Chrysler Cordoba 1975-77 Classical Details

Chrysler has a history of careening from prosperity to near-failure and back ... over and over again.  During the second half of the 1970s the corporation was in yet another downward drift, running out of money to develop new products while trying to comply with the increasing burden of government regulation of products.  Management became cautious regarding styling, in some cases marketing cars that looked quite similar to competing models.

There were a few exceptions, however.  One was the subject of this post, the Chrysler Cordoba (1975-1983), a sporty two-door model that sold well: background here.  Cordobas were given a facelift for 1978 that detracted from the initial styling theme, so I'll deal mostly with 1975-77 Corbodas here.

What interests me about 1975-77 Cordoba Styling is the inclusion of details borrowed from cars of the past.  There are three that matter.  One is the prominent rectangular grill and its integration to the hood.  This was nothing new, as Lincoln's Continental Mk. III of 1969 used Rolls-Royce as inspiration, and other makes were doing the same regarding Mercedes-Benz, as I posted here.  Another detail was small "opera windows."  The third was the arrangement of round headlights and running lights borrowed from Jaguar (see below).

What all this added up to was not "advanced" styling, but nevertheless a pleasant looking car until the facelift intervened and marred the theme.

Gallery

1975 Chrysler Cordoba

1975 Dodge Charger SE
To save its dwindling cash supply, Chrysler Corporation resorted to badge engineering on the Cordoba.  Above is the nearly-identical Dodge Charger.  The main differences are the grilles and the opera window treatment.

1961 (ca.) Jaguar Mark X
Compare this early-1960s Jaguar front end ensemble with that of the Cordoba and Charger shown above.

1976 Chrysler Cordoba - brochure spread
This shows rear-end styling.

1977 Chrysler Cordoba - front
The final front end before the facelift.

1978 Chrysler Cordoba - front
The facelifted front.  In place of the nice classical round lamps we find those ugly rectangular ones that polluted many designs during the 1970s and 80s.

Publicizing the Not-So-Successful Simca Six

The French automobile maker Simca originally was owned by Italy's Fiat and and sold what amounted to Fiat cars with Simca badges.  Eventually Simca passed to other hands, as the link mentions.  But when the Simca Six was introduced in 1947, the company was still Fiat's and the car was essentially a Fiat Topolino with an American-style grille, as this Wikipedia entry indicates.

That entry also notes that the Simca Six did not sell very well. Its styling was reasonably good given its era and the very small size of the car, so other factors likely limited its market success.

Nevertheless, Simca publicists did what they could to attract favorable notice, as the images below indicate. There was a What Were They Thinking moment regarding the final photo, however.

Gallery

Simca Sixes in a car show that seems to have been interrupted by a summer rain.

A Simca Six and pretty model posed under la Tour Eiffel.

Another Simca, another pretty model, this time in the Jardin du Carrousel.

Here is where it gets interesting.  This is the same car as in the previous photo (compare license plates) in an aristrocratic setting.  Plus the elegantly dressed model ... very nice.  But.  Look at the tire's dirty sidewall (unlike in the other photo).  Not in keeping with the image Simca was trying to project.  Maybe there was a final retouched publicity version of this photo.  If so, I haven't come across it.

Ford's Controversial, Good-Selling Pinto

Ford Motor Company introduced its first American-designed four cylinder compact car in the fall of 1970.  It was called the Pinto and was sold over the 1971-1980 model years, total production exceeding three million units.  A link containing useful detail regarding the Pinto is here

Initial Pintos were two-door sedans.  Hatchback (three-door) and station wagon models were added later.  For the 1979 model year Pintos received a facelift.

As best I recall, the only Pintos I ever drove were station wagons equipped with automatic transmissions.  The German-based motors didn't have enough power to cope with that transmission, so performance was sluggish (a problem shared by many other four-cylinder cars during the 1970s and 80s).

Pinto styling was professionally pleasant.  A more detailed evaluation of 1971 Pinto styling follows:

Gallery

Pintos had a rear-wheel-drive layout, but the amount of front overhang seems more consistent with front-wheel-drive cars.  I would prefer a slightly longer wheelbase and larger wheels, but it seems Ford engineers had other ideas or priorities to deal with.  The large windows give the Pinto a light, airy look when viewed from this angle.  The fold along the middle of the side helps unify the design.  It and the fading crease lower down help to further lighten the appearance.

The thick C-pillar and fastback make the rear seem heavier -- in contrast to the frontal view.  The trapezoidal shape of the panel housing the tail lights echoes the treatment of the headlight housing area up front.

Side view in which the artist reduced the height of the car.

A nice publicity photo taken from a higher-than-normal point of view.  This shows the simple grille design, part of the clean, uncluttered look of the Pinto.  But the styling has enough curves, creases, angles and other details that the overall composition is interesting to look at.  No wonder the car sold well despite some serious engineering flaws.

