The Venture was smaller than the Caprice but larger than the Celebrity and fit in with the division’s mission of being entry-level but providing more than the customer expects. “The other part of our mission statement is to make sure we don’t do any boring cars, that whatever we do is exciting and youthful,” said Don Lasky, Chief Designer of Chevy 1 Studio. “The Venture embodies that new spirit of exciting, youthful design.” Complete with a removable glass roof. You know, there needed to be more communication between engineering and design. Air conditioning engineers were planning to make A/C compressors smaller. Those big 40-pound A/C compressors installed in ’66 Buicks were going away along with the R-12 refrigerant that made them work so well. All of that glass looks great, but we really needed less glass and thicker roofs with more insulation to compensate for the deteriorating A/C performance. I live near Phoenix, Arizona, so that may influence my thinking.
Source: GM
Images: Concept Car Central; GM; JOHN LLOYD Collection
