2 Viper Hall of Fame guys selected as two of the eight leaders who made an impact during 3 decades
Where are they now?: Shaping an industry - AutoWeek Magazine
FRANCOIS CASTAING
Francois J. Castaing is the father of the Viper Le Mans program and the ill-fated Patriot Hybrid WSC. It's sometimes overlooked that the colorful Frenchman was also as responsible as anyone for pulling Chrysler back from the brink in the late 1980s.
Castaing began his career as a race engineer for Gordini in 1968. He made his way to Chrysler via Renault, with a stop at American Motors in between. At AMC, he directed development of the landmark Jeep Cherokee. As vice president of engineering at Chrysler, following its acquisition of AMC in 1987, he quickly reorganized 5,500 engineers into platform teams. The platform approach allowed for the simultaneous development of various vehicle systems, rather than separate, successive development by disconnected groups of engineers.
The LH sedans of the 1990s were the first products of Castaing's platform teams. His approach substantially reduced both development time and cost and made cash-flush Chrysler a juicy target for acquisition by Daimler-Benz in 1998.
Castaing retired from Chrysler in 2000, joining a post-Daimler exodus of key executives. At 63, he sits on three corporate boards, including that of TRW Automotive, but his pet project is the Detroit Science Center. Castaing helped raise millions to complete a major renovation of the youth-oriented science museum, and he remains chairman of its governing board.
While he worries about the state of the auto industry, Castaing says he has no interest in "returning to 14-hour workdays." His passion is improving science education in the United States, particularly in his adopted Detroit area.
"Too few young Americans know what engineering is, much less having adequate preparation in the sciences to pursue that career," he says. "The U.S. engineering colleges are graduating only a fraction of the engineers they did 25 years ago. It's a serious concern, and it's not going to get any better if we don't do something."
TOM GALE
Tom Gale was raised in Flint, Mich., and differed from many automobile designers in several ways. His ego rarely presented itself, he went to engineering school, and he had an MBA.
Gale and aides Trevor Creed, John Herlitz and Neil Walling became known as Chrysler Design's "Gang of Four." They turned out eye-popping concepts in the late 1980s and early '90s, when Chrysler had very ordinary products in its showrooms, then turned those concepts into production vehicles such as the Dodge Viper, the Dodge Ram and the Plymouth Prowler. Gale popularized "cab-forward" with Chrysler's LH sedans, yet he stands out most because he took the design executive's job to a new level. He gave designers a louder voice in establishing an auto company's core values and a broader, less constricted role in the business of selling cars. Gale joined the board of management at DaimlerChrysler following Chrysler's acquisition by Daimler, and he retired at the end of 2000.
"There had been powerful designers before, but probably none whose influence in a company was as wide," says David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Gale now lives in Bay Harbor, Mich., where he is commodore of the Bay Harbor Yacht Club. He spent a good portion of the summer of 2008 motoring up the eastern seaboard, through the Erie Canal and back into the Great Lakes, but he remains the consummate car guy. He regularly judges concours such as Pebble Beach and Amelia Island, and he's been know to show up in one of his muscle cars at local car meets.
Where are they now?: Shaping an industry - AutoWeek Magazine
FRANCOIS CASTAING
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Francois J. Castaing is the father of the Viper Le Mans program and the ill-fated Patriot Hybrid WSC. It's sometimes overlooked that the colorful Frenchman was also as responsible as anyone for pulling Chrysler back from the brink in the late 1980s.
Castaing began his career as a race engineer for Gordini in 1968. He made his way to Chrysler via Renault, with a stop at American Motors in between. At AMC, he directed development of the landmark Jeep Cherokee. As vice president of engineering at Chrysler, following its acquisition of AMC in 1987, he quickly reorganized 5,500 engineers into platform teams. The platform approach allowed for the simultaneous development of various vehicle systems, rather than separate, successive development by disconnected groups of engineers.
The LH sedans of the 1990s were the first products of Castaing's platform teams. His approach substantially reduced both development time and cost and made cash-flush Chrysler a juicy target for acquisition by Daimler-Benz in 1998.
Castaing retired from Chrysler in 2000, joining a post-Daimler exodus of key executives. At 63, he sits on three corporate boards, including that of TRW Automotive, but his pet project is the Detroit Science Center. Castaing helped raise millions to complete a major renovation of the youth-oriented science museum, and he remains chairman of its governing board.
While he worries about the state of the auto industry, Castaing says he has no interest in "returning to 14-hour workdays." His passion is improving science education in the United States, particularly in his adopted Detroit area.
"Too few young Americans know what engineering is, much less having adequate preparation in the sciences to pursue that career," he says. "The U.S. engineering colleges are graduating only a fraction of the engineers they did 25 years ago. It's a serious concern, and it's not going to get any better if we don't do something."
TOM GALE
You must be registered for see images
Tom Gale was raised in Flint, Mich., and differed from many automobile designers in several ways. His ego rarely presented itself, he went to engineering school, and he had an MBA.
Gale and aides Trevor Creed, John Herlitz and Neil Walling became known as Chrysler Design's "Gang of Four." They turned out eye-popping concepts in the late 1980s and early '90s, when Chrysler had very ordinary products in its showrooms, then turned those concepts into production vehicles such as the Dodge Viper, the Dodge Ram and the Plymouth Prowler. Gale popularized "cab-forward" with Chrysler's LH sedans, yet he stands out most because he took the design executive's job to a new level. He gave designers a louder voice in establishing an auto company's core values and a broader, less constricted role in the business of selling cars. Gale joined the board of management at DaimlerChrysler following Chrysler's acquisition by Daimler, and he retired at the end of 2000.
"There had been powerful designers before, but probably none whose influence in a company was as wide," says David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Gale now lives in Bay Harbor, Mich., where he is commodore of the Bay Harbor Yacht Club. He spent a good portion of the summer of 2008 motoring up the eastern seaboard, through the Erie Canal and back into the Great Lakes, but he remains the consummate car guy. He regularly judges concours such as Pebble Beach and Amelia Island, and he's been know to show up in one of his muscle cars at local car meets.
