Impressive 1939 Packard Super 8 Convertible Coupe

I live next to an arty town located around 60 miles (100 km) north of Seattle.  It attracts many visitors, some arriving in interesting automobiles.  Recently, while on my morning walk, a 1930s convertible passed us, but all I glimpsed was its rear end.  Fortunately, it pulled into a parking lot a few blocks ahead, and I was able to photograph it using my trusty iPhone.

A bit of research revealed that it was a Packard Super Eight convertible coupe from 1937.   In those days,  Super Eights had inline eight cylinder motors, and ranked right below V-12s in the Packard model hierarchy.  Its model designation was 1018, wheelbase 134 inches (3404 mm), and list price $2680.

The price was about four times as much as that of a '37 Ford DeLuxe convertible coupe.  Moreover, there was no 1937 convertible coupe with a comparable price aside from the non-supercharged Cord 812, listed at $2595 (a 1936 version's pictured below).  The Cadillac 70 convertible coupe for 1937 listed for $3005, while the 1936 version was $2695.  So that seems to have been the Packard's nearest competition.

Production of 1937 Super Eights totaled 1,828.  Given that there were 14 Super Eight models, including sedans that probably were the most popular, I doubt that convertible coupe production exceeded 200 cars.  (1937 Buick Century and Roadmaster convertible coupes amounted to less than ten percent of those series' cars, so there might have been only 125-150 Super Eight convertibles made.)

Gallery

1937 Packard Super Eight Convertible Coupe - D.B. Pittenger photos

The grille design is classic Packard.  The red hexagons on the bumper guards indicate that it's a 1937 model.

Atop the grille is what seems to be a radiator cap.  Atop it would normally be a "mascot" decorative sculpture.  I suppose the owner wisely keeps his locked up unless the car is on display at a show.

This car has a rumble seat  - "dickey" seat in the UK.  Note the two steps leading to it.

The car is impressively large and solid.  Note the door to a golf club compartment between the side door and rear fender.

The other side.  That's my wife taking in the grand scene.

1936 Cadillac 70 Fleetwood Convertible Coupe - Mecum Auctions photos
I couldn't find a photo of a 1937 Cadillac 70 convertible, so this '36 model with the same basic body will have to do.  Wheelbase is 131 inches (3327 mm).

More rounded than the Packard, so I assume it seemed a little more "modern" to car buyers at the time.

1937 Cadillac 60 Convertible Coupe - RM Sotheby's Auctions photo
A lesser, shorter Cadillac, showing '37 styling touches.

1936 Cord 810 Cabriolet - RM Sotheby's Auctions photo
Having front-wheel-drive, rare in the USA in those days, the sportier Cord was not really in competition with the aristocratic Packard.  Wheelbase is 125 inches (3175 mm), 9 inches (229 mm) shorter that the Packard.  But, as noted, the price was nearly the same.

1958 Imperial D'Elegance Concept Car: What Were They Thinking?

According to the article "Chrysler Idea Cars" in Special Interest Autos magazine's October-November 1972 issue, "Exner never liked 1958 Imperial D'Elegance pillarless fastback.  It had several different designers who never could agree on the overall look."

The quote was based on an interview, probably by Michael Lamm, of Virgil M. Exner, Chrysler Corporation's former VP of Design.

For some reason, the concept car's name was the same as that of a much more attractive 1953 Chrysler show car.  Unlike most Chrysler concept cars, the '58 D'Elegance was not drivable.

Also unlike some Chrysler show cars, it no longer exists.  And there are few photos of it.  Most of the known ones can be seen below.

Gallery

The front fenders terminate in what appears to be non-functional shapes.  Quad headlights (if they were ever installed) would be behind the doors directly below those sculptings.  This was in an era where Chrysler styling incorporated bold, sculpted shapes not strongly related to functional needs.  I wrote about some instances here.

Below the upper bumper segment is the grille.  Presumably a functioning vehicle would have an opening, but what we seem to be seeing here are only thin, horizontal chrome bars.  Perhaps this was harkening back to the 1942 Chrysler grille design.

