Not Quite a 4-Door Hatchback Nor a SUV

Three years ago I wrote about Honda's 2010 Accord Crosstour and the 2015 BMW version, its X4.  I used the term "Fastback SUV" to describe them.

That's not a bad term, but so far as I know, it hasn't been picked up by the automotive press.  For example, Subaru's Crosstrek (the name looks a lot like "Crosstour," doesn't it) has been called a "four-door hatchback" by at least one source.  Other cars with a similar body type are usually called SUVs, even though they don't look very SUV-like.

Semantics or typologies aside, despite Honda having given up on its Crosstour by 2015, new entries have appeared during the last two or three years.  These are shown below.

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2010 Honda Accord Crosstour
This is the original.  Pretty graceful in profile as far aft as the B-pillar, but then it looks too bulky.

2019 BMW X4
Go to the link above for images of the first-generation X4.  The current version has a strongly curved roof, but just tall enough at the rear to suggest short-item carrying capacity.

2018 Subaru Crosstrek
The Crosstrek has a higher roofline at the rear that's more suggestive of SUVs.  On the other hand, it does hint at being a four-door hatchback sedan.

2017 Maserati Levante
High-priced sporty marques are now getting into the SUV act.  To retain that sporty feeling, the Fastback SUV style seems more appropriate than the traditional SUV boxy, station wagon style.

2019 Lamborghini Urus
Here is a recent entry.  The roofline is closer to that of the X4 than the Levante.

Giovanni Michelotti's Exaggerated-Perspective Presentation Drawings

Giovanni Michelotti (1921-1980) was one of the leading Italian automobile stylists of his day.   But he is perhaps less well-known than others because his career was largely that of a free-lancer -- designing bodies that were built by established carrozzeria, both famous and less-so.  The name of the coach building firm would be associated with the design, not Michelotti. His production car designs for Standard-Triumph also did not have his name or a carrozzeria crest attached to them.

His Wikipedia entry lists many of his designs.

This post deals with his presentation drawings, an important part of the marketing effort by a freelancer and even a carrozzeria.  The idea was to show clients what a proposed design might look like.   Other such tools might have been detailed side/front/rear drawings or even small scale models.   But a comparatively quickly-done drawing or two might be good enough for the potential client to ask for more work on the design theme presented.

What I find interesting is that many of Michelotti's drawings, especially those form the early 1950s, were so highly distorted/exaggerated that they did a poor job of showing what a completed car would actually look like.

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Bill Mitchell sketch of a possible 1938 Buick - c. 1936
Exaggerated concept drawings were common practice before Michelotti began his career. Bill Mitchell soon became head of Cadillac styling and eventually was General Motors' Design Vice-President.

Michelotti drawing of the Cunningham C3 - 1952-53
Michelotti was providing the Vignale firm many designs such as this one at that time.  The actual car's shape was much shorter and taller, but the general layout and details such as the grille are indicated here.

Fiat 1400 proposals for Balbo Carrozzeria - 1950
More examples of exaggerated perspective.

Fiat 1400 proposals for Viotti Carrozzeria - 1952
And another with the same distortion scheme as for the Cunningham shown above.  The front wheel is much too large/

Maserati proposal for Ghia-Aigle carrozzeria - 1956
A distorted-perspective rendering from five years later.

Daimler proposal for Ghia-Aigle - 1955
Another distorted view of a proposed design.

Another Daimler proposal for Ghia-Aigle - 1955
Made about the same time for the same brand and coachbuilder, this side view of a four-door sedan shows that Michelotti did work out buildable designs.  But which came first? -- the perspective sketch or the measured drawing?

Triumph proposals - c. 1962
Side views of proposed designs indicating practical considerations such as the seating layout.

Triumph perspective sketch - c. 1962
Another stretched-perspective drawing.  This is of essentially the lower design seen in the previous image.  Note the Citroën DS-19 type light mounted on the C-pillar.   It is shown clearly in the side view and some sort of light is crudely indicated in the perspective.  The matter is debