Art, Innovation and Car Design Collide in the Life of Michael Santoro Landing a job as a car designer with Chrysler at 21 was unheard of. I think everyone can agree a well-de- As the new kid on the team, Santoro signed car is a piece of art, like a Do- was able to bring a young and fresh natello or a Rodin. perspective to everything he worked While it’s true automobiles on for the carmaker. are created to transport people and “I knew that this was a great opthings, that doesn’t devalue their portunity and a dream job,” he said. design or aesthetic appeal, which is “You have a better chance of playing why some call them “sculpture in in the NFL than you do becoming a motion.” professional car designer in the United States, so I was A vehicle starts out as excited to get a chance.” a series of illustrations that Santoro was able to see eventually become a clay sculpture. Throughout the a car design team in action process, a wide variety of and learned as much as he sometimes conflicting pricould. orities must be considered Michael Santoro “Within a given studio, when creating a car design. of San Diego, CA, is each designer creates his or These include the needs of a former automo- her own proposal. You’re tive designer and the driver and passengers, inventor competing with your cowho now the ability for the design teaches car design workers for the opportunity for your design to go into to be manufactured and the and oversees his hopes and dreams of the de- company MacCase, production.” the creators of the signer who created it. Most production proApple-specific case Michael Santoro of grams are on four-year cymarket San Diego, CA, is a forcles. Once the vehicle is in mer automotive designer who now production, they will normally do teaches car design. He founded and a facelift every two years, at which oversees a company making Apple point they will do things like tweakaccessories, which has met with ing the front and rear fascia or addhuge success, and is also a high- ing new wheel options. ly-respected artist known for paint- For a car’s exterior, designers ings of his favorite Formula One work with industrial sculptors to drivers, including Niki Lauda and create full size models in clay over Ayrton Senna. a wood and foam structure. Once A native of New York City, San- the model is complete, it’s presented toro graduated from the world-re- to upper management, who choose nowned High School of Art & De- from the various proposals presentsign, where he was a member of ed. the first-ever industrial design high In this case, it was Chrysler school program in the country. CEO Lee Iacocca and Vice Chair After graduating from Pratt In- man Bob Lutz, among others. For stitute with a bachelor’s degree in the Cirrus/Stratus program, eight industrial design, Santoro was ac- full-size clay models were done. The cepted as the first-ever post-gradu- board liked Santoro’s design for the ate design intern at Chrysler Corpo- Cirrus and it went into production, ration where, upon completion, he eventually chosen as the 1995 Car of received an offer to join the staff. the Year. Santoro spent six years as an Did Santoro get a bonus when automotive designer at Chrysler, he and his team received the highly where he created the groundbreak- prestigious award? ing cab-forward exterior design “No, but I got to see my design of the 1995 Car of the Year, the made real and put into the world. first-generation Chrysler Cirrus and That’s a happiness no one can ever its sister vehicle, the Dodge Stratus. take away.” Before leaving Chrysler, Santoro When a car is created, a series penned the 1996-2006 Jeep Wran- of safety features are integrated into gler, bringing it back to its iconic the design with a goal of protecting roots while pushing it forward into the inhabitants while still looking cool. the new century. by Ed Attanasio
38 AUGUST 2021 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
“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
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. Santoro is also well-known for creating amazing exteriors He was also featured in a for race cars New York Times article in of nine parts as opposed to 20, for 1994, “The Designers Who Saved example, the replacement cost will Chrysler.” be lower and the repair logically will Santoro has also been a part of be easier when it goes into the body student design reviews at the Colshop.” lege for Creative Studies in Detroit, After six years with Chrysler, MI, and Art Center College of DeSantoro returned home to New York sign in Pasadena, CA, as well teachCity, where he went from designing ing transportation design at Pratt Inautomobiles to airplanes, as a con- stitute in New York City. sulting designer for Walter Dorwin He currently teaches two coursTeague, America’s oldest design es, Introduction to Automotive Deconsultancy. There he worked on sign, Professional Techniques, Tips, numerous programs including cre- Tricks and Secrets for the Aspiring ating conceptual design interiors for Car Designer and Automotive DeBoeing Aerospace and the produc- sign Level 2, both of which are curtion interior for the Gulfstream G5 rently available on Udemy.com. aircraft. After two years in that position, Santoro returned to automotive design work, as a consultant working Don’t Miss the Weekly Industry on the Vector M12 supercar and NEWS Your Shop Needs. Vector M12 “American Anthem” Sign Up Free Today! show car shown at the North Ameriwww.autobodynews.com can International Auto Show. Additional projects followed,
