1956's Revived Lincoln Continental Coupé

Few dispute that the 1940 Lincoln Continental is a classic automobile design.  It began as a customized 1939 Lincoln cabriolet built for Ford Motor Company President Edsel Ford.  The designer was E.T. "Bob" Gregorie, Ford's styling chief.  Favorable reaction by Edsel's friends led to it becoming a production car for 1940. In addition to cabriolets, a coupé model was added.  More information on early Lincoln Continentals can be found here.

Aside from the World War 2 U.S. car production hiatus, Lincoln Continentals were produced through the 1948 model year.  But 1949 brought totally restyled Lincolns and Edsel had died in 1943, so Ford leadership was not motivated to continue the line even though stylists had sketched some proposals based on the new Lincoln Cosmopolitan body.

Potential buyers were unhappy with the decision to drop the Continental line and hounded Ford to build new ones.  By the early 1950s the company was prosperous again and there was money available to do just that.  Edsel's youngest son, William Clay Ford, was made head of the project.  As this Wikipedia entry indicates, the new car was called Continental Mark II and was cast as a separate brand, though marketed by Lincoln.  It was conceived as a super-luxury car, priced at $10,000 -- around twice the average U.S. household income at the time.  Only a coupé was produced, though Ford had a convertible built and some coupé owners later had their cars customized as cabriolets.

So far, I haven't been able to locate suitable examples from the styling competition for the Mark II on the internet.  When I find such images, I'll post about them.  For now, I'll compare styling of the original 1940 coupé with that of the Mark II.

Gallery

The Mark II was a lot longer than the original Lincoln Continental.  The long hood proportion of the original was retained, but rear overhang was much more extensive.  The most "Continental" details carried over were the blanked over rear quarter panels of the passenger compartment and the hint of the rear-mounted spare tire.

If today's acceptance of Retro styling had been in place during the mid-1950s the Mark II might have been styled to look more like the original.  Instead, John Reinhart's winning design was a conservative take on contemporary styling practice.  Such features include: "frenched" headlights; wraparound windshield; flow-through fender line; low hood; and the long rear overhang.  Fortunately, not all trendy items were present.  Some of these were: tail fins; chromed designs on the sides; two or three tone paint jobs; and jet fighter details.

From this angle, the passenger compartments have a similar flavor, though the Mark II has a larger rear window (backlight).  Its rear wheels are exposed rather than spatted.  Signature 1940 Lincoln Continental features included the boxy trunk design and the rear-mounted spare tire in its cover.  The Mark II's trunk curves down and the separate spare tire is evoked by a shape encompassing a spare.  It's rather like trunk sheet metal was draped over an interior spare tire that was propped up at a forward-leaning angle.  In fact, the Mark II's spare tire was inside the trunk and positioned in just that manner, even having a cloth covering to hide it.  Of course, that made putting luggage and other items in the trunk more difficult due to its blockage.

The Continental Mark II was not a sales success, only around 3,000 being sold over its two years on the market.   It high price was a limiting factor.  I think its styling was another contributor.  Despite its low stature, the car was massive -- not light and sporting looking like the original was.  Moreover its styling was dull, boring.  Making it look very mid-50s with fins and multiple paints might not have worked either.  The best solution from today's perspective would have been a shorter (but not too short) car with more Retro hints.  But that might not have sold well either, given buyer expectations in those stylistically flamboyant times.

1940 Lincoln-Zephyr Redesign

Ford's V-12 luxury Lincoln sales declined during the Great Depression, as was the case for virtually all American brands.  But for luxury brands with modest sales to start with, declines often were to unprofitable numbers of cars sold.  Such was the case for Lincoln.  The final year for those big Lincolns was 1940, but the brand was saved by the 1936 launch of a medium-high range model, the Zephyr (Wikipedia entry here).

Lincoln-Zephyrs were marketed over the 1936-1940 model years.  With the demise of the large K model Lincolns, the Zephyr name was dropped and what had been the Lincoln-Zephyr was simply the Lincoln as of the 1941 model year.

The initial Zephyr design was produced 1936-1939.  For the 1940 model year a largely redesigned body was placed in production which continued through 1948 with the exception of 1943-45 when American automobile production was halted due to World War 2.

All that said, let's consider that 1940 redesign.

Gallery

This is a 1936 Lincoln-Zephyr, its first year on the market.

And here is a 1939 Lincoln-Zephyr, the final year for the original body.  The front forward of the cowling was facelifted for 1938, and the '39 model was a minor facelift of that, grille bars changing orientation and the hood prow made more prominent.  Another 1938 change from '36 was the running boards being hidden by sheet metal.

This is an illustration from an advertisement for the 1940 Zephyr.  As is usual with illustrations, proportions were distorted.  I include it because it was the only image I could locate that showed a car in a similar orientation to those in the previous images.  The 1938-vintage bodywork forward of the cowling is mostly retained.  Headlights are now the new sealed-beam variety required of all American cars.  The hood prow is straighter and more vertical than for 1939.  Aft of the cowling the body is new.  The most visible differences are the larger side windows and the now-vertical C-pillar.

