Cadillac Allanté

The Cadillac Allanté is a two-door, two-seater luxury roadster marketed by Cadillac from 1987 until 1993. The Allanté was based on a Cadillac chassis and running gear with a convertible body style with a folding soft top and an available removable hardtop. The bodies were built in Italy by coachbuilder Pininfarina which were flown to Detroit for final assembly. Over 21,000 were built during its seven-year production run.

Conception and design
To maintain luxury market position in the 1980s, Cadillac sought an aspirational model that would combine the prestige of a European design with the renown of a European coachbuilder &mdash; to help Cadillac compete with Mercedes and Jaguar. It would become the first modern-era two-passenger Cadillac roadster, and the first to wear the Cadillac name since the Cadillac Series 355 roadster of the 1930s.

Cadillac General Manager Bob Burger sent engineers to Italy in 1982 to meet with designers and coachbuilders to explore a partnership with Cadillac. According to program manager Ed Anderson, the team identified Pininfarina as their top choice, and Cadillac chose them to design the Allanté, under the direction of Sergio Pininfarina, working with a team of designers including Mario Vernacchia.

At GM, Chuck Jordan was torn because delegating the design to Pininfarina implied that GM's 3,000 internal designers were unable to pen the design. GM stylist Wayne Kady along with Vice President of Design, Irv Rybicki, fought to have the design crafted in-house, Kady later saying GM leadership had decided to go with an Italian design even before Cadillac’s designers began work.

The in-house designers were hurt and angry. Kady said to management, “We’ve done all your bread and butter cars through the years, but when it’s time to do a historic and fun project, you give it to someone else.” Cadillac General Manager Bob Burger later told the in-house designers the company was "looking for a car with a designer name to it. It’s like Levi's, it’s that tag on the back of the jeans."

Chuck Jordan (at the time assigned in Europe with Opel) was not to examine Pininfarina's work. However, he could see the design before it was frozen for development because he was friends with Sergio Pininfarina. As later told by Maria Vernacchia, Jordan referred to the Allanté as ‘The New Spirit of Cadillac,’ only suggesting a front grille similar to the typical Ferrari's with a classic rectangular grid design. Pininfarina opened a new facility specifically for Allanté manufacture outside Turin in rural San Giorgio Canavese, as a dedicated vehicle assembly plant, part of what would become a very long assembly process.

The car was built on a unique platform known as the V-body, which was a shortened version of the E platform that underpinned the Cadillac Eldorado and other contemporary personal luxury coupes.

The nameplate Allanté was selected by General Motors from 1,700 computer-generated potential names. Originally designed to compete with the Mercedes-Benz SL and Jaguar XJS, the Allanté initially featured a slightly modified variant of the 4.1 L V8 used across Cadillac's model line. This was expanded to 4.5 L in 1989, and upgraded to the 4.6 L L37 Northstar in its final year, 1993.

All Allanté models featured a fully electronic instrument and control panel, which was angled towards the driver, without knobs or manual controls. GM also implemented electronic controls in select premium mid-to-late 1980s luxury vehicles such as the Buick Reatta, Buick Riviera, and Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo. However, these vehicles included a touchscreen control panel called the Graphic Control Center (GCC), which the Allanté did not.

Air Bridge production


The Allanté incorporated an international production arrangement similar to the early 1950s Nash-Healey two-passenger sports car. The Allanté bodies were designed and manufactured in Italy by Pininfarina and were shipped to the U.S. for final assembly with domestically manufactured chassis and engine, eventually leading it to be referred to as "the world's longest assembly line." Specially equipped Boeing 747s departed from Turin International Airport with 56 bodies at a time, arriving at Detroit's Coleman A. Young International Airport about 3 mi northeast of Cadillac's new Hamtramck Assembly plant, known as the "Allanté Air Bridge". The expensive shipping process stemmed from GM's recent closing of Fisher Body Plant #18, which had supplied Cadillac bodies since 1921. It was not the first time that Cadillac joint-ventured with Pininfarina, having subcontracted body production for the 1959 Eldorado Brougham and design and coachworks for several one-offs, customs, and concept cars.

