Trying to reach some GM employees

[MotiveLensPhoto]

In my quest to verify info about the Riviera convertible concept, I've run across the following people and I would like to communicate with them about the 1995 Riviera. If you know the following people I would be happy to email or phone them at their convenience:

 

William L Porter, exterior design chief

Anthony H Derhake, Buick chief engineer

Don Genord, Jr., product line manager

Andy Hanzel, design assistant

Eric Clugh, designer

 

If you know how to reach any of them, or anyone else connected with that model year, I'm happy to send them my contact info.

[JanZverina]

For Bill Porter, please see https://www.williamlporter.com/index.html. And Dennis Manner may be a good contact as well - I'm pretty sure he's a BCA member and he's been mentioned several times in the Buick Bugle magazine. I had the pleasure of interviewing lots of GM designers, general managers, and top brass while I was an automotive industry reporter in Detroit, first for UPI and then with Bloomberg Business News, from 1985 to 1995, before joining Chrysler's Product Public Relations staff. Google 'Jan Zverina UPI Archives' and you can still find lots of my car reviews, including one about working for one day as an assembler for the Reatta at the Lansing Craft Center in Michigan.  

 

 

[MotiveLensPhoto]

I found Bill thru the website but haven't heard back. Many of the others are on LinkedIn but again, no response. I'll try Dennis Manner through here.

[JanZverina]

 Yes, many of these GM alum are long retired but many still keep a hand in. You've probably seen this already but I came across it because IIRC, Bill was also involved with the Olds Aurora design, for which I attended the pre-launch press preview in Lansing. This article focuses mainly on the 1995 Riv: https://driventowrite.com/2017/02/06/theme-brochures-1995-buick-riviera/

  I also interviewed GM Designer Chief Chuck Jordan several times. One time he gave me a sneak peek at the '91 Caprice, still in the design studio. I couldn't help but laugh, which almost stopped the interview right there. Years later, after he retired from GM, I saw him at a Chrysler event and he admitted that it really wasn't their best work. Being ex-GM, he called the new Sebring convertible for 1996 "one of most felicitous designs" he'd ever seen.