Men's Journal

The 40-year-old designer-turned–general manager of Cadillac says he prefers indulging in experiences over cluttering his life with “things.” Just ask his wife.

Photograph by A. J. Mueller

Every designer dreams of sculpting an iconic supercar, but Bryan Nesbitt’s greatest successes thus far have been inexpensive four-doors that deliver high design to a mass market — cars like the Chrysler PT Cruiser, which he designed with Bob Lutz, and the Chevy Malibu. “Front-wheel-drive cars don’t inherently have proportions that instantly drive appeal,” Nesbitt says, yet his 2008 Malibu reinvented a staid Chevy as a crisp, muscular sedan that won North American Car of the Year honors. Now that Nesbitt is behind the wheel at Cadillac, we’re keen to see if the man who made the Malibu sexy can take GM’s top brand to places it’s never been before.

Concept

The Saab Aero-X is one of the greatest projects that I ever participated in. We put a lot of energy into visually articulating a story and vision, and we had the luxury of time to execute it. Concept cars end up being the purest expression of the brand. (Photograph Courtesy of GM)

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Classic Car

My father collected Corvettes, and I think the ’63 split-window ’Vette is the all-time best, one of the great pinnacles of American design. I’d love to get one, but I’d want to hang it on the wall. (Photograph Courtesy of GM Corporation, c. 1978)

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Bike

I’m dedicated to my old Cannondale hardtail. I started mountain biking before suspension bikes and never ended up getting a full suspension. (Photograph courtesy of Cannondale)

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Chair

I love the Marc Newson Lockheed Lounge. It’s masculine and has a great mechanical beauty to it, which is the same reason that I like cars so much. It was a one-off and sold for a million dollars at auction, I think. (Photograph courtesy of Carin Katt/Marc Newson ltd.)

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Room

We love staying at eclectic hotels, such as San Luis Obispo’s Madonna Inn. They have themed rooms like the Caveman room, where everything is big slabs of stone, with a toilet just sitting there and a shower faucet hanging out of the wall. It’s kitschy and a lot of fun. (Photograph courtesy of Tom Meinhold/Madonna Inn)

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Household item

We have the Michael Graves ironing board from Target. I love that everything has a design standard now. There’s an expectation that it’s got to function well, but, gosh, can’t you make it look better? (Photograph courtesy of Michael Graves Design Group)

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Tool

We got baby wipes when we had kids, and they just proliferated. I started using wipes for everything — Armor All wipes for cars, glass wipes for TVs and the Mac. Then there are the household wipes, like Clorox’s. I got seduced by baby wipes and never looked back. (Photograph by Michael Pirrocco)

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Food

Food is actually not a real priority for me; I can pretty much live off of PowerBars and be happy. (Photography courtesy of PowerBar)

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Snack

I’m a huge licorice guy, and I’ve been on a quest to find the best. A buddy from Australia gave me some Kookaburra. It’s soft and has the best taste, especially if you like strawberry. (Photograph by Michael Pirrocco)

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Vacation Spot: My wife and I have tried to find the world’s most romantic place, and Italy’s Amalfi Coast rates pretty high. It’s got this aggressive topography, with vertical mountains down to the waves and these beautiful tiers of dwellings with a whole palette of color in between.

Product Placement: John Hughes’s films influenced me forever. All the personas I wanted to be — the guy who got the girl, the guy who had everything — were always in BMWs, especially the 318, like the one in Pretty in Pink. I wanted that car so bad. That’s why I aspired to a BMW — I had no choice.

Workout: My big splurge was a Precor EFX5 elliptical machine. It’s a very good low-impact system, much better than a treadmill. I get on it every other night.

Sanctuary: I’m starting to believe the only sanctuary we have left as men is the car. Which is why I really like cars with great interiors and a high level of comfort. Mine’s the Cadillac CTS-V. The car ends up being a stress reliever for me, an environ

Service: Whoever invented dry cleaning, my hat is off. I dry-clean everything, even my jeans. I find it a huge complement to the busy lifestyle. Mine has a 24-hour code so I can drop off anytime.

Road: I miss the autobahn. In Frankfurt the bankers all race to work in the morning. Everyone’s paying attention; it’s not, “I’m sipping coffee at 120 mph.” They arrive, disengage, and then have an espresso.

Jeans: Jeans are a priority. I have my G-Star or 7 for All Mankind night jeans and then Hugo Boss for work. My wife lets me know when I get too metrosexual.

Guilty Pleasure: Video games, especially driving ones like Midnight Club: L.A. No one in my family likes cars but me. So I have to be selfish about it when I play — it’s just me.

Person: I told my wife that she was my favorite thing. Then we got into a huge debate over me objectifying her. “I am not a thing!” she said. But I love her to death.

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This article originally appeared in the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.