1987
The front-wheel drive Allanté roadster had a transverse multi-port fuel injected variant of GM's aluminum 4.1 L HT-Cadillac 4100 V8, along with roller valve lifters, high-flow cylinder heads, and a tuned intake manifold. The suspension was independent strut front and rear, with Bosch ABS III four-wheel disc brakes. A removable aluminum hardtop, Delco-GM/Bose Symphony Sound System (a $905 option on other Cadillacs), the industry's first power retractable AM/FM/Cellular Telephone antenna, and a complex lamp-out module that substituted an adjacent lamp for a burned-out bulb in the exterior lighting system until the dead one could be replaced were all standard. The only option was a cellular telephone installed in a lockable center console. The base price was $54,700 ($0 in dollars ).

1988
The 1988 model year Allanté featured revised front seat headrests and a power decklid pulldown as standard equipment. Analog instruments, in place of the standard digital dash cluster, were now available as a no-charge option. The base price was raised to $56,533, with the cellular telephone still the only extra-cost option. In a comparison test by Popular Science magazine, the 1988 Allanté was ranked behind the Mercedes 560 SL, but ahead of the brand new Buick Reatta.

1989
The 1989 model year base price rose to $57,183. Allanté's engine, the new 273ci (4.5 L) V8, produced 200 hp, and with 270 lbft of torque. Unlocking the trunk also unlocked the side doors if the key was rotated twice – similar to Mercedes-Benz and BMW. As a theft-deterrent, Allanté added GM's Pass Key (Personal Automotive Security System), using a resistor pellet within the ignition key to render the fuel system and starter inoperative if an incorrect ignition key was used. Allanté also received a new speed-sensitive damper system called Speed Dependent Damping Control, or SD²C. This system firmed the suspension at 25 mph and again at 60 mph. The firmest setting was also used starting from a standstill until 5 mph. Another change was a variable-assist steering system.

1990
For the 1990 model year, a lower-priced ($53,050) companion model with a cloth convertible roof and without the removable aluminum hardtop was available. This version, including the hardtop, was $58,638. By midyear, prices were dropped to $57,813 for the hardtop/convertible and $51,500 for the convertible, including a $650 Gas Guzzler Tax and a $550 destination charge. The fully integrated cellular telephone, equipped from the factory on just 36 cars this year, was available for an additional $1,195. Allanté's bumper-to-bumper new car warranty, seven years and 100000 mi, was three years longer than other Cadillacs, and an additional 50000 mi of coverage. Allanté owners also received a unique toll-free number for service or concerns. Headlamp washers and dual 10-way Recaro seating remained standard. A driver's side airbag was added to the leather-wrapped steering wheel, eliminating the telescoping steering wheel &mdash; which retained its tilt feature. The analog instrument cluster – introduced the previous year – was standard on the convertible (available at no extra cost on the hardtop/convertible), with 358 cars equipped with the analog cluster.

The power mirror control moved from the right of the steering column on the instrument panel to a new location on the upper end of the driver's door armrest. The power seat switches (previously mounted on the face of the seat base) were relocated to the lower side trim of the seat base facing the door panels. The 3-channel garage door opener base mounted on the header panel above the windshield was eliminated when a new sun visor design was introduced this year. Traction control was added – the first front-wheel drive automobile with a V8 to be equipped as such. The system was designed to cut fuel to four cylinders to reduce power and optimize traction.

The electronically controlled shock absorbers were re-tuned to remain in "soft" mode up to 40 mph, up from 25 mph. A revised audio system allowed a CD and a cassette player to be added as standard equipment. Of the 2,523 built for 1990, only five were exported – four to Canada and one to Germany.

1991
For the 1991 model year, a power-latching mechanism was added for the convertible top, and redesigned the top stowage cover mechanism to address customer complaints. The Bose stereo system was upgraded to 200 watts, and the digital instrument cluster, featured in all but 275 Allanté models this year, was repriced (it was now a $495 option for the convertible model). Prices began at $57,260, although a midyear price drop brought the Allanté convertible down to $55,900 and the hardtop/convertible down to $61,450 (from $62,810). Allanté had 16.3 cubic feet of storage (when using the pass-through compartment into the cabin area). Of the 1,928 models produced for 1991, only seven were manufactured for export – five to Canada, one to Italy, and another to Puerto Rico. Canadian models offered a kilometer-based instrument cluster, daytime running lamps, and an engine block heater as standard equipment. In contrast, the Italian model featured a list of European-mandated modifications, including breakaway side mirrors, specific European headlamps and turn signals, a front tow hook, rear fog lamps, deletion of the deck-lid mounted center brake light, a wet-arm windshield washer system, coolers for the power steering and automatic transmission fluids, and a revised steering column to compensate for the removal of the driver's airbag.