Here is a 1941 Lincoln.  It's included because the image is a photograph and not an illustration.  Also, the design is almost unchanged from 1940. (1942 Lincolns got a facelift that I wrote about here.)  Changes visible here besides the ones already mentioned include a higher, reshaped fastback and the elimination of visible door hinges.  Rear fenders look like they might be unchanged from 1939, but these are tack-on items and not intrinsic to the basic body.

The 1936 body was used for four model years, a fairly long life in those days.  That factor perhaps along with the planned demise of K-series Lincolns might have led Edsel Ford to opt for a new, somewhat more substantial body.  The result was not a great success aesthetically because it gave Lincoln-Zephyr a somewhat more ponderous appearance.  Retaining the old-fashioned flat windshield feature was probably not a good decision.  The same could be said regarding the 1938-vintage front end; it is lithe, contrasting with the heaviness of the rest of the car (which the large side windows do little to help).

Early 1980s High-End Style Pilfering

Stylists steal designs and design details.  My relationship to the American auto industry was as a consultant and data supplier -- not, alas, as a stylist.  For that reason, I have no first-hand knowledge whether it's the stylists themselves who pilfer from other firms or if management directed them to make use of this or that theme or detail.  Either way, management signs off on the results, so my inclination is to place praise or blame there.

The present post deals with a minor instance of this, small details creating a theme found on upscale American cars during the early 1980s.  Those cars were models of the Cadillac Seville, the Continental and Chrysler Imperial.  Some background can be found here.  According the the first link above, the somewhat retro theme expressed by the designs did not hold up well in terms of sales.

I dealt with Seville styling in this post, so won't go into detail here.

Gallery

1980 Cadillac Seville
What concerns us is the sweep of the sharp fold at the aft end of the C-pillar.  On the Seville it continues down to the rear bumper, with the trunk lid being inset slightly, creating a distinct tacked-on collection of surface facets.

1982 Continental
There were several Continental models at this time.  The one shown here has a C-pillar trailing edge that also continues down the side of the car, but only a short way.

1982 Chrysler Imperial
The same can be said for this Imperial, though the edge continues down a bit more than half way to the bumper.  Like the Seville (but to a much lesser extent), it helps set the trunk off as a distinct element.

1983 Continental
Because it's a Continental, a false spare tire shape was placed it the rear of the trunk.  This view shows the Seville influence in the area of the C-pillar, rear window and upper part of the trunk.

1982 Chrysler Imperial - sales photo
No faux spare tire here, but the shaping of the rear has a similar feel to the Continental and Seville.

1940s Small-Backlight Convertible Tops

I've never liked the styling jargon term "backlight."  It refers to the rear window of an automobile, but taken more literally one would think of a light placed somewhere on a car's aft end.  Alas, I'll go along with the jargon, so be advised that this post deals with small rear windows (oops, backlights) found on American convertibles in the 1940s or thereabouts.

I am by no means knowledgeable regarding this detail, so what follows is speculation.

In the images below, you will notice that the convertible tops have rectangular, removable panels that house the small backlights.  Sometimes, convertibles would been driven with their tops up and the panels gone, perhaps to provide better ventilation on non-rainy days.  The reason for the small windows (and here I speculate) is that they were made of glass or a stiff piece of clear plastic for good vision to the rear.  Glass is heavy, and the canvas tops were not strong enough to support large windows.  So convertible backlights had to be small if they were glass or a heavy plasitc.  The downside to this is that small windows greatly restricted the driver's rear view.

Later convertibles tended to feature larger backlights made of thinner transparent plastics.

The following images are of cars offered for sale, usually at auctions.  Presumably, their convertible tops are of authentic design, even though they might be replacements for worn out originals.  I cannot  guarantee authenticity in all cases, however.  That said, what is striking is how similar the backlights are for so many brands over so many years.

Gallery

1940 LaSalle Series 50 Convertible - Auctions America

1940 Packard Super 8 Convertible - Barrett-Jackson

1941 Cadillac 62 Convertible - Barrett-Jackson

1948 Chrysler Town & Country - auction photo

1948 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet - Barrett-Jackson

1948 Cadillac 62 Convertible - Barrett-Jackson

1948 Packard Custom Eight Victoria Convertible - sales photo

1950 Hudson Commodore Six Convertible - Bonhams

1951 Mercury Convertible - Barrett-Jackson

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.

The Forthcoming 2017 Lincoln Continental

The 2017 Lincoln Continental was previewed at the recent (January 2016) Detroit auto show.  (Yes, I know there is a pretentious official name for that event, but I choose to ignore it.)  A history of the brand and its various generations is here.  It notes that the most recent Lincoln Continentals went out of production in 2002.

Auto industry insider and commentator Peter De Lorenzo reported on the Detroit show here, mentioning the new Continental.  De Lorenzo compares marketing strategies of Cadillac and Lincoln there and in other posts on his web site.  He points out that Cadillac's strategy has been to produce performance cars in the mold of BMW, Audi and Mercedes and naming them using short codes such as CTS, XTS and ATS.

