Birthday Adam! Wayne, Thanks for sharing! I presume this is the last time the word 'A_____e' will sully this channel. 😉

[@cardo1111]

I like how Adam is sporting a period correct Members Only jacket. As someone mentioned the GM design was Reatta-ish but it was nice with a wide stance and a roof pillar that had some early 70's Eldo styling cues as well. It was a nice car, that in hindsight would have been cheaper for Cadillac and therefore offered at a much more reasonable price that would've sold more units. It didn't age nearly as well as an S-class roadster of that time. I remember some of them back in the day mainly purchased by the country club set who preferred not to buy a german car if they had a choice. Love the conversations with Mr. Kady, his soft-spoken demeanor, extensive knowledge and memory peppered with his subtle sense of humor.

[@thewiseguy3529]

I remember being 9 years old and going to Toys r Us buying this car, matchbox, and wishing that I can really have one when I got older 🤪

[@HypocriticYT]

Great stuff!!!

[@antonfarquar8799]

Best Birthday Wishes Adam - this was a superb presentation - very fine work - many thanks !!!

[@howebrad4601]

Super interesting. It really points put how put of touch gm management was. They obviously saw that cadillacs brand image was suffering and thought the solution was a designer label. It never occurred to them that the 5.7 diesel debacle, ht4100 mess, and the V864 catastrophe were some of the root causes of their problems. It wasn't the designs that were bad. Too often it was rushed engineering, poor quality, and failure to adjust to changing consumer tastes that ruined Cadillacs image. Thus naturally the "solution" was an Italian designer gimmick to take away all the brands problems instead of looking in the mirror. The problem wasn't gms designers or engineers. It was poor management that was too insulated from what their customers were telling them. Management ruined cadillacs brand equity and brand cache

[@allenwayne2033]

well stated. Totally agree

[@michaellindquist31]

I had a chiropractor who had one in the ‘90s and remember him saying how expensive it was. Did Wayne ever mention how much the Pininfarina design added to each car or how much cheaper it would have been if they went with an in house design? The grille on Wayne’s design kind of looks like some of those of the later small Buicks which I know he left Cadillac for.

[@gm12551]

One reminded me of a roadmaster grill

[@hendo337]

It's a shame the Allante wasn't RWD, I think it would have garnered a little more respect in the market that way and would have appealed to the buyer of a vehicle based on want more than need if it had more of a performance basis. Even the TPI 350 with a 700R4 sent to an IRS unit in the back would have been a better move out of the gate than the 4.5L V8 and 4T80, the Northstar came too late and it was an exciting engine it just didn't have the reliability until later in its life. It might have been neat of they stuck the Northstar in the rear to make it rwd. It's not like it was a "practical" car anyway, might as well have been sort of exotic and interesting. The biggest sin of the XLR later on was keeping the Northstar instead of using the excellent LS series of engines. It seems like the Blackwing was a MASSIVE debacle to engineer a high tech engine like that for one model year and then just kill it. It didn't seem to have ANY real world advantage over simply using the LT series Gen V V8s just sophistication for it's own sake when fuel economy, power and reliability were unimproved int he real world. I hope Cadillac and Corvette the best I think that shying away from the rabid performance maniacs who prefer the Gen V engines is a mistake and EVs only are going to kill the company. Guys don't drop coin like that for an appliance and if they are EV enthusiasts they are going to go with an EV company like Tesla.

[@777jones]

Agreed. I’m sure you remember the direct comparison to Mercedes SL. Mercedes did not take any engineering shortcuts. Cadillac did. This was a terrible error. They nearly had a valid competitor.

[@johnwinter9722]

Hard not to like the Pininfarina Allante. Quite attractive. My dad liked it enough to own two of them. I recall his frustration with the slow power windows, but he still liked the cars. Seeing the in-house version(s), I vote Cadillac styling. Just better and more exciting.

[@MrClutch440T4]

Addam, the Allante had a THM-440T4 but with shift solenoids for the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts but the 1-2 was still controlled by the governor and TV cable. It was called in house the F7.

[@bigheadfred]

11:30 The headlamp and grille design on that reminds me of the 1988 Buick Regal.

[@stoneylonesome4062]

I think the biggest flaw with the Allanté and Reatta was the front-wheel-drive layout and lack of a manual transmission. Grand-Touring roadsters should always have the option of Manual transmissions and should be rear-wheel-drive (or perhaps all-wheel-drive, if they really wanted the Reatta to be high-tech and futuristic).

[@jamesengland7461]

Back then there was no interest in a luxury roadster with a manual.

[@stoneylonesome4062]

@@jamesengland7461 It’s a shame. Even with Mercedes, Jaguar, many Japanese brands. It’s such a shame. A roadster should never have an automatic and front-wheel drive.