The side character line might be interpreted as a variation of Buick's trademark Sweepspear.  D'Elegance's passenger compartment greenhouse is light, airy.  Note how low the basic body is.  But the greenhouse, because it's so airy, does not dominate, as might otherwise be the case.

In profile, the design is not attractive.  I think the main defects are: (1) the bumper-grille element does not transition well to the front wheel opening that itself is oddly shaped; (2) the windshield is not well integrated with the rest of the greenhouse; (3) the tail fin is bloated-looking;  and (4) the bulge below the fin also is too bloated.

Slender, smaller tailfins are in order.  And different tail lights, placed elsewhere, would be an improvement.  The fastback profile falls off so sharply that trunk space is drastically curtailed -- a production version would not have it this way.

1939 Hotchkiss Cabourg Berline

Hotchkiss was a weapons-making firm that added automobiles to its product line in the early 1900s, as its Wikipedia entry mentions.  By the mid-1930s, its cars were solid entries in France's upper-middle to entry-luxury price/prestige hierarchy.  Plus, Hotchkiss was quite successful in the famous Monte Carlo Rallies.

Today's post deals with Hotchkiss' 6-cylinder 4-door berline (sedan), the model 686.  It appeared for the 1936 model year and continued in production until the early 1950s, with time out during World War 2.  Those berlines were marketed under the model name "Cabourg," a town on the Normandy coast located between Deauville and Caen.

It was succeeded by a car with a somewhat similar 1930s appearance that I discussed here in the post "Hotchkiss Anjou Walkaround".

Due to availability of Internet images, model year 1939 cars are feaured below.

Gallery

1939 Hotchkiss 686 Cabourg berline
As seen at the 1938 Salon de l'automobile, Paris.   Photo via Toutes les voitures françaises 1939 - p.52.  There is some camera lens distortion in the photo: note the front wheel.

1939 Hotchkiss 686 Cabourg berline - unknown photo source
A slightly better view of the Cabourg's left side.  The passenger compartment greenhouse side windows are not especially tall or rounded around the B-pillar, thereby avoiding the bloated appearance seen on a number of American cars of the mid-thirties.  Whereas the design is not exciting or even memorable, it's well-done and I class its appearance as pleasing.

1936 Hotchkiss 680 Cabourg berline - car-for sale photos
Early Cabourgs had front fenders that flowed over the wheel wells: standard practice for most early 1930s cars.

Rear quarter view.  The trunk hinges suggest that this might be an early production version.

c.1939 Hotchkiss 686 Cabourg berline - via Auto ancienne
Hotchkiss's 1937 facelift focused on fenders, reshaping them into the fashionable teardrop profile.

1939 Hotchkiss 686 Cabourg berline - car-for sale photos
Now for a mini-walkaround.

French car styling could often be quirky, but this design would have been at home in the U.S.A.

Hotchkiss grille design was improved in 1938 with the addition of the central, vertical divider.  The flat, one-piece windshield was out-of-date in 1939, two-segment, V'd windshields being the most common in America.

The dashboard also is old-fashioned by 1939 American standards.

Packard Caribbean Convertible Evolution

For model years 1953-1956 Packard marketed an upscale line of convertible coupes named Caribbean.  I wrote about the 1953 Caribbean here.

Caribbeans did not sell in large numbers because Packard limited production: 750 cars for 1953, 400 for 1954, 500 for 1955, and 276 convertibles for 1956 (that year there was a hardtop coupe version, 263 built).

Surviving Caribbeans can yield decent prices when auctioned.

Examples from each model year are compared below.

Gallery

1953 Packard Caribbean - Mecum Auctions photos
Aside from the hood airscoop, frontal styling is the same as upscale Packard Cavaliers and Patricians, as well as Convertibles.

1954 Packard Caribbean - Mecum
The two most important styling changes for 1954 were the reshaping to the rear wheel opening and the addition of the chrome strip above it that serves as a two-tone paint boundary (see examples below).

