Angled Four-Eyed American Cars

Quad headlights, despite whatever technological improvements they embodied, had a negative impact on automobile aesthetics -- something I've always believed.  The reason is that the front of a car is its face.  Insects and a few other creatures excepted, we expect to see only two eyes, not one or four or more.  Four eyes or headlights seems unnatural.

Quads began appearing on some 1957 model U.S. cars and were common by the following model year.

A reader reminded me in an email that some quad headlights were arranged in a slanted manner rather than being placed vertically or side-by-side, and thought that might be a good subject for a blog post.  He was right, and this is that post.

Gallery

1958 Chevrolet Corvette
I think the quad-headlight facelift of 1957 Corvettes was a design-destroying event.  The side-by-side positioning seen here is the most common quad arrangement.

1956 Lincoln - Mecum Auctions photo
Let's now follow Lincoln headlights for model years 1956-1960.  The 1956 Lincoln in the above photo has conventional headlights.

1957 Lincoln
Lincolns were given a major -- unsuccessful -- facelift for 1957.  Quad headlights were introduced, and stylists gave them a stacked arrangement.

1958 Lincoln - Auctions America photo
1958 saw a complete redesign for Lincoln that resulted in a huge, unitary body.  Stylists apparently decided that side-by-side and stacked quad headlights were not very creative solutions to the four-headlight problem.  Their solution was to place them at an angle with the uppermost lights closest to the body's edge.

1959 Lincoln - Mecum Auctions photo
The 1959 facelift retained the angled arrangement, but include the headlights in the grille ensemble.

1960 Lincoln - Barrett-Jackson photo
1960 was the last year for this Lincoln body and the front end was lightly facelifted.  Redesigned 1961 Lincolns got side-by-side headlights.

1959 Buick - auction photo
Buick used slanted headlights only on its 1959 line.  This design is busy, but more successful than the others shown here thanks to the chromed strip along the front of the hood that continues along the sides of the car.

1961 Chrysler Newport - Barrett-Jackson photo
Chrysler went to angled headlight for 1961 and 1962.  Unlike the 1959 Buick, this design is uncluttered.  But the slanted lights created some unfortunate fussiness in the form of the oddly-shaped parking lights.

1961 DeSoto - RM Auctions photo
1961 was the last model year for DeSotos, and few were built.  The bumper, headlight positioning and parking lights are the same as that for the Chrysler in the previous photo.  The overall front ensemble is an ugly mess largely due to the odd upper grille element.  What a sad way for a fine brand to die.

1962 Chrysler Newport - sales photo
The main front-end change from 1961 is the grille detailing, though the headlight assemblies have darker background panels.  A more important change is the elimination of tail fins.

1962 Dodge Polara - Barrett-Jackson photo
Dodge stylists got "creative" with angled headlights for the 1962 Polara model, pulling an Old Switcheroo by having the highest headlights inbound and the lower ones at body's edge.

1963 Dodge Polara - Auctions America photo
The following year Polaras went to the conventional angle arrangement.

Thus more or less ended the American romance for slanted quad headlights.

Tacking on Tail Fins

Single fins of the vertical stabilizer kind found on aircraft occasionally were found on low-production, aerodynamically-styled cars during the 1920s and 30s.  But tail fins mounted on rear fenders of cars can, for practical purposes, be treated as something initiated in Detroit styling studios after World War 2, though the style also was adopted by several non-American brands in the late-1950s and early 60s.

For the most part such tail fins were decorative, having little or no value regarding improving directional stability at high speeds.  I recall an article in a contemporary car magazine stating that fin's shapes could easily be modified from one model year to the next as an inexpensive way to freshen a car's design.

Small tail fins appeared on 1948 Cadillacs and occasionally later as modest little humps on cars such as 1953-54 Pontiacs and Dodges.

Fins became a major styling fad when the sensational (at the time) 1957 Chrysler Corporation line appeared.  Fins for these cars were part of the original design, but 1956 Chrysler products featured fins tacked onto 1955-vintage bodies in an attempt to allow the car-buying public to become familiar with the concept.  During the rest of the 1950s some automobile makers included fins on new designs.  Others did what Chrysler did for 1956, adding tail fins to existing designs.

The present post deals with the "tacked-on" variety on American brands of that era.

Gallery

1956 Chrysler Corporation's Transition Fins

1956 Chrysler New Yorker - Barrett-Jackson auction photo

1956 DeSoto - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
Chrysler and DeSoto had a nice fender line for 1955, kicking up behind the door as seen here, but then running slightly down from horizontal towards the rear.  The 1956 fins destroyed the original design theme, so I never liked them even though my father owned a '56 DeSoto.

1956 Dodge - brochure page

1956 Plymouth Belvedere 2-door sedan - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
Dodge and Plymouth bodies were different from those of the senior Chrysler Corporation lines, so we find a different fin treatment.  This one works better because the basic fender lines are not altered.  At the same time, the fins are clearly fin-like in the context of a jet fighter or a Gold Cup racing hydroplane.  Nevertheless, they detract from the 1955 styling themes for these brands.

