The car pictured above looks like something that came out of legendary Italian design house Bertone in the 1970s, and we wouldn’t fault you for thinking it’s an Alfa Romeo or a Lancia upon a quick glance. But alas, the vehicle above is the Opel Coupe Diplomat concept, and it was actually designed in Russlesheim, Germany by Opel’s newly-hired design director George Gallion.
In the ‘60s, Opel opened a new design house at its headquarters in Russelsheim. The facility was an exact copy of the design center in Warren, Michigan at Opel’s parent company, General Motors, and its purpose was to empower Opel designers to establish a recognizable design language for the brand. The Experimental GT was the first car the company designed from the ground up all on its own, with the CD following in its footsteps.
Unveiled at the 1969 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Coupe Diplomat concept was based on the standard Opel Diplomat, and also borrowed its 5.4-liter V8 engine. The Gallion-designed bodywork consisted of a futuristic glass canopy roof that moved forward all in one piece, allowing the car to be free of A-pillars.
Bob Lutz, who was the head of marketing at Opel at the time, eventually decided to produce two more production-realistic CDs without the glass canopy roof, but the car never reached production as an Opel. Instead, racing driver Erich Bitter produced the production version under the Bitter marque, but its design was far from that of the well-received CD concept.
Comments
Damn you’re good Sam.
Bob Lutz was the marketing head, not the chief of Opel. Under the CD was a sophisticated De Dion rear suspension developed by Helmut Zincke. Chuck Jordan and later David Holls created a Frua bodied road going version of the CD. Erich Bitter hounded Opel to allow him to build it and Dick Ruzzin claims to have been involved in the design as well.
Bitter got the attention of Opel when he used to keep Porsches in his rear view mirror while racing Opel Rekords. He gave Opel a lot of exposure because the media were fascinated that Porsches were kept in check by an Opel that gained the name “Taxi” on the track.
The CD is a pure show car, unusable for driving.
The windshield and the side windows are a single piece of glass, so there is no way of lowering the side window, and in order to get in or out of the car one has to lift roof, windshield and doors as one piece with the axis in front (if I remember it correctly).
My first thought on seeing this car was “dear goodness, what happens when a stone from the street surface hits the windshield! What an expensive repair!”
The car is a show car, it was never intended to be a street car.
DICK RUZZIN
The Diplomat CD was influenced by the Maserati Ghibli profile and the Chevrolet ASTRO show car which had a similar canopy. On a trip to the US Chuck Jordan saw a scale model in the Overseas Studio with a side section that had a low side glass with a “shoulder” in it that traveled the length of the car. These three elements put together were the beginnings of a design. The car was very fresh in appearance at the time and still is. It has a wonderful form language, strong front and rear theme and was a stunner at the Frankfort show.
The presentation arranged there for the Porsche family at Opel Design ultimately led to Tony Lapine leaving with three top Opel designers and the beginning of the Porsche design studios.
DICK RUZZIN
SO, THE FOUNDATION OF PORSCHE DESIGN ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF HARLEY EARL, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF DESIGN FOR GENERAL MOTORS. TONY LAPINE WORKED FOR GM STYLING. HE WAS SENT TO GERMANY TO HELP CHUCK JORDAN CREATE A CONCEPT CAR. THAT’S WHAT HE DID. THE DIPLOMAT REAR SUSPENSION HAS A CENTER SECTION THAT IT SHARES WITH THE 1963 CORVETTE STINGRAY.