I use the word "slash" in this post's title, but find it difficult to concisely characterize the design. Therefore, most of the analytical content here is in the image captions below.
Unless otherwise cited, the images below are of cars that were listed for sale.
In those days Oldsmobile came in two varieties, top-of-the line Ninety-Eights and lesser 88s. The latter received new bodies for the 1951 model year that lacked the separate rear fenders found on 1950 models. To avoid a slab-sided look with the new fender treatment, chromed decorations were applied. The lower rock guard plus horizontal streak is run-of-the-mill 1950-vintage ornamentation. The new feature is the wide, angled, chrome strip. That, in combination with the horizontal strip, become Oldsmobile's body side theme (with variations) through the 1957 model year.
The following year, the elements remain about the same -- slightly visually discrete, albeit linked compositionally.
Now the angled strip merges into the horizontal one, though the latter's forward segment itself is linked to the rock guard panel.
The Fiesta was a low-production, expensive convertible with a dipped belt line and featuring a panoramic windshield. This car and a Cadillac with the same features previewed GM's futuristic 1954 designs. On the Fiesta, the smoothly merged angled-horizontal chrome piece is now distinct from the rock guard element seen in the previous 1953 image. This is the "slash" in its classic form.
Shown here is a common B-body Olds 88 sedan with the slash and the two-tone paint scheme previewed in the last year's Fiesta. Gone is the rock guard element.
Line-leading 98 hardtops and convertibles (but not sedans) got a different kind of slash. The downward stroke is the same as before, but rather than transitioning to the horizontal, it reverses forward, passing along the top of the front wheel opening.
Oldsmobile's 1955 facelift made use of the reverse-slash element seen on '54 98s. But the downward stroke is now a sort of organic curve. Here at its top it starts where the rear fender begins.
On 98 hardtops and convertibles, it originates at the corner of the wraparound windshield, again making these models distinct from lesser Oldsmobile breeds.
For the final year of that body design, 88s retained the downward stroke, but it terminated at a long, horizontal chrome strip. The two-tone paint arrangement continued, though it's not seen on this car.
Olds 98s departed from the slash theme to some degree, sporting this curved variation.
Oldsmobiles were redesigned for 1957, but the slash in something like its classical form returned on all models to provide brand image continuity. Unlike much of its competition, GM styling that year was rounded and heavy looking. The result was reduced sales and a panic attack in the styling section. The basic bodies could not be redesigned, so a heavy facelift happened.
Here is how Oldsmobiles looked as the result of the panic. No more slash, gone forever. Instead, an incoherent collection of ornamental details.
Did the 1952 Olds 98 trunk lid are the same length as the 1955 Dodge Lancer and see if you will agree.Remember that Virgil Exner worked with GM before Studabaker and then Chrysler.
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