1938 Packard Eight (One-Twenty) and Its Competition

I wrote about Packard's initial (1935) model One-Twenty design here, stating:

"America's most popular luxury brand in the early 1930s was Packard.  By 1933 it was suffering from reduced sales so much that for model year 1935 it launched a model for the upper-middle price range, the One-Twenty.  It was a sales success, probably saving the company, which then continued on into the mid-1950s."

The 1935 inline eight cylinder 120 was Packard's entry-level line.  For 1937, the 6-cylinder Packard Six was introduced as the entry point.  Model year 1938 saw new bodies for those models.  The Packard Six retained its name, while the 120 became the Packard Eight.  (But the Eight became the One-Twenty again for 1939, and the Six was renamed Packard One-Ten for 1940.)

The Wikipedia entry for the One-Twenty is here.

By the late 1930s there were comparatively few remaining upscale American automobile brands.  The early 1930s saw the disappearance of Marmon, Franklin, and Stutz.  By 1938 Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, and Reo were gone.  Other carmakers had rethought market placement of their models.  So the number of 1938 competitors for the Packard Eight is less than for the 1935 One-Twenty that I featured in the post linked above.

Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale on the Internet.

Gallery

1938 Packard Eight Touring Sedan
What we see here is mainline mid-late 1930s American sedan styling abaft of the cowling/A-pillar.  The hood/grille design is standard 1930s Packard, while the front fenders are generic mid-late 1930s.  The hood ornament is inappropriate for this restored car.

1938 LaSalle 50
Facelifted 1937 design.  Little character difference from the Eight on the after part of this body, though windows are larger and less-rounded.

1938 Buick Century Touring Sedan - Gallery Aaldering photo
The same can be said for this other General Motors model.

1938 Lincoln Zephyr
Zephyrs, launch for 1936, featured stronger "streamlining" shaping and details.  Front ends were facelifted for 1938.

1938 Chrysler Imperial Touring Sedan - Barrett-Jackson photo
Facelift of a 1937 design.

1938 Packard Eight Touring Sedan
Side-view comparison to the Buick Century.

1938 Buick Century Touring Sedan - Gallery Aaldering
By the late 1930s, GM was clearly the American styling leader, so the Packard Eight and Buick Century 4-door sedans resemble one another fairly closely.

1938 Packard Eight Touring Sedan
Note the two-pane backlight window and the shape of the trunk compared to the Buick below.

1938 Buick Century Touring Sedan - Gallery Aaldering
Also a two-pane backlight.  The trunk is larger, but in the same spirit.  Door hinge positions are virtually the same on both cars.
To summarize, Packard's 1938 redesign was in line with that of its strongest competition (Buick and LaSalle).  However, those brands received airier, crispier, passenger compartment greenhouse styling for 1939, making the Eight's/120's more rounded tops and windows a little old-fashioned.

1998 Ford Crown Victoria Facelift: From 6 to 4 Windows

Ford Motor Company launched new designs for Ford and Mercury on its body-on-frame, rear-wheel drive, senior sedans for model year 1992.  These were the Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis.

The Crown Victoria continued the six-window treatment found on the successful 1986 Ford Taurus, whereas the Grand Marquis had a four-window passenger compartment greenhouse.

In 1992 the base price for both cars was around $3800, even though Mercury was traditionally a more upscale brand than Ford.  And the models sold at around the same levels prior to their 1998 facelifts.  When preparations were made for the facelifts, Crown Victorias were given Grand Marquis 4-window greenhouses.  Post-facelift, Grand Marquis' consistently outsold Crown Victorias.

The only conclusion I can draw, lacking much information beyond the production numbers cited in the first two links above, is that Ford's economy move to reduce styling differences for production efficiencies likely disenchanted potential buyers who preferred a 6-window configuration.

For what little it's worth, I like the 4-widow design better than the 6-window version.

Gallery

1992 Ford Crown Victoria - factory photo
The redesigned Crown Victoria.  A cue carried over from the initial Taurus design is the "floating" Ford Blue Oval on the car's front.  Another, of course, is the six-window greenhouse.