1955 Packard Caribbean - Mecum
Packards were heavily facelifted for 1955 (note the wraparound windshield) and received mechanical upgrades (the inline 8-cylinder motors were replaced by V8s).  Again, the main frontal difference from standard Packards is the hood air intakes. 

1956 Packard Caribbean - RM Sotheby's Auctions photo
Chrome décor added to the hood air intakes and mesh screen added to the grille opening.

1953 Packard Caribbean - Mecum
I agree with many other observers that the '53 Caribbean is the most attractive of the lot.  A nice, useful touch is the chrome strip on the beltline that widens to accent the transition to the rear fender.  Also, it reverse-echoes the traditions pen-nib feature found on hoods and fender sides at various times.  On the other hand, I see no aesthetic gain on the part of the exposed spare tire at the rear  That was a 1950s American styling/marketing fad.

1954 Packard Caribbean - Bat Auctions photo
That two-tone paint scheme was not an improvement over the 1953 design.

1955 Packard Caribbean - Mecum
Front and rear ends lean outwards to enhance visual length.  An impressive design from a marketing point of view.

1956 Packard Caribbean - Bonhams Auctions
The two- or three-tone paint scheme transforms the Caribbean from a sporty look to the appearance of a luxury convertible.  Which it is.

1953 Packard Caribbean - BaT Auctions photo
I suppose the spare tire adds interest to the rear end.  And I wonder what else might have been used to that effect.

1954 Packard Caribbean - BaT Auctions
More of that unfortunate two-tone scheme.  Even on the spare tire cover, in this instance.

1955 Packard Caribbean - Barrett-Jackson Auctions photo
The spare tire is now located in the trunk.  Rear end styling is the same as on other Packards.

1956 Packard Caribbean - Driehaus Collection photo
That large V on the trunk lid is a visual cliché not needed on a luxury car.

Did Pinin Farina Actually Design the Classic Cisitalia 202 Berlinetta?

On 20 October 2014 I posted "Design Classic: Cisitalia 202."  I gave Battasta "Pinin" Farina full-credit for the design,  mentioning among other things:

"Besides its good proportions and carefully stated details, Farina did make one bold move: he dropped the hood to near fender-level, a featured picked up by many later designs.  Here too there was precedent in certain prewar racing cars.  So while Farina was not innovative on the Cisitalia, it was his outstanding design ability that allowed him to pull the various features into one place in an extremely tasteful manner."

Eleven years later, I've come across Internet sources that contradict what I wrote regarding the origin of the design.  Unfortunately, there is not complete agreement regarding timing of the completion of first examples of various designs, so what I present here must be regarded as more sketchy than I prefer.  That said, the general picture I paint here seems basically correct.

The origin of the 202's design was by Giovanni Savonuzzi, 1911-1988 (Wikipedia entry here, and more background on his car designs is here).  He was a graduate mechanical engineer who worked in aviation pre- World War 2.  He joined Cisitalia in August of 1945, working on racing car designs.  His Cisitalia 202 CMM (Coupè Mille Miglia) was shaped using a wind tunnel at Torino Politechnio.  Strong elements of that design are found on the Cisitalia 202 Berlinetta.

Potential chronology problems occur because work on the CMM and Berlinetta happened in 1946 and the first part of 1947, a brief period in the context of developing car designs.  Internet sources tend to be vague regarding timing.  That noted, I am pretty sure that the form of the CMM was developed first, then the design of the Berlinetta emerged, though there clearly was considerable timing overlap -- the idea of a road car Cisitalia being considered and then worked on while Savonuzzi was refining the CMM.  The 1947 Mille Miglia race took place 21-22 June.  The Barchetta was first shown at Turin's auto show 28 June, then at the Paris Salon de l'Automobile that opened 23 October.  So both designs appeared in public at nearly the same time.

More information and conjecture is in the image captions below, while some background on the Cisitalia firm is here.