He goes on to mention that Ford management decided to avoid the long, hard haul of creating Lincolns with a high-performance image that would eventually fill the mind-space of potential buyers.  Instead, Lincoln's strategy is to create a luxury image, where raw performance is incidental.  A key element is the revival of the Continental name.

De Lorenzo claims that Cadillac's three-letter codes are too cryptic for most potential buyers, a mimicking of German practice.  But the name Continental is meaningful to most potential buyers, and therefore is a powerful marketing tool.  I tend to agree with Peter, finding the Cadillac codes difficult to associate with the various models they are supposed to represent.  As for the Continental name, I think it will work provided the car it labels is a good one.

Let's see what Lincoln stylists have created.

Gallery

1940 Lincoln Continental
This is what the original production Lincoln Continentals looked like.  Most observers, me included, consider this a classic design.  Because of this, there was great pressure for the styling of later Continentals to continue featuring cues from the first design.

1982 Lincoln Continental Givency edition
For example, this 1982 version is a four-door sedan, not a coupe as in 1940.  But a fake rear-mounted spare tire has been added to the trunk as a reminder of the original.  Such faux-spares were used on most post-1948 designs as the means of proclaiming Continenetal-ness.

2002 Lincoln Continental
The last production Lincoln Continentals finally abandoned the false spare tire bulge, resulting in a run-of-the-mill large American luxury sedan.

2017 Lincoln Continental
Again, no trace remains of the original Lincoln Continental.  What we see here is typical of contemporary luxury sedan styling in this era of high, supposedly safety-related, hoods and wind tunnel tested body forms.

2017 Lincoln Continental
The general feeling is Bentley-like, with a slightly dropped, slightly flowing fender line.

2017 Lincoln Continental
The grille opening is also Bentley-inspired, but flatter.  The sparkly reflections on the surface remind me of the latest Mercedes-Benz theme, but whose roots go back to 1958 Buicks.

2017 Lincoln Continental
A non-Bentley feature is the crease along the upper part of the side with a chrome flash at its front.  The current fashion for extravagant side sculpting is avoided here -- probably good for a luxury car.

2017 Lincoln Continental
A better view of the rear.  De Lorenzo was not impressed, and I think Lincoln stylists could have done something more distinctive, yet tasteful.

The 2017 Lincoln Continental's styling is not especially distinctive.  But it does proclaim that the car is of the luxury or near-luxury variety, and perhaps that's what the folks at Ford intend for now.  According to one source I read, the Continental is based on the Ford Taurus platform that has been in production since 2010 -- and the Continental indeed looks like a facelifted Taurus.  Perhaps more distinctive styling will appear on future Continentals based on a forthcoming platform, the 2017 model being a placeholder for a really desirable Lincoln.

America's 1970s Opera Window Fad

I'm inclined to blame management rather than styling staff for the fad featured in this post.  That's because the feature in question was essentially a non-functional (aside from generating sales) frivolity.  It was what was called "opera windows," perhaps a reference to features of certain horse-drawn carriages.

For mid-1970s American cars, opera windows were small windows placed on C-pillars so that distinguished back-seat passengers on their way to cultural events presumably could discretely peek out at the unwashed masses along the way.  Actually, I doubt that was ever the intent; the real intent was to add a bit of retro-sophistication to certain car models.

One thing I find a little puzzling is that they appeared in classical form on 1973 Lincolns while in the same model year some General Motors cars introduced somethings fairly similar in spirit.  Those were small rear-quarter windows that could be interpreted as large opera windows.  I suspect the reason for this same-year introduction by two different firms had to do with the usual auto industry grapevine along with reports from stylists hired from competing companies.

By the late 1970s every American car maker was selling some models with some sort of opera window feature.  And opera windows rapidly disappeared on 1980s models.

Below is a gallery showing some of those opera windows.

Gallery

1973 Lincoln Continental Mk. IV - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
An early instance on Ford's luxury brand.  The small oval window can be seen on the C-pillar.

1978 Lincoln Town Car - auction photo
Five years later there is one on a Lincoln four-door sedan.  Most cars featuring opera windows or something similar were two-door models.

1974 Mercury Cougar XR-7 - sales photo
Here is a squared-off opera window.

1977 Ford Thunderbird Coupe
An unusual variation is the small window on this Thunderbird's B-pillar.

1977 Ford Granada Sports Coupe
And then there are the louvered slit windows on this small Ford.

1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
The same year as the Lincoln in the top photo General Motors placed small quarter windows on this body used by several of its brands.

1978 Buick Riviera Coupe
Five years later we find a smallish quarter window surrounded by vinyl.

1975 Chrysler Cordoba
Chrysler did the same thing for its Cordoba.

1977 Chrysler New Yorker
An interesting variation on this New Yorker.  Note the unusual shape of the roof vinyl covering and the large C-pillar zone.

1975 Dodge Charger - auction photo
This Dodge has slotted opera windows.  Stylists seemed to be working overtime to come up with distinctive variations on the concept, as these images indicate.

1977 Plymouth Gran Fury Brougham
Chrysler's entry-level brand got a scaled-down version of opera window and vinyl shape as compared to the New Yorker shown earlier.

1978 AMC Concord D/L
Even American Motors, the smallest car maker, felt the need to join the opera window rush.