Tracta: Obscure, but Noteworthy

At the end of the 1920s, most cars tended to be tall.  In part this was because they had high clearance necessary for negotiating unimproved country roads that often consisted of paths worn down by tires separated by a higher, grassy center strip.  Main bodies were tall because drivers and passengers normally expected to be seated chair-high, wearing hats.  Another reason for tall cars was the driveshaft running below the passenger compartment between the front-mounted motor and the rear axle and differential.

Front-wheel-drive eliminated the driveshaft.  With that factor removed, height could be reduced a little.  But what if a car didn't have to be able to drive on unimproved roads?  By the late 20s in much of America and western Europe, most roads between towns (if not between villages) were graded and paved in some manner.  So clearance could be reduced for luxury or semi-luxury cars that were unlikely to ever be driven on poor roads.  And perhaps seat height and overhead space for hats might be shortened a bit too.

The result was a number of low-slung, sporty cars appearing around 1930, none of which was very successful in the Great Depression market.  Sales success came later via the traction-avant Citroën.

An early front-wheel-drive car from France was the Tracta (1926-1934), few of which were built.  Tractas are perhaps best-known today (and the brand remains obscure) because the company was led by Jean-Albert Grégoire (1899-1992), legendary engineer of innovative automobiles.

Tracta in some respects was a racing car company that also built some passenger cars.  Those passenger cars were low and sporty, though their styling was in the same vein as some contemporary American front-wheel-drive brands.

Gallery

Two photos of a 1930 Tracta Type E that I took a few years ago at the fascinating Tampa Bay Automobile Museum which also has a 1929 Tracta Type A in its collection.
The following two images show contemporary American front-wheel-drive sedans.

In the foreground is a low-height, running board - free 1929 Ruxton.  This photo offers a comparison to a standard American sedan, likely a 1928 Cadillac.

A 1929 Cord L29.  Also low to the ground, but it retains running boards that were standard practice in those days.

This image was taken from the publication Touts les voitures françaises 1982 that contains a section dealing with 1932 French cars.  These sporty Tractas are low, but include running boards.  Click to enlarge.

Volvo's Ford-Like PV 444

It's no secret among the styling cognoscenti and, for that matter, people who were new or used car shopping 55 or so years ago, that Volvos looked a lot like 1940s Fords.  Since many readers of this blog are under age 60, I might as well mention that fact yet again.

The Volvos I'm thinking of are the PV444 and 544 series, and I'll focus on the PV444s here.  Some were built 1944-1946, but mass production took place 1947-1958.  That's according to this Wikipedia entry.

So if prototypes first saw the light of day around late 1943 and early 1944 (before being formally announced late summer '44), this implies that styling was done during the early 1940s.  Surely Volvo staff dealing with body design were aware of the restyled 1941 Ford line and must have been influenced by it.  Below I compare PV444s with 1942 Fords, the last model year before World War 2 halted production.

Gallery

Examples of PV444s.  The first image might be of a prototype or early production car, the lower photo seems to have been taken about 1948.

A 1942 Ford Tudor Sedan for comparison.  The Volvo's fender/front/grille ensemble sits slightly forward of the front of the hood, a styling touch that usually interests me for some reason.  Ford front end styling is more conventional for its time.  The fender shapes are very similar, as are the profiles of the side windows.  The Volvo's fastback curve is a little more gentle than the Ford's, but the price paid is less headroom for back seat passengers.  Both cars feature divided, flat-glass windshields, though the Volvo's is raked back a bit more than the Ford's.

A publicity photo taken around 1955 (judging by the California license plate).  By this time, the PV444 was about to be introduced to the American market.  Note the revised grille.

1942 Ford Tudor seen from towards the rear (Auctions America photo).

Volvo PV444 photo found on the Internet showing rear styling.  Ford had more advanced glass shaping technology that was available to Volvo, hence the divided backlight seen here.  Aside from that and the shape of the top's curve, the cars are very similar.

