The Man Behind the Challenger: Micheal Castiglione
The man simply known as "Casti" is the successful automotive exterior designer hugely responsible for the rebirth of the Dodge Challenger. Have a look at this delightful slideshow with his sketches and read our conversation with him about the life-long passion that turned into a career for him.
Meet Casti
One of the coolest and most instantly loveable characters in the automotive design industry, Micheal Castiglione has earned the respect and admiration of his peers over the course of his career. And while he certainly has quite a long ways to go, he is already a very accomplished and well-established designer. Now a design manager at KIA Design Center in Southern California, Casti bears significant responsibility for the future of KIA.
Micheal cites the experience of designing the modernized Dodge Challenger as one of his favorites from his 20 years at Chrysler. His purist approach toward design is what has brought him continued success, and it was no different in the case of designing the resurrection of the legendary muscle car.
Over this brief slideshow, we will look at some of Casti's favorite projects and the feel-good story of how the Challenger came to be, along with a few very cool sketches to go with them.
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
Where It All Began
A classic case of "boy falls in love with a car," Micheal's story began when he found himself fascinated with automobiles as a youngster.
"At around 6 years old, I remember riding in my dad's buddy’s old Mustang and just loving it! The engine roar, the exhaust fumes, getting thrown back in the seat, It all just seemed so cool! I grew up near the Pomona Drags and you could hear them (drag racing) from my high school, so, on drag days, I tended to miss class! Perhaps, from growing up near the Winternationals, I have a special love for muscle cars. My dad and my uncles were really into cars and that definitely rubbed off. My uncle Nick had a 454 Nova drag car that he drove on the street occasionally and my Dad had numerous bad-ass cars like a '64 Stingray.
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
Following His Passion
For Micheal, finding a path to his dream life was not completely clear-cut. But thankfully, (for the sake of all of us who love the Challenger) he was steered toward what he was put on this earth to do.
"In or right after high school, car design was sort of a distant thought. My folders were covered with car sketches, mostly Camaros. In high school, my buddy Tim and I got kicked out of driver training class because we were arguing about which was cooler, Ferrari or Lamborghini!!!"
Over the course of our conversation I asked him about where he went to school. "I thought I wanted to be an engineer, so I started at Cal Poly Pomona in engineering and hated it. My loving mom encouraged me to switch to art because she knew I had some talent for it and my interests were in art. A very gutsy move by her, but she was definitely right! After studying fine art for about 2 years I moved to Art Center College of Design to go full on into transportation design."
Note: Micheal's sketches pictured are from before the Photoshop era. No "undo" option was available on those marker/chalk renderings!
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
The Kickstart
The Psychology of Design
Automotive designers often put their own personality into the vehicles they design. For Casti, his sophisticated thought process regarding auto styling is evident in his work. "I like designs that are simple, yet make a strong and unique statement," he told us. "I'm attracted to great proportions first, then details. This formula has a timeless quality! If you look at all great car designs throughout history, the simple and unique cars are the most desirable and collectible. You can easily see this in some of my work like the Challenger, Pronto Spyder, and most recently the KIA Cadenza."
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
For the Love of Cars
So what is Micheal's favorite car? "I love the Ferrari 250 SWB! Just plain BAD-ASS! Especially the ones set up for racing. In modern design, I'm in love with the Bugatti Chiron."
Micheal did not hesitate when asked what his favorite project has been. "Probably the Dodge Challenger. It felt like we were creating something special and that project tapped into my passion for muscle cars. Also, the projects that really stand out are the Plymouth Pronto Spyder, Jeep Treo, and KIA Cadenza. I also managed the new KIA Soul coming out soon!"
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
Was the Return of the Challenger Imminent?
Casti speaks fondly of his time working on the 2006 Challenger concept car. But was it smooth-sailing all the way through? "The goal was to create an iconic American muscle car," he acknowledged. "My scale model was the most retro. All of the other models looked too much like modern sports cars with a few small cues from the original Challenger. It was my personal belief that the car should not just have a badge that says Challenger, but it should also look like a Challenger, a modern version of all of the best qualities of the old car."
Which begs the question, how did the project even come about? "At that time we were owned by Mercedes and they absolutely had no love or interest in American muscle cars. However, Chrysler had this great Hemi engine and a great platform (C300) so all of the ingredients were basically there to do a kick-ass 2 door muscle car. Our studio on the west coast really pushed it. Top management finally agreed to let us do some scale models of which we did 4. From there, we did a full-size clay model and my model was not chosen. Two other models were chosen and (elements of each) were combined on the full-size model. At that time I was officially out of the running."
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
Passion Prevails
At the time, it seemed like Casti's design was not meant to be seen beyond the walls of Chrysler's advanced design studio... But it's never done until it's done.
"Our studio, Pacifica, finished the full-size clay model, painted it and sent it back to Detroit. Keep in mind this was not my theme. It went to Detroit and we heard almost nothing about the project for six months. Then at the beginning of 2005 when top management normally picks concept cars for the next year we were told we're doing a Challenger concept for NAIAS and it's going to be Casti's theme! I think Trevor Creed, who was then head of Chrysler design, knew that I have a ridiculous passion for muscle cars and believed in me and my goal for the project. So from there, we did a quick all new scale model and went immediately to full-size."
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
It Only Takes Perfection
It might seem like an easy job to draw cars for a living. But the amount of hard work and dedication that goes into perfecting each line on a beautiful automobile is incomparable. And the challenges and quirks that came along with a project like this were not of minor consequence.
"One of the biggest challenges was the basic proportion compared to the original Challenger. We had to use a Chrysler 300 and just shorten it a bit. The original car had a much lower H-point, therefore, the roof was much lower than the C300. Also, the windshield was at least a foot farther rearward. These were huge proportional differences we had to overcome. This was difficult but I think we finally dialed it in. Also, the original car was pure and simple, so that was very important to me. We didn't want to clutter the design with a bunch of trendy surfacing and B.S. For instance, it's one of the only modern cars with no rocker detail at all. This editing down and staying clear of trendy stuff is the reason the design is kind of timeless."
Micheal had a plum crazy '70 Challenger in the studio for inspiration the whole time during the design development. But he recalled that every time they moved the car there was a huge puddle of tranny fluid!
"The CEO of Chrysler at that time was Dieter Zetsche from Mercedes. He said: 'Ok I'll let you guys do this muscle car thing, but it's gonna be a concept car only!' I knew once that thing hit the show stand it would have a tremendous following and they would have to build it!"
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
One For the History Books
In the end, Micheal feels good about the design as well as the final product. "I am extremely happy with the outcome! Because we really thought this could go straight to production, we were fairly honest to the package, so the production version barely changed from the concept. I'm stoked that the guys at Chrysler still believe in the design enough to only facelift it for the newer version. They did an excellent job updating it and improving it. Ralph Gilles and the design team has pushed the performance of the Challenger to the extreme with models like Hellcat & Demon! The passion for that car is flat out sick and I'm so happy to be a part of it!"
Aside from his day job of designing the future generations of KIA, Casti is an incredible automotive fine artist. You can check out some of his work on his official Instagram page: @micheal_casti_castiglione
>>Join the conversation about The Man Behind the Challenger right here in Dodge Forum.
For help with maintenance and repair projects, please visit our how-to section this forum.