"You just can't stop designing, you just can't stop being involved with cars," Cherry explains. "You start to do something like this, and it turns into a concept vehicle." He makes it sound like a winter garage project that got a little out of control, which at a basic level perhaps isn't a million miles from the truth. Then you take a close look at Cherry's VSR street rod, at the hardware, the workmanship, and, most of all, the design, and you realize it could easily take center stage as a concept car on the GM stand at the next international auto show.
This is the concept of next Cadillac. Wayne Cherry has always loved concept cars. He joined GM in 1962, straight out of California's Art Center design school, and was assigned to the advanced design studio at the Tech Center, where, among his first assignments, he assisted on a project that became the first Oldsmobile Toronado, one of the high watermarks of Bill Mitchell's stint as GM design chief. He also worked on the design for the '67 Camaro Sports Cars, before shipping out in 1965 to work at GM's British subsidiary, Vauxhall. What was meant to be a three-month assignment turned into a 26-year stint that culminated in his being made head of GM's European design operations.
At Vauxhall, he worked on the gullwing XVR, the brand's first-ever concept car, which was unveiled at the 1966 Geneva show. His wild, mid-engine SRV, shown at the 1970 Earls Court Motor Show in London, was a four-door, four-seater that stood just 41 inches tall. The Equus, one of the star concepts of 1978, was a crisp, state-of-the-moment roadster that rivaled the best from Bertone and Pininfarina. "That's the most uncompromised design I've ever worked on," Cherry said at the time.
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