Pontiac Fiero: A Sports Car That Wasn't

At the time this post was drafted, this Wikipedia entry went into a good deal of detail regarding the birth of the Pontiac Fiero, a small, two-passenger, mid-engine sporty car marketed model years 1984-1988.  If my memory and the entry got it right, key Pontiac management players wanted to produce a sports car, but this was impeded by others in the General Motors hierarchy.  Having it reach production at a reasonable development cost meant performance compromises related to use of some parts from existing models.  At any rate, when introduced, it wasn't marketed as a sports car, though better-performing versions appeared later.  Fieros sold fairly well despite bad publicity related to engine fires.

Regular readers know that I am not a fan of rear-mounted motors or of so-called mid-engine placement.  This is despite the fact that my father owned a Porsche 912 and then a 911, and that I owned a mid-engine Porsche 914.  Mid-mounted motors seem fine for racing cars, but are not very compatible with good use of non-engine space.  Their weight distribution tends to be rear-biased, and this can create control problems such as I once experienced on a snowy road in upstate New York.  Finally, and most important when it comes to the focus of this blog, it is difficult to style a car whose motor sits over, or slightly forward of, the rear axle line.

Regarding that last point, I think Pontiac stylists did a pretty good job.  The Fiero was designed a few years before aerodynamic efficiency became a key determinant of a vehicle's general shape. At that time, the fashion was for a crisp, taut appearance based on simple, slightly curved surfaces joined in beveled-like fashion.  So far as mid-engine cars are concerned, Giugiaro's 1970 Porsche 914/916-based Tapiro concept car that I discussed here might have inspired some of the stylists on the project.

Gallery

Mecum auction photo front 3/4 view of a 1984 Pontiac Fiero.  Headlights are in flip-up panels just aft of the bumper zone.  When raised, they reduce whatever aerodynamic efficiency the Fiero design possesses.  The rub-rail that extends around the car helps tie the design elements together.

A brochure spread showing internal features of the 1984 Pontiac Fiero (click to enlarge).  The engine placement, besides reducing potential luggage storage space, makes it very difficult to include a large, curved backlight window.  This is due to the need to have access to the motor.

This 1984 Fiero 500 has a slightly different nose than regular Fieros, as can be seen in this Mecum auction photo (the rub rail on the side does not continue around the front end).

Rear 3/4 view Mecum auction photo of a '54 Fiero.

Styling Transition: Amos Northup's 1931 REO Line

Aside from General Motors' styling boss Harley Earl, not many automobile stylists of the 1930s were known very far outside their field.  One of those was Amos Northup (1889-1937) who was responsible for REO's 1931 line.

1931 REOs were the first American automobiles to incorporate a set of styling features that had been previewed here and there and which became virtually standard by the following model year or two.

In the image gallery below, 1930 REOs are  shown first to set the stage for Northup's 1931 restyling.

Gallery

This advertisement portrays the 1930 line.  Click on the image to enlarge.

Details from 1930 advertising.  REO styling was typical of the time.  Lights, fenders, spare tires and such were distinct elements in those days.  Here the hood is almost, but not quite integrated with the rest of the body.  A moulding along the break in the hood surfaces continues around the car, but this is counteracted by a shiny metal strip along the cut line at the rear of the hood.  The windshield is vertical and surrounded by a lip that, along the top, is the vestige of a sun shield.  The radiator either lacks a grille or else has a flat, clip-on grille immediately in front of it.

1931 REOs: click to enlarge.  The Flying Cloud and the new Royale line shared Northup's styling features.  Windshields slope slightly to the rear while the transition to the roof is rounded.  Perhaps this was considered justification for the word "Aerodynamic" in the headline.  The hood is integrated with the rest of the body with no change in profile or cut-line accent as seen for 1930.  A grille blended into the hood sits well in front of the radiator.

Advertisement showing Royales front and rear with their cleaned-up (compared to 1930) styling.  The next step Northup took was adding skirts to the sides of the fenders, but he did that on 1932 Grahams.

