David McIntosh, GM Designer

November 14, 2015 14 CommentsDavid Mcintosh, Designers

David McIntosh’s career at General Motors Design spanned nearly forty years, from 1964 to 2003. Many important transitions took place during that time frame that would forever alter the way cars are designed, and David saw them all. David currently is the Administrator for the League of Retired Designers.

Education and GM Career

BPA, Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles, California, 1964
Design Development (Bill Porter, Bob Verizer); V-16 Coupe
Advanced Design One (Ned Nickels); 1970 Corvair facelift
Buick Production (Don Lasky); 1969 B-C program, 1970 Riveria and Skylark facelifts
Advanced Design (Dick Finnegan); Coupe concepts, Corvette aero study model
Advanced Design One (Bill Porter); 1978 Pontiac Grand Prix and 1981 Firebird concepts, Monte Carlo and LeSabre wheels
Advanced Design Two (Dave North, Kip Wasenko, Clark Lincoln); promoted to Assistant Chief Designer; Buick Reatta concept to production,
Saturn coupe full-size model, Buick Wildcat concept car details
Chevrolet Two (Dick Ruzzin, Ted Schroeder); Chevrolet and Geo concepts, F-based Monte Carlo program, 1991 Monte Carlo show car, 1995 Lumina and Monte Carlo production programs
Cadillac Production (Dennis Little); Cadillac production programs
Opel Design, Russelsheim, Germany; 2000 Catera Facelift
15 Year Cadillac Vision Studio (Kearns); Stategize and visualize the future of Cadillac, XLR 2-seat proposals, SRX Crossover design proposals, CTS full-size model
Speed Vision Group (Baker); Define and visualize design cues for GM brands
2001 Van/Lamda Studio (Folden); Facelift van (4 divisions), Lamda concepts

Advanced Design 1973–1980

Advanced Design 1980–1985

Buick Reatta

Advanced One Scale Models

Buick Production 1966–69

15-Year Cadillac Vision Studio

Cadillac

Chevy I

Chevy Production

2001 Van/Lamda Studio

14 Comments

November 14, 2015 at 11:09 pm

DICK RUZZIN

David,
What a great guy to work with, one with many talents beyond design. Looking through his work I am really drawn to the period where his expressions of simple and elegant shapes are so cleverly combined and executed.

Dave and I worked together for a time in Chevrolet Two Studio as he came in to help us finish the APV and the Caprice. We had a lot of car lines and it was a very busy place. Always upbeat, Dave was anxious to contribute and would offer a wide selection of solutions for any design problem. He had the ability of being an individual contributor and a team player. A great person Dave was well liked by the studio personnel as well as management. Quick with a laugh he always saw the bright side of any situation.

DICK RUZZIN
November 15, 2015 at 10:43 am

John M. Mellberg

Dave,

You’re a great talent!

Thanks for sharing the many fine examples of your beautiful work across the time of your career. So much to appreciate and learn from seeing this. Hope todays new
automotive designers take a close look at the beautiful, clean forms/shapes and visual continuity…

John M. Mellberg
November 15, 2015 at 10:56 am

Larry Faloon

Hello Gary

Thanks so much for bringing some much deserved recognition to the designers who made GM Design the powerhouse that it was during those years. Dean’s Garage is the very best designer-oriented site on the web. It tells the designer’s stories and shows examples of their work in a simple, direct format that all of us can enjoy.

Best….. Larry
November 17, 2015 at 3:20 pm

Bob Marcks

Hi David and Gary,

Thanks to you both for presenting this impressive portfolio of designs. I’m very familiar with the handsome lead drawing. I recall that it received an award in the catalog of the SOCIETY OF ART CENTER ALUMNI, Ninth Annual International Exhibition 1978, Category: Transportation Design Production vehicle, for his Pontiac proposal (catalog photo # 200).
The image is still vivid, as the Experimental Product on the adjacent page (catalog photo # 201) was my U. S. Government Department of Energy Turbine Chrysler, a LeBaron coupe I restyled to reflect a new generation of turbine design.
Thanks for the memory, a blast from the past!
November 20, 2015 at 9:45 am

David Mcintosh

Thanks Gary for showing my work. It’s an honor to be on your site. Thanks for the comments. I enjoy seeing other designers work as well. Design has really changed these last couple of years and this site shows the transition to different philosophies and customer needs. Glad to be here.
November 20, 2015 at 10:18 am

David Mcintosh

Thanks to Susan Scaarsgard and GMArchives for recording my work. Thanks GMPhotography for a great job
November 20, 2015 at 8:34 pm

Roy Lonberger

Dave,

Great to see your exciting body of work over a period of time. The Firebird concept was especially appealing. Always found you creative, positive, and a great team player.