1992
The Allanté for 1992 was priced at $58,470 for the convertible and $64,090 for the hardtop/convertible. Both prices included the mandated gas guzzler tax, now $1,300. As it had been the custom for a few years, price drops were announced midyear: $57,170 for the convertible and $62,790 for the removable hardtop. The optional digital cluster was priced at $495 (available at no charge on the removable hardtop model). However, only 187 cars were equipped with the standard analog cluster this year. Also available on the convertible at extra cost was a pearl white paint group (option YL3) priced at $700 (a total of 443 made during 1992). 1992 was the last year of the multi-adjustable Recaro seating design. Four of the 1,698 produced this year were built for export, all to Canada. As with the previous year, the most popular exterior was 47U – Euro Red with 549 units, while the least popular was 49U – Light Blue Metallic with 15 finished in that color. Three shades of leather were available for the interior, the colors and their production totals: Charcoal (859), Natural Beige (652), Maroon (187), (50) Polo Green, and one Pearl Flax (O4U).

1993
For the 1993 model, Allanté was offered in a single model configuration: as a soft-top convertible priced at $59,975 (not including a mandatory $1,700 gas guzzler tax for vehicles sold in the United States). Options included the removable 60.5 lb aluminum hardtop, LCD digital instrument cluster ($495) in place of the standard analog instruments, pearl coat paint option ($700, in Flax or Canyon Yellow, with Hawaiian Orchid added midyear) and chrome squeeze-cast aluminum wheels.

The 1993 models received the significantly more powerful 4.6 L Northstar DOHC V8 engine rated at 295 hp at 5600 rpm and 290 ftlb of torque at 4400 rpm. A new unequal-length control arm rear suspension was introduced, shared with the Seville and Eldorado. To offset increased costs, the 200-watt Bose stereo was dropped in favor of GM's Delco "Premium Symphony Sound System"; the intelligent lighting module was eliminated; and 1993 models featured less expensive Lear-designed eight-way dual power seats, replacing the previous Recaro seats. Interior changes included the addition of an auto-dimming rearview mirror and a revised shifter grip. Other model year changes included Road Sensing Suspension, an active damper management system, revised disc brakes, revised variable-assist power steering rack, deeper front spoiler, and single-piece side windows, which eliminated the stationary forward vent window.

The 1993 Allanté was also chosen as the 1992 pace car for the 76th Indianapolis 500. The pace car was driven by Bobby Unser. Three modified 1993 Pace Cars had only the seat belts, lighted roll bar, and air intake modified from a stock production Allanté's. In addition to the official Allanté Pace cars provided for the race, thirty stock 1993 Allantés used as Festival/Pace Cars and 58 stock 1992 Allanté Festival/Pace cars used by drivers and crews at the opening parade and the race's closing. Al Unser Jr's 1993 Allanté Festival/Pace car was featured at the 2012 and 2013 Keel's & Wheel's Concours D’Elegance in Seabrook, Texas. Bobby Unser was Grand Marshal in 2012, and Al Unser Jr. was Grand Marshal in 2013.

Production reached 4,670 for the model year 1993, with 85 shipped to Canada and 30 were exported overseas: France (1), Austria (2), Belgium (5), Germany (5), Switzerland (6), and Japan (11).

Discontinuation
Despite a scheduled facelift for the model, the last Allanté built was flown from Turin, Italy, on July 2, 1993, and completed at Detroit-Hamtramck 14 days later. With 21,430 built, assemblies averaged just a little more than 3,000 a year throughout the car's lifetime. Production officially ended on July 16, 1993.

Production numbers
Pininfarina production records state that 21,395 bodies were made from 1986 to 1993.