Gallery

Cisitalia 202 CMM by Vignale - Gooding Auctions
One of the racing coupes.  Some styling features appeared on 202 Barchettas in altered from.

However, rear-end carryover was nonexistent aside from the wheel covers.

Cisitalia 202 CMM by Vignale - photo by Hughes Vanhoolandt
Note the low hood and high fenders.  These features and the oval grill opening are found, productionized, on the Barchetta.

Savonuzzi three-view of 202 - via valocetoday.com, "Savonuzzi Part 1"
Pinin Farina changed the fender design, adding a distinct rear fender.  He changed the rear profile to a subtle S-curve and reduced the size of the backlight window.  The grille frame became more oval.  The door and its window were reshaped.  Savonuzzi credited Farina with these changes, and Farina took total claim for the design.  That's what design firm owners such as he and Raymond Loewy do, partly for marketing purposes.

1947 Cisitalia Berlinetta - photos probably via Pininfarina
This is either the original Barchetta Pinin Farina built, or an early one.

Compare this profile to that of Savonuzzi's drawing above.

The backlight windows shape differs slightly from that shown in the next group of images.

1950 Cisitalia 202 B Berlinetta by Stabilimentia Farina at Revs Institute - 2017 photos by Donald Pittenger
The "B" indicates a later production version where a noticeable difference is the one-piece windshield.  Pinin Farina built many 202 Berlinettas, but Stabilimenti Farina and Vignale also made some.  That in part was because these cars were hand-made, not productionized by the carrozzieri, as might have been the case in later years.  The designs were essentially consistent across these carrozzieri.

Air vents on front fenders are found on some Berlinettas, not on others.

No trunk lid.  Spare tire access is via the panel behind the license plate frame (note the cutlines).

Cisitalia Berlinettas featured right-hand drive, like other upscale Italian and French brands in those days.

Vedette from Ford to Simca

I recently was paging through some of my mid-1950s copies of Road & Track magazine that I bought when I was in high school.  In one, I noticed an advertisement for the Simca Vedette sedan.  A conventionally attractive car of that vintage, but not very French-looking, given that Citroëns and Renaults back then were pretty distinctive.

So I hopped into a search engine and turned up this Wikipedia entry for Simca.  Scrolling down to the section titled "Aronde and Ford SAF takeover," it seems that Simca took over the Ford SAF factory in 1954, as explained in the entry for the Ford Vedette here.  It also seems Ford found operating in France difficult, so pulled up stakes just as a redesigned Vedette was being launched.  Wikipedia's entry for the Simca Vedette is here.

The story continues in the captions below.

Gallery

1956 Simca Vedette - unknown photo source
And early Simca Vedette.  It was produced in France 1954-1961.  Its design was Ford's new mid-1950s European model produced in several countries.

1959 Ford Taunus 17M - photo via car.info
German Ford, wheelbase = 102.5 inches (2604 mm).  Compare especially the passenger compartment greenhouse and door cutlines with the cars shown in the following two images.

1962 Ford Zephyr Ml II - car-for-sale photo
British Ford, wheelbase = 107 inches (2718 mm).  Longer than the Taunus forward of the front door hinging.

Simca Vedette Versailles - car-for-sale photo
Probably a 1956 model, wheelbase = 105.9 inches (2690 mm).  Structurally the same as the previous two cars, though the roofline seem higher, more rounded.

1956 Simca Vedette Régence - Artcurial Auctions photo
Top-of-the Vedette line model.  Different chrome side-trim from the Versailles model above.  But compare to the Oldsmobile below.

1955 Oldsmobile Super 88 - Mecum Auctions photo
I wonder if the Régence side trim + two-tone scheme was borrowed from Oldsmobile.  Not identical, but the spirit seems pretty similar.

1957 Simca Vedette Versailles - Gallery Aaldering photos
Front quarter view.  The grille strikes me as being the most fussy-French aspect of the design.

Rear quarter view.  Pretty conventional with a whiff of tail fins.