1998 Ford Crown Victoria - factory photo
The four-window facelifted version.  The front features a new, prominent grille, and larger light assemblies.

1992 Ford Crown Victoria - car-for-sale photo

1998 Ford Crown Victoria - Cars and Bids Auctions photo
It's hard to see in this photo, but the side sculpting between the wheel openings seems unchanged.  Besides the greenhouse changes, the main differences are at the front and rear.  Lengths are essentially identical.

1992 Ford Crown Victoria - Mecum Auctions photo
The trunk lid and rear fender form curves slightly downwards while the tail light assemblies echo the framing of the frontal light assemblies.

1998 Ford Crown Victoria - factory photo
The trunk profile is raised and taillight assemblies feature a different theme while the license plate has moved from the bumper to the trunk lid..

1998 Mercury Grand Marquis - Cars and Bids Auctions
The equivalent Mercury has essentially the same tail lights.  Side sculpting is simpler.

1992 Mercury Grand Marquis - BaT Auctions photo
The original 4-window Grand Marquis styling.  Rear sculpting and tail lights are similar to the contemporary Crown Victoria.

Triumph Spitfire Walkaround

I discussed Triumph Spitfire styling in considerable detail here.  So today's post mainly offers more views of a first-generation Spitfire for your enjoyment.

Points I made in that post include:

"English sports cars were popular in America from the late 1940s through the 1960s and even a few years beyond.  They came in a variety of sizes, capabilities and price points, the latter including entry-level machines.  Up through the mid-1950s, the MG was considered entry-level.  But the marque began to creep upscale, so in the early 1960s the tiny Austin-Healey Sprite and MG Midget were introduced.  In 1965, Triumph, maker of standard size TR-series sports cars, brought its smaller Spitfire to the market."

"The hood (bonnet) is as low as the motor allows, in this case dropping below the fender line.  Front and rear fenderlines (wings) are distinct, with the latter represented by an upkick as well as a delimiting crease and bulge to the fore.  The grille area is nondescript, and the use of body paint on the windshield frame makes that item heavier and more old-fashioned looking than nececssary."

"All-in-all, a nice design for a car that was a little too small for its own good."

The Spitfire was styled by noted designer Giovanni Michelotti, who did a good deal of other work for Triumph.

Photos below of a 1964 Spitfire are via Bonhams.

Gallery

The front fenders and hood area are integral, pivoting from the bumper -- note the horizontal cutline aft of the front wheel opening.

I think Spitfires look best from the side.

Bumpers are massive, perhaps compensating for the gap between them.

I noted in my previous Spitfire post that the tail lights look tacked-on, perhaps being sourced from a different design.

The slanted crease at the front part of the rear fender is an unusual touch.  It marks the start of the puffed-out fender.  Yet it's distinctive and fairly subtle, Michelotti doing his professional job.

Not an impressive grille.  Perhaps because the lower front end is the hood-body pivot point, simplicity and possible weight considerations were in play.

A central instrument cluster as a low-cost necessity for left-side steering in North America, the Continent and elsewhere.  More expensive cars would have dashboard designs that "flipped" depending on market destination.

General Motors' 1950-Only C-Body Four-Door Fastback Sedan

"Fastback" designs where car roofs smoothly curved downwards toward the rear bumper were commonly found on American cars during the 1940s with some overlap at each end of that decade.  The last such fastbacks were 1952 model year Plymouth Concords and Chevrolet Fleetlines.  These were two-door models.  The last four-door fastbacks were 1951 Fleetline Chevrolets.

Those Chevrolet and Pontiac fastback models were built on General Motors' A-body platform.  GM also produced fastbacks on other platforms, the last of these being 1950 models using what I recently labeled the "lesser C-body."  These were variations of the GM C-body introduced for 1950 that were intended for use on Cadillacs and larger Buicks.

The so-called lesser version might also be called the "interim B-body."  It seems to have been called the B-body at GM at the time it was developed.  Yet it in practice served as a bridge between the previous B-body line and a new B-body introduced for 1951 and produced through 1953.  Most of those lesser or interim B-body cars appeared during the 1950 model year, followed by a few in 1951 and none thereafter, as best I can tell.