Competing Brand's Fins on Older Bodies

1957 Ford Thunderbird
Thunderbird was introduced for the 1955 model year with a design that included details found on regular '55 Fords.  One was the treatment of the tail light ensemble that gave T-Birds a slightly pinched look at the rear.  Ford sedans were redesigned for 1957, but Thunderbird had to carry its '55 vintage design until 1958.  One gift from large Fords to T-Birds was the canted tail fin shown here.  This is one instance where an imposed tail fin actually improved matters, adding interest to the rear and achieving better balance for the car's side appearance.

1957 Lincoln
I consider the 1957 facelift for Lincoln one of the worst, most character-destroying of its day.  (Though 1958 Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs managed to top Lincoln on that score.)  The fin shown here is an overly-large, characterless blade that doesn't integrate with the rest of the body.  A more modest, more vertical fin would have worked better but still would have degraded a nice design.

1956 Lincoln
I include this photo of a 1956 Lincoln to illustrate the damage done by those fines.  These Lincolns were large cars, but the '56 design was graceful.

1957 Hudson Hornet Hollywood
The final Hudson.  Whatever virtues its 1952-vintage Nash body design had are thoroughly corrupted  through ad-hoc ornamentation at this point, so the silly little tacked-on fins almost get lost in the confusion.

1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk - Mecum auction photo
The basic body is that of the classic Raymond Loewy 1953 Studebaker Starliner, but it got modified repeatedly after 1954.  It's interesting that the Golden Hawk got fins the same year Chrysler began that fad.  Moreover, they look better despite the intrusive two-tome paint scheme.

1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk
Still tack-on in the sense that the fins were not part of the original design, the '57 Hawk's fins are nicely integrated, as compared to most other examples shown here.

1958 Studebaker Commander
On the other hand, the fins added to Studebaker sedans are awkward, misshapen objects.

1958 Packard sedan - auction photo
Sadly, by 1958 Packards had been reduced to using Studebaker bodies such as the one in the previous image.  The fins shown here are fussy, two-tiered affairs that unbalance the basic design.

1958 Rambler - brochure page
Rambler's new fins are modest, horizontal affairs.  They aren't attractive, but the Rambler body introduced for 1956 was ill-proportioned and unattractive to begin with.

"Eyeless" 1942 DeSoto

Model year 1942 saw every American car brand except Willys getting a facelift that included, at a minimum, a changed grille.

The '42 facelift that always interested me the most was that of DeSoto, Chrysler Corporation's middle-upper price range offering (the sequence was Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler). This was almost entirely due to its hidden headlights feature.

Automobiles are perceived to have faces, the headlights serving as eyes.  DeSotos, therefore, had a curious, eyeless look because their headlights were hidden behind sliding doors when they were not turned on.  Cord 810 and 812 models from 1936-37 also had hidden headlights, but these pivoted open when switched on.  Door-based hidden headlights were planned for 1949 Lincolns, but instead they were left sunken and doorless.  Starting around the mid-1960s, several American makes began hiding headlights, a fad that lingered here and there for decades.

Although 1942 DeSoto grilles were bold and had plenty of chrome plating, the overall appearance was attractive for the era.

Gallery

1941 DeSoto advertisement
An illustration, not a photo to set the stage.  For 1941, DeSoto switched to a vertical-bars grille theme that continued with variations through the 1955 model year.  1942 DeSotos had the same body as the '41s, the major difference being the frontal ensemble.

1942 DeSoto ad card
The tiny image at the lower right offers a fairly realistic version of the car.  I'm assuming the intent of the highly distorted main image was to stress the new design of DeSoto's front end and, in passing, make the car and its setting desirably futuristic.  Other DeSoto advertising material for 1942 featured equally distorted depictions.

Wartime ad featuring a 1942 DeSoto - Howard Scott, illustrator
A more realistic view of the DeSoto's front end.

1942 DeSoto 4-door sedan

1942 DeSoto coupe

1942 DeSoto convertible
Contemporary photos of '42 DeSotos.  Unfortunately, like circa 1942-1956 Studebaker sales images, they show the cars from about the same point of view.

1946 DeSoto 4-door sedan
The women in the car look like pasted-on images and airbrushing is also in evidence.  That's how American car advertising and promotion often worked in those days.  Otherwise, this offers a good view of the post - World War 2 DeSoto facelift.  Besides the return to exposed headlights, front fenders are extended over the front doors, and the grille has been widened.

DeSoto's Miller Racer-Inspired Grilles

Until about 1931, American cars faced the world with flat-faced, vertical radiator/grilles.  The Cord L29, introduced in the summer of 1929, featured a V'd grille.  By 1931, a few other brands including Chrysler and Reo did the same.  Flat fronts were largely abandoned for the 1932 model year.

Most brands opted for V'd grilles, some shallow, others bolder.  Some such grilles remained vertical and others began to lean backwards.