Photo of a 1931 REO Royale Victoria Custom Convertible.

Chrysler's Intriguing 1939 Front End Styling

A clever art director might have had a hand in that Chrysler advertisement shown above.  Note that the illustration shows a woman wearing the same hat as on the model in the photo.  I am not interested in the hat, however.  My concern for this post is the front-end ensemble on 1939 Chryslers.

Context is provided below, but you might also wish to refer to this brief history-plus-photos originally prepared by Chrysler Corporation in 1966.

What interests me regarding 1939 Chrysler front ends is that the hood is set back a short distance from the very front of the car.  Far enough aft so that the hood and remainder of the car becomes one element and the front fenders and a connecting surface containing the main grille opening comprise a separate element.

Until the 1934 advent of Chrysler's Airflow which pushed the motor more towards the front axle line and the rear passenger seat ahead of, rather than above, the rear axle line, the radiator/grille usually sat on the front axle line or a very short distance fore or aft of it.  The area between the radiator/grille and the bumper was a kind of dead-zone where some sheet metal was added as an apron covering the gap and perhaps also draping over the front leaf springs and other mechanical bits.

During the second half of the 1930s engines and radiators were moved forward and grilles became increasingly separated from radiators.  By around 1940 American cars featured front-end styling where the front of the hood, the grille and the fenders were merging into a unified massing.

But not 1939 Chryslers.

Gallery

Here is a 1938 Chrysler C-19 New York Special that arrived at the end of the mid-late 1930s bulbous look that stemmed from the introduction of all-steel bodies and limitations of metal stamping technology.  Headlamps are separate elements.  The hood-grille unit thrusts almost to the very front of the car.

For 1940, Chrysler front end elements are blended, and the grille and leading edge of the hood are now forward of the fenders with their integral headlights.

Here is a 1939 Chrysler Royal where the radiator is fairly close to the front axle line.  The front overhang seems slightly greater than on the 1940 model which allowed Chrysler stylists to achieve the two-element front design mentioned above.

Mecum Auction photo of a 1939 Chrysler Royal.

Sales photo of a 1939 Chrysler Imperial.  Imperials were powered by inline eight cylinder engines, so long hoods were needed to accommodate them.  This reveals the marketing-related flaw in Chrysler's 1939 design.  Long hoods and straight-8 and V-16 motors that required them connoted power and prestige to 1930s car shoppers.  But 1939 Chrysler hoods were slightly stubbier than they needed to be, this working against buyer expectations.  Which might be one reason 1940 Chryslers reverted to hoods that were as long as possible.

Hood length and marketing considerations aside, I have to say that I've always liked 1939 Chrysler front end styling.  The various hood details are not well integrated, but the thrust imparted by the lower fender-grille-bridge ensemble echoes in a diminished way the emotion 1936-37 Cords have always evoked.

1954 Ford FX-Atmos Concept

The cars shown on the July 1954 Motor Trend cover, above, are: top, the 1954 Dodge Firearrow IV; lower right, a pre-production 1955 Packard; left, the 1954 Ford FX-Atmos concept car that is the subject of this post.

I couldn't find a really good web reference dealing with the Atmos, so what follows are my memories and opinions regarding it.

When I first saw pictures of it, I thought the Atmos was sensational.  This was during the time that American "dream cars" and even production models had details and even larger elements inspired by jet fighter planes.

Recall my contention that the evolution of automobile design had reached something close to an end-point in the late 1940s.  Designs as collections of discrete elements (headlights, fenders, spare tires, etc.) were replaced by designs featuring the "envelope" body concept where those previously discrete details became incorporated into what was largely a simple mass.  I normally cite the 1949 Ford as the archetype for this evolutionary endpoint.

So it was that stylists groped for new themes, and jet fighters, science-fiction space ships and perhaps some other exciting, technically glamorous sources of inspiration became styling themes.  To my mind, aside from General Motors' gas turbine powered Firebird series, the Atmos was the blue-sky dream car that came closest to the jet fighter ideal.