Cars using that temporary platform were Buick Specials (1950 model year only, and by far the most numerous produced), Cadillac model 61s (phased out during 1951), and Oldsmobile 98s for models years 1950 and 1951.  Fastback versions were offered for Buick and Oldsmobile, but not Cadillac.  And no fastbacks with that body were marketed for the 1951 model year.

General Motors' four-door fastback production for 1950 was 75,427 of which 73,035 were Buick Specials; only 1,778 were Olds 98s.

The Buick images below are of a for-sale car.  The Oldsmobile photos are via Mecum Auctions.

Gallery

1950 Buick Special Jetback 4-door sedan
1950 Buick grilles are famous (well, infamous for many observers) for those bars draping over the bumper.  I know they're kinda silly, but when I was a school-age kid I didn't mind them much.

Most '50 Specials had a fairly bold chrome bar along most of the side, positioned slightly above the rear wheel opening.  This entry-level model lacks it, but its appearance isn't degraded.

The backlight window is positioned high due to the effort to maximize trunk size.  Notchback designs were more practical in terms of both trunk capacity and driver rearward visibility, so they prevailed over fastbacks.

1950 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Town Sedan
The same basic car, of course, but with Olds 98 details.

This car is set lower to the ground than normal.

1958 Studebaker Silver Hawk Walkaround

Today's subject car is featured due to availability of a fine set of car-for-sale photos via Connors Motorcar Company.  The car itself might be described as a watered-down version of a classic design -- the 1953 Studebaker Starliner hardtop coupe created by Bob Bourke and his team under Raymond Loewy's direction.

I previously dealt with first-series Studebaker Hawks here.  Since then, many more good quality photo sets showing for-sale and auctioned cars have appeared on the Internet, including the one shown in the Gallery below.

The 1956 facelifted Studebaker coupes were given "Hawk" names.  This naming was revised for 1957 when the number of coupe models was reduced from four to two.  The newly named Golden Hawks were "hardtop" pillarless models, whereas Silver Hawks had B-pillars.  Those B-pillars made the overall design less pleasing, as will be explained below.

Wikipedia's take on the Silver Hawk is here.  Silver Hawks were marketed model years 1957-1959. Today's featured car is quite similar to the 1957 models, but its tail fin chrome accent is not as attractive as for 1959.  Sadly, available photos (as of October 2024) of '59 Silver Hawks lack the quality of the set shown below.

Thanks largely to their side trim, 1957-58 Silver Hawks were the least-attractive of all "Loewy coupes" aside from the unfortunate 1955 versions.  That said, they still were reasonably nice-looking cars.

Gallery

The most noteworthy feature of the 1956 Studebaker coupe facelift was the (then) unusual, seemingly old-fashioned tall grille opening.  The flanking openings echo the openings on 1953 Studebakers.

Thanks mostly to Chrysler Corporation, tail fins became the American styling fashion of the second half of the 1950s.  The mid-decade fad was wraparound (Panoramic) windshields, but fortunately, Studebaker coupes never received them.

Chrysler Corporation cars got modest tail fins on facelifted 1956 models, and imposing ones for their 1957 redesign.  Studebaker Hawks were in synch with Chrysler for 1957, as can be seen here.

The trunk lid redesign first appeared on 1956 Hawks.

Golden Hawks were given more attractive side and tail fin trim, as can be seen in the first link above.  The long chrome strip with the auxiliary strip along the fin shown here make logical sense, but not aesthetic sense.  The two-toning on the side of the fin emphasizes this; single-tone Silver Hawks looked somewhat better.

As for the effect of the B-pillar, its relation to the zone abaft of it is the problem.  Visual business is created.  That quarter-window plus C-pillar zone is narrow, and the B-pillar adds too much visual weight.  Which is why pillarless Hawks look more attractive.

Since I mentioned the 1959 Silver Hawk above, here is a photo (via Hagerty).  Note the better chrome treatment by the tail fin and elsewhere along the side.

1935 Packard 120 Upper-Middle Class Sedan and Its Competition

The Great Depression of the 1930s crippled or snuffed out American carmakers.  Upscale automobile manufacturers were especially heavily affected.  Their brands leaving the market included Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Franklin, Marmon, Pierce-Arrow, Reo and Stutz.