American Motors' French-Based Eagle Premier

The car itself was normal, but the organizational circumstances surrounding it were not.  It's the Eagle Premier (model years 1988-1992) developed by American Motors using technology from its part-owner Renault.  But around the time it was introduced, American Motors was acquired by Chrysler, which was mostly seeking American Motors' Jeep line.  Eagle Premiers were marketed by Chrysler for several years, some as Dodges, but the car was unsuccessful in terms of sales.

That and more is dealt with in this Wikipedia entry that mentions the styling was by Giugiaro.

Eagle Premier styling is not distinctive, being one of many clean, "three box" efforts by the Italian master in the 1970s and 80s that look pretty much the same at first glance.  Perhaps the main difference from other ItalDesign creations was that it was larger due to its being for the American market.

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Renault 21

Renault 25
These Renaults furnished mechanical and other parts for the Eagle, but not complete bodies.

1989 Eagle Premier
A brochure spread when it was a Chrysler product.

1989 Eagle Premier
A glimpse of the rear styling.

1990 Dodge Monaco
The Eagle Premier in Dodge clothing; note the badge-engineered grille.  "Monaco" was a model name long-used by Dodge and probably slapped on the car to legitimize it as a Dodge.

Austin-Healey's Original Sprite

Here in the States we called it the Bug-Eye, and over in England the label was Frog-Eye.  It could have been a thin line between affection or derision, and I came down on the derision side in those days.  The car in question is the original Austin-Healey Sprite (produced 1958-1961), intended as an entry-level sports car.  Wikipedia's take on its development is here.

When I was a young man I really, really wanted to buy a new sports car.  But being in the army and, later, graduate school, my income made that a marginal proposition.  As a grad student with teaching assistant and summer research pay, I could (barely) afford a later version of the Sprite.  I rejected getting one because I thought it was too small from a safety standpoint, not to mention its limited capacity for carrying things such as suitcases or even groceries.

As for the first-generation Sprites, the bug-eye feature was an additional turn-off.  They made the car look cheap.

From various sources including the above link, it was originally intended that the Sprite's headlights would be hidden when not in use.  They would pivot upwards when turned on in the manner of cars such as the Porsche 914.  However, this feature was rejected for reasons of cost.  Another solution would have been to place headlights on the front fenders, and this was done on the second-series Sprites.

In summary, the Sprite was designed under extreme cost restrictions, its shape greatly influenced by engineering and production considerations.  The Wikipedia names two designers who had to work under these circumstances, so it seems that the Sprite was not a total product of engineers.

Like a number of cars considered odd in their day, surviving Sprites have affectionate owners and fan clubs.

Gallery

A British advertising card showing key aspects of the design.

Seems to be more than one boatload worth of Sprites here.  Why weren't they in dealers' hands?

Publicity photo taken in England, but the car has left-hand drive.

Three views of a 1958 Sprite for a Barrett-Jackson auction.

Rolling Analogy: 1973-77 Oldsmobile Cutlass

This post deals with the Oldsmobile Cutlass, model years 1973-77, a subset of Cutlasses sold over model years 1969-1999.  The Wikipedia entry on the Cutlass line for 1973-77 is here.

An interesting styling detail for that Cutlass vintage was side sculpting that clearly seems to have been inspired by the shape of the blade of a cutlass sword.  Actually, I don't know for certain if this was a conscious borrowing, so informed readers are invited to set the record straight in Comments.

Evidence follows:

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Cutlass sword, late 17th century English - image via Wikimedia

1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Colonnade Coupe
Compare the blade shown in the upper photo to the sheet metal sculpting aft of the front wheel opening.  The raised area (relative to the side curve seen at the center-rear of the door) has a horizontal fold that roughly corresponds to the blade's dull edge.  And the curved lower folds aft of the front wheel and forward of the rear wheel are quite similar in character to the cutting edge of the blade near its tip.

1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Colonnade Coupe
General view of an Olds Cutlass.

1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Colonnade Sedan
The same sculpting was on sedans as well as coupes.

Separated Twins: 1938 Graham and 1938 Douglas B-18A Bomber

Yes, one of these "twins" isn't actually an automobile.  It's a U.S. Army Air Corps bomber built in the late 1930s.  They served in World War 2 mostly in an anti-submarine role due to being obsolete for other combat roles. Some background is here.

The B-18 was designed shortly after the Douglas DC-2 airliner, but had little in common other than wing structure and tail elements of the DC-3.  First-series B-18s featured a rounded nose, but the B-18As had the nose redesigned in a manner resembling the "Shark-Nose" 1938 Graham automobile.  B-18As reached production in April 1938, though design was probably essentially completed in 1937.

The Graham (company history here.) was styled by Amos Northup but, due to his accidental death, some details were designed by other hands.  The concept of the hood-grille ensemble was Northup's, however, and this work was probably done in 1936.

So even though the two designs were revealed late 1937 or early 1938, there is no reason to believe that one inspired the other.  What we have here is a curious design coincidence.

1938 Graham - Shannons Auction photo

Douglas B-18A Bolo