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When a car is created, a series of safety features are integrated into the design with a goal of protecting the inhabitants while still looking cool.
“Much of what we made was predicated on how to mass produce it and whether or not it was safe,” he
said. “We were always made aware of it and communicated with engineering on a regular basis.
“We also had to look at any design from a collision repair perspective. When the car gets in a wreck, how will the technician be able to fix it? Will they have to remove a lot of parts to do the job? What are the replacement costs? These are the things that any design team has to keep in mind all the time.”
Fewer parts mean easier and less complex repairs while saving money, Santoro said.
“We concentrated on using fewer parts with a focus on things like fit and finish, as well as making everything lighter and more aerodynamic. If a bumper assembly consists of nine parts as opposed to 20, for example, the replacement cost will be lower and the repair logically will be easier when it goes into the body shop.” After six years with Chrysler, Santoro returned home to New York City, where he went from designing automobiles to airplanes, as a consulting designer for Walter Dorwin Teague, America’s oldest design consultancy. There he worked on numerous programs including creating conceptual design interiors for Boeing Aerospace and the production interior for the Gulfstream G5 aircraft.
After two years in that position, Santoro returned to automotive design work, as a consultant working on the Vector M12 supercar and Vector M12 “American Anthem” show car shown at the North American International Auto Show.
Additional projects followed, including the Lamborghini Jota show car. They made a grand total of 14 Vectors with 12 still in existence, which means you might see one occasionally at a SEMA Show, for example.
In 1999, Santoro took his skills designing cars to create the MacCase, the company that would produce the world’s first Apple-specific case. It was an instant success and lauded for its originality and custom fit. MacCase now features the Premium Leather Collection and ships to Apple users worldwide.
Santoro’s painting career began when he was only 17 in New York City.
“I did a drawing and took it to a local gallery called l’art et l’automobile and the owner, Jacques Vaucher, encouraged me to do more,” he said. “That piece sold quickly and pretty soon Jacques was asking for more art. It was pretty cool to be a successful artist in New York as a teenager!”
Santoro’s career as a car designer has been written about in publications like AutoWeek, Automobile, Road & Track, The Detroit Free Press and Car Styling. He was also featured in a New York Times article in 1994, “The Designers Who Saved Chrysler.”
Santoro has also been a part of student design reviews at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI, and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, as well teaching transportation design at Pratt Institute in New York City.
He currently teaches two courses, Introduction to Automotive Design, Professional Techniques, Tips, Tricks and Secrets for the Aspiring Car Designer and Automotive Design Level 2, both of which are currently available on Udemy.com.
Santoro is also well-known for creating amazing exteriors for race cars
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