America's most popular luxury brand in the early 1930s was Packard.  By 1933 it was suffering from reduced sales so much that for model year 1935 it launched a model for the upper-middle price range, the One-Twenty.  It was a sales success, probably saving the company, which then continued on into the mid-1950s.

Today's post compares 120 sedan styling with those of competitors in its price range.  As will be seen,  the cars most resembling 120s were some 1935 General Motors models.  New 1935 GM's bodies were more advanced than the 120's because they had all-steel roofs, whereas 120s had fabric inserts on their roofs like other American sedans had in those days.

While researching the '35 Packard 120, I was unable to determine with certainty who created its styling.

The man in charge of styling at Packard was Werner Gubitz, pictured here.   The drawing in the photo is not that of a production 120.  Rather, it's a more shapely variation perhaps under consideration for the planned 1938 redesign.

Although evidence is strong that Gubitz did the styling for the 120, that similarity to new designs for 1935 Oldsmobiles and some other GM brands remains slightly puzzling.  That's because Packard had hired George Christopher from GM to set up volume-production infrastructure to handle hoped-for demand for 120s.  I can't rule out the possibility that Christopher might have had some knowledge of forthcoming '35 GM designs and passed along some thoughts to Gubitz.

Another consideration:  Cadillacs and LaSalles received new bodies for 1934 that previewed the 1935 redesign for models of all other GM brands aside from Buick.  However, these retained the industry-standard roof inserts.  So Gubitz was aware of this design trend from America's largest carmaker, but the 120 design was likely largely determined by the time those '34 GM cars were announced.

Let's take a look.  Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale.

Gallery

1935 Packard 120 Touring Sedan
First, some front quarter views.  The 120 necessarily featured the Packard grille-hood design theme.

1935 Oldsmobile Eight - publicity photo
The new for 1935 GM body.  The passenger compartment greenhouse's roof is bulged because it is all-steel and subject to metal stamping technology of the time.  Windows are strongly rounded, something of a styling cliche.  Note the faintly V'd two-pane windshield.  The lower body more resembles the Packard 120.

1935 LaSalle Touring Sedan
Slightly more expensive than the 120 was the LaSalle that was rebodied for 1935.

1935 Nash Ambassador - via ConceptCarz
Nashes were given a vaguely "streamlined" look for '35.

1935 Studebaker President Land Cruiser - via Studebaker Drivers Club
This thin-looking design appeared for the 1934 model year.

1935 Hupmobile J 521 - unidentified photo source
Another 120 competitor with a facelifted 1934 body.  The headlights integrated to the body are another example of early streamlining.

1935 Chrysler CZ Airstream Eight - Hyman Ltd photo
Most Chrysler Corporation cars received this new body design for 1935.

1935 Auburn 851 - unidentified photo source
Fenders are old-style, unlike the "helmet" shaped ones seen on most of the designs shown here.

1935 Graham Supercharged Eight Touring Sedan
A 1934 carryover design.

1935 Packard 120 - Downington Auctions (Australia)
Side-view comparison to a LaSalle.  Windows are better integrated here.  Fenders are more similar to those on the Oldsmobile shown above.

1935 LaSalle
The all-steel roof is visible.  Packard's hood styling is crisper, in line with hood-grille designs of other Packard models.

1935 Packard 120 - Downington Auctions
Right rear quarter view (I don't have a decent left rear quarter image).  Note the separate trunk door for the spare tire..  

1935 LaSalle Touring Sedan
Different in details from the 120, but the design is similar in spirit.
So far as I'm concerned, none of the designs shown above is very attractive.  That's because the mid-1930s was a period of rapid change, including the Chrysler Airflow's placement of the motor farther forward which allowed the back seat to be moved from over the rear axle line.  Also, "streamlining" became a body shaping fashion that few carmakers could successfully resist.  And production technology was slow to catch up with the needs of the latter.  The result: awkward designs.

That said, the Packard One-Twenty was solidly of its time for the first year or two of its initial run.