Roy
November 22, 2015 at 1:48 pm

john manoogian

Dave,
You were an inspiration for all of us at GM Design. Working with you and the rest of the Adv,1 team under Bil Porter was my first experience at GM. I’ll never forget it.
Well done.

john manoogian
November 26, 2015 at 11:04 pm

Allan Flowers

Great body of work, everything from exotic sports to production vans – always done with the utmost creativity! I worked with Dave before I left GM in 1980 so some of the work was familiar. On the other hand, I had never seen the later work – and it is even more incredible!
Congratulations, David, on a great career.
December 1, 2015 at 8:13 pm

Bill Kirtley

David,
Congratulations on a great body of work. I remember in grade school, and I believe it started in the first grade, that you were designing cars. It is great to see how your passion developed into a great career and a legacy for others to admire. You are a very fortunate man to have lived your life doing what you passionately love.
Bill Kirtley
December 1, 2015 at 10:10 pm

Janet Fleck

All those cars we watched you design through 12 years of ElHi served you well. What a wonderful life doing what one loves, and doing it very well. Congratulations on well -deserved recognition.
December 5, 2015 at 6:06 pm

Lynn Osterkamp

Congratulations David. You always were a great designer. I remember all those sets you and Jan Field designed for our Rose Curtain Players shows. How wonderful to have been able to use your talent for many years in such an exciting job.
December 15, 2019 at 8:36 am

Stan Kohn

Dave,
Thanks for the amazing work that you did on the Reatta. I have owned two, currently have a pristine 90 Convertible as part of my Buick collection. Your creation still causes many head turns as we drive down the road on a perfect sunny day!
Stan Kohn
December 17, 2021 at 3:33 pm

Ryan

WOW the X320 coupe and convertible were pretty sweet!!! Never knew the mocked them up. All the sketches were really great!

Leave Comment

Book is excellent reading. I like all the practical jokes that you played on each other. Haven’t put it down yet.

Paul Alflen
Gary, Just received your book and read part of it, and can’t wait to finish it! EXCELLENT BOOK WOW! Thanks!

Carl Kofron
It’s a book whose pages you’ll return to again and again…sometimes just to look, other times to read and learn and to laugh!

Helen Hutchings
It brought back so many memories. The book captures some of the antics that took place. I recommend Gary’s book for anyone that has an interest to get a glimpse of an era long gone.

John Manoogian II
Very impressed with the emphasis on the “people stories.” Most people think of GM in terms of the cars, whereas you focused on the designers that created the cars. Congratulations on your excellent and personable narrative.

Roy Lonberger
Great book! It will provide many hours of interesting reading. Thank you for writing and publishing it!

Charles Pieier
All the wonderful anecdotes and photos bring laughter and smiles of recollection of the years at GM Design. The other content is equally entertaining, too! One can keep returning to its pages, finding a new topic of interest each time.

George Camp
Gary’s book focuses on the people who drove designs and events at GM Design. It is always informative, sometimes funny and sometimes sad. Picture are breathtaking. Extremely well done.

James Rice
Thank you Gary for this wonderful publication vicariously delivering the human condition nectar recalled from the good old days at GM Design.

Bill Boudreau
Closest thing to an actual time machine I have experienced! The photos, quotes and artwork really transported me back to what was a fabulous time at GM Design.

Len Casillo
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed The Future is Back. Great stories and wonderful comments! Excellent selection of illustrations and photos!

Peter Brock
The book is providing lots of interesting reading along with so many great photos, illustrations and renderings.

Sheldon Payne
It’s like going to a family reunion and meeting all your old friends, the studios and the models all over again. I can almost smell the fresh clay reading your book.

Ron Will
Reading the stories and anecdotes of designers who shared their experiences in this book allowed me to vicariously imagine what it would have actually been like to have worked in a studio. Thumbs Up Gary!!

Steve Sicklick
Great book Gary. It’s like taking a trip down memory lane!

Dennis Burke
I’ve enjoyed the Dean’s Garage book. I know a lot of the designers and places you mention; it’s like a reunion or old-home week.Thank you very much for putting everything together in such a beautifully organized, fun, illuminating way.

Michael Lamm