Here's the Pontiac Phantom as one of the Bill Mitchell's phenomenal car legacies

The Phenomenon As we all know that one of the American giant automakers General Motors (GM) has many talented auto designer who have succeeded in giving a distinctive face to the four-wheeled vehicles it produces. Well, among these legendary designers there is the famous name Harley Earl as GM's Vice President of Design for over three decades. As a leader, he was so observant that he could see the talent of one of his subordinates named William 'Bill' Mitchell since the 1930s.

The Pontiac Phantom (also called the General Motors Phantom and given the internal code name "Madame X") is a concept car created by General Motors (GM) in 1977.. (Picture from: Dean'sGarage)

Who is Bill Mitchell? He's also one of the most famous designers ever worked to GM after Harley Earl, and his brilliant career began when Earl appointed him as Cadillac's first design chief  in 1936. Then in 1954 he was promoted to Director of Styling, whose working directly under Earl. The peak of his career occurred after Harley Earl retired, so he appointed to be Earl's successor as GM's Vice President of Design in the end of 1958 and held that position until his own retirement in 1977.

The Pontiac Phantom posed along with its initiator William 'Bill' Mitchell, who hoped he could literally drive off into the sunset on his retirement day in the 1977. (Picture from: MyCarQuest)

And during his tenure, the American automotive manufacturer has remained victorious as one of the top three American automotive brands. It is recorded that several iconic American legendary models appeared such as the Chevrolet Corvette with all its derivatives, then the Cadillac, Buick Riviera which later became one of his favorite vehicles.

And in 1976 at the end of his tenure, then Mitchell decided to create one last concept car, one that he hoped he could literally drive off into the sunset on his last day. To make this happen, he then commissioned Bill Davis, a young designer who had worked with him on many projects. Besides that he was reopened the mysterious Studio X, Mitchell’s ultra-secret personal design studio (it was periodically shut down by management) in the styling building’s basement.

The Pontiac Phantom is designed by Bill Davis, a young designer who had worked with Mitchell on numerous projects. (Picture from: CarStyling.ru)

In the short, Davis and a small team set up a workshop and began the car project by designing and modelling the car that was dubbed 'Madam X'. During the development of this concept car, Davis was given a free hand in the design, Mitchell only acted as the patron and stayed away from the drawing board. After a few months of design, then a clay model was built, in this process also Mitchell generally approved of the design, with some necessary changes. Like the original clay was a notchback, for example, but Mitchell was fastback man.

The Pontiac Phantom is a fastback two-seat coupe built on the chassis of a Pontiac Grand Prix, featured the long bonnet of the V16 project cars, with the prominent prow flanked by rectangular headlights. (Picture from: Dean'sGarage)

Soon the completed full-scale model was primed with a special nitrocellulose black paint that had been used in the 1930s on GM luxury cars. The car was painted double black and polished to a beautiful liquid. In the scalloped wheel wells, a special red color was used to accentuate the sculptural underbody. Once completed, the concept car was presented to Mitchell and other management in dramatic lighting accompanied by several professional models dressed naturally in black gowns, reminiscent of the famous Madam X.

The Pontiac Phantom has long, sweeping lines at the sides recalled both the classic 1930s cars and GM retro designs like the 1971-4 boat-tail Buick Riviera. (Picture from: Dean'sGarage)

At that time Mitchell was delighted, then several GM divisions were contacted for the car's further development. It was Pontiac who was then entrusted with realizing the concept car project by donating the Grand Prix chassis for the finished car. Meanwhile, third-party trusted contractors, including Pininfarina were also invited and asked to submit bids. In the end, only the body shell was built, due to the cost of sculpting the voluptuous body was high, that later inspired the name for the concept car as the Pontiac Phantom.

Well by design, many noted it was a mix of Grand Prix and Firebird style themes, while others noted similarities to the V16 project a decade earlier. While some also noted that this concept car was inspired by the 1961 Pontiac Scorpion concept. As You can see, the Phantom is a fastback two-seat coupe built on the chassis of a Pontiac Grand Prix, featured the long bonnet of the V16 project cars, with the prominent prow flanked by rectangular headlights (Mitchell was not fond of retractable lights).

The Pontiac Phantom only consists of a fiberglass shell, including not completed interior and does not have a drivetrain, rendering it inoperable. (Picture from: Dean'sGarage)

Unfortunately, it only consists of a fiberglass shell, including not completed interior and does not have a drivetrain, rendering it inoperable. Initially, he hoped to present the concept to the Board of Directors for additional funding to complete the project, but was blocked by Howard Kerl, a powerful executive in charge of product planning and technical staff (and Mitchell's sworn enemy). The project ceased, after having endured many a tirade over the years.

The Pontiac Phantom was primed with a special nitrocellulose black paint that had been used in the 1930s on GM luxury cars. (Picture from: Dean'sGarage)

While the car was technically in Pontiac's possession and placed in storage in its queue for destruction like most unfortunated GM concept cars at the time, but a team of designers quietly stepped in and negotiated with GM to save the car and managed to move the car to the Sloan Museum near Flint, Michigan. As a result, now the Pontiac Phantom concept car has become one of the museum displays, as you can see to this day.

The Pontiac Phantom now sat on display at the Sloan Museum near Flint, Michigan after saved by a designer team from GM's crusher machine. (Picture from: Dean'sGarage)

As for Mitchell, he retired soon after in 1977, with no new concept car to drive home. He's not without transportation, though, as he's adopted more than 50 GM vehicles ranging of the concepts, special editions, and personal customs for his own collection. Mitchell launched his own design consultancy and ran it for almost a decade, until health problems forced permanent retirement and passed away in 1988.

As quoted of Dean's Garage, enthusiasts’ opinions differ on Mitchell’s most significant contribution to GM’s automotive legacy. Some say the Corvette, some say his stewardship of Cadillac through four decades, but many point to the personal luxury car as his greatest contribution. Even though he did not invent it, he certainly perfected the format and helped define the romance of a car that promised a great presence on the road, with lots of power and style. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CURBSIDECLASSIC | CARSTYLING.RU | DEANSGARAGE | MYCARQUEST | WIKIPEDIA ]

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