Meanwhile, GM cars were rather rounded, having a heavier appearance than Chrysler products. General Motors went into crash project mode in reaction to Chrysler's initiative, first garishly facelifting much of its 1958 line and then redesigning the entire line for 1959. What is interesting about the hurried '59 design was that GM used the same general body set across all its brands.
Before that, the corporation usually had two or three bodies that were allocated to different parts of its line. For example, around 1950, its A-body was used by Chevrolet, Pontiac, and entry-level Oldsmobiles. B-bodies were used by mid-range Oldsmobiles (and eventually all Oldsmobiles) and entry level Buicks. C-bodies were for larger Buicks and for Cadillacs, though around 1950 top-range Olds' got them too.
The 1959 basic one-range-suits-all bodies most visibly differed in the designs of their passenger compartment greenhouses, though a common element there was a doubly-wrapped windshield. Oldsmobile examples are shown below. Otherwise, styling differences included brand-specific variations in ornamentation, wheelbase, and other items related to brand identity.
Four-door hardtops were popular from the mid-1950 until the 1970s, when federal regulations regarding roll-over damage killed that B-pillarless body type. From the belt line down, Oldsmobiles looked pretty much the same aside from variations in model-specific ornamentation. Note the windshield. As mentioned above, this is consistent across all body types -- a cost-saving detail. Also note the thin, flat roof, a response to 1957 Chrysler styling. Also the wrapped back window.
Hardtop coupes did not get the wraparound backlight (back window) seen in the previous photo. Instead, they featured a more normal looking, but thin, C-pillar.
Four-door sedans with B-pillars were six-window affairs. C-pillars and backlights are similar to those seen on the Holiday Coupe, above, and identical to those items on the 2-door sedan below,
Sedans with B-pillars had slightly thicker, more rounded roofs than the hardtops. Backlights were shorter than those of hardtop coupe, but were wider due to C-pillar differences. The roofs and upper window profiles of this car and the one in the previous image are the same. The 2-door sedan has a wider front door than the 4-door, and there was no need for quarter windows.
Oldsmobiles also made station wagons that had their own specialized greenhouse design.
The final GM body stye was the convertible that, of course, had no greenhouse at all.
Unless otherwise noted, images are for cars advertised for sale.
1 comment:
I believe the Olds got to use the C-Body beginning with the '42 Custom Cruiser Series Ninety-Eight and resuming postwar through the '51 Ninety-Eights when they were downgraded to the 4-inch narrower B-Body. That continued through 1960 when the Ninety-Eights were once again built on the C-Body
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