Go Fully Inside The General Motors Design Center
Photos courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Every now and then, auction companies offer something other than vehicles or memorabilia. I can’t say for certain exactly what a trip inside the world-renowned General Motors Design Center is worth, but I can say from experience that it’s definitely an interesting place to visit.
When I reviewed new cars, on press trips automakers would often roll back the curtain a bit for briefings, giving the media a glimpse at products, designs, or technology a few years out. As a result, I’ve seen a few of the rooms inside both the General Motors Design Center and Ford’s studios, and it’s an interesting experience. Clay models, renderings—“Will the nose really look like that?”—and other topics for discussion are bound to come up.
It’s something a private citizen rarely gets a chance to do, and so my ears perked up when I read that RM Sotheby’s and Cadillac are auctioning off a day at the Design Center as the personal guest of Ed Welburn, Vice President of Global Design.
First, the buildings themselves are a marvel of Mid-Century Modern design, but the schedule listed online shows that the winning bidder will help brainstorm a future vehicle, tour the facility with designers, and hang out with Wellburn in a “Virtual Reality Studio”. I think there’s even more to the day, as RM Sotheby’s opines, “Together, it will be a truly intimate design engagement with an automotive legend full of special sneak peaks and surprises…perhaps even a test ride in one of their latest concepts or a historic-great like the Cyclone.”
How much? Well, the experience is being offered without reserve during RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island Auction on March 12, and all proceeds are going to benefit Spina Bifida of Jacksonville. Interested bidders can be at the event, or remote via phone or the internet—a trip to the design studio is a great reason to spend a few more days visiting Detroit, right?