Unlike the Firebirds, the Atmos had no engine; it was what some folks deride as a "pushmobile," though Ford's public relations people suggested that a future, operational, Atmos might be powered by a small nuclear reactor.  Ah, those were the days when imaginations were allowed to run free.

Here are some images of the Atmos found here and there on the internet.

Gallery

These two photos give you a pretty good idea of what the Atmos was like.  The driver sat in the middle, apparently slightly forward of passengers on either side.  The fenderline is largely higher than the rest of the body.  The passenger area and the zone trailing behind it, where that nuclear engine would be, are nested between the fenders with catwalks as transition.  The cabin is essentially completely transparent in the mode of jet fighter canopies.  No headlights are apparent (perhaps that frontal bar that looks like a grille is actually a light fixture).  The front edges of the fenders mimic jet air intakes with centerbodies.  At the center of the rear are what appear to be jet or (if there was atomic power) heat exhaust pipes.  Atop the rear part of the fenders are tail fins resembling that of the F-86 fighter plane.

The Atmos at the Chicago auto show being admired by what I assume are Ford executives.  If the image was larger I might be able to guess who one or two of them might be.  Here they provide scale to the car.

Profile view with a model at the controls (hand grips, no steering wheel) and more executives.  Note that there is almost no room for vertical wheel movement and that the front wheels have little freedom to steer.  If you look closely, you can spy the door cut lines.

A 1955 photo of the Atmos on display in the Ford Rotunda.
Despite that fact that the Atmos was utterly impractical, I think it succeeds as a dream car.  By that, I mean it creates a "Wow!!" reaction setting the imaginations of viewers on fire.  Moreover, even though it's outrageous, the design is actually clean, graceful and conceptually coherent.

1937-1940 Adler Typ 10 2.5 Litre Streamlined Sedan

Not a perfect design, but one that I find likable for a 1930s Art Deco kind of streamlining, is the Adler 2.5 Litre, also known as the Typ 10.  Its Wikipedia entry is here, mentioning that the car's drag coefficient was a very respectable 0.36.

Some 21,249 units were built 1937-1940 in three types: a four-door sedan, a coupe and a cabriolet.  The sedan is dealt with here.

Gallery

A movie garage scene showing an Adler 2.5, image via imcdb.org.

Adler advertisement with artwork by the great Berndt Reuters.  Its streamlining (Stromform) is stressed.  The copy claims passenger capacity as 5-6, but given its 2,800 mm (110.2 in) wheelbase and 1,740 mm (68.5 in) width, I'd say that realistically it could hold four people in reasonable comfort.

Front view on a brick test track.  The grille bars translate into grooved hood decoration.  In the American context, this is sort of a combination of the 1934 Chrysler Airflow and a 1936 Pontiac.  It works well.  Notice the large Adler eagle symbol at the transition point.  The German word for eagle is adler.

Adler 2.5 body with doors and interior fixtures removed.

The 2.5 has a long hood to accommodate its in-line six cylinder motor.  The windshield's slope is extreme for its time, and contributed to its low drag coefficient.  The teardrop curve of the roofline is strong and echoed by the drop-off of the side window profile.  There is a character line from the front of the car, along the edge of the hood and just below the windows, trailing off towards the rear of the car.  The high point of its arc is located approximately at the A-pillar.  Interestingly for a streamlined car, the fenders are distinct shapes, the rear one lacking wheel spats (covers).  A curious detail is the slightly bug-eyed headlight fixtures located Airflow-fashion on the car body and not the fenders.  Not attractive: the ideal (and perhaps too costly) alternative would have been to recess the headlights into the curved front panels.  The low running or fog lights on the front fenders are also awkward details.

This shows the rear.  Nice and clean.  I'm guessing that the backlight windows are placed too low for adequate viewing to the rear.  The reason for this placement seems to be the sliding sun-roof; note the tracks extending down beyond the upper edges of the backlights.

Just because... another Berndt Reuters illustration of an Adler 2.5 sedan.