One marque didn't take that route.  Chrysler's DeSoto featured curved grilles clearly inspired by some of  Harry Miller's famous racing cars.

Gallery

1925 Miller Junior 8 Special
I took this photo in 2012 at the LeMay automobile museum in Tacoma.  It features the distinctive Miller radiator/grille, the theme that apparently inspired DeSoto stylists.

1932 DeSoto
The photo presumably appeared in a DeSoto advertisement.  It clearly shows the similarity to Miller grilles -- closely spaced horizontal bars combined with three vertical bars.

1932 DeSoto
Another view of DeSoto's front.

1933 DeSoto
Windshields were tilted slightly backwards on 1932 DeSotos, and for 1933 the grilles did the same.  I suppose this was in response to the growing trend to aerodynamic-inspired style.  The following model year DeSoto went whole-hog aerodynamic, the entire line having Airflow bodies.

1933 DeSoto
Another view of the 1933 DeSoto, this taken in Nice, France.

For some reason, I've never liked those DeSoto curved grilles.  A possible reason is that since nearly all other 1932-33 American cars had grilles ranging from V'd to flat, angular appearance was the norm, so DeSoto's grille seemed strange by comparison.  But a more likely reason has to do with the fact that DeSoto bodies, while new for 1932, largely carried over the boxy, angular style of the 1920s to which was added the soft, rounded grille.  The grille also pushed farther forward than most V'd grilles and looked heavy thanks to its curved surface.

In sum, it unbalanced the overall design, making for a slightly nose-heavy look.

Were 1939 Chryslers, DeSotos and Dodges Totally Restyled?

I don't have a definite answer to the question posed in this post's title.  That would have to come from Chrysler archives, an automobile restoration expert or perhaps a knowledgeable member of a club devoted to one of the Chrysler Corporation brands active in the 1930s.

My strong suspicion, however, is that the answer is "no," even though various publications in my automobile library state otherwise.

Let's begin with the setting.  Chrysler Corporation's 1938 brands (Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler, in ascending price order) shared a typically rounded, heavy-looking basic body whose style was in line with cars from General Motors and other firms.  However, cars such as the Lincoln Zephyr and Cadillac Sixty Special along with the usual Detroit scuttlebutt must have made it clear to Chrysler management that competitors would be offering sleeker designs for the 1939 model year.

Chrysler did plan a total redesign of its line for 1940, but it probably became obvious that its 1939 line had to be freshened to remain competitive until the 1940 cars appeared.  So 1939 Chryslers, DeSotos and Dodges were given a truly major facelift, a facelift with plenty of new sheet metal and reworked tops that gave the appearance of a complete redesign.  Plymouths were given a less-comprehensive, but still extensive, facelift.

I'll use Plymouth to begin making my case.

The profile view of a 1938 Plymouth at the lower-right corner of this ad serves as our reference.   Items to note are the hood cut-line, the shapes of the doors and their hinging.  The area in the vicinity of the hood cut and the front door's forward cut is especially important because, beneath the sheet metal lies the cowling and firewall, usually cited as the most expensive and change-resistant parts of non-unitary car bodies.

This is an image of a 1939 Plymouth captured from a 1939 European film by imcdb.org.  The body aft of the hood is essentially the same as for 1938 Plymouths.

The image in this 1939 Plymouth ad is an illustration, but serves our needs.  Almost all the front of the car has been facelifted, largely eliminating the bulbous look of the 1938s.  Another facelift feature is the replacement of the flat windshield by a V'd, two-piece windshield, something that required some adjustments to metal stampings for the roof.  Note that the cutline at the rear of the hood is unchanged.  This strongly suggests that the firewall - cowling structure is that from 1938.

More baseline photos.  The upper one is a sales photo side view of a 1938 Dodge, the lower is of a 1938 DeSoto.  These brands along with Chrysler got the extreme facelift.

Compare this 1939 DeSoto with the 1938 model in the previous image.  Like 1939 Plymouths, the front ends and windshields are new. Also changed are the rear of the car along with the upper part of the rear doors and associated windows.  Due to this, the door hinge on the C-pillar was lowered, but the other rear door hinge remains as before.  The lower forward door hinge is as it was, but the upper hinge has been made internal.  The hood cutline seems to have been changed slightly towards the bottom to accommodate the reshaped front fenders.

Two more examples of 1939 Chrysler Corporation cars.  As noted in the image, the first is a Dodge.  The lower photo is of a Chrysler Royal.  Again, pay attention to the hinges and cut-lines.

One thing that puzzles me is why the Plymouth wasn't facelifted as completely as its senior brothers; after all, Plymouth production amounted to more than 40 percent of the Corporation's total, which would have helped amortize the tooling expenses for the other brands.  Perhaps it had to do with Ford's late-1930s practice of having its less-expensive range featuring style characteristics of the previous year's top line.  That is, maybe Chrysler was simply following a fad.  Or perhaps, because of that fad, they thought they could save tooling expenses on Plymouth and get away with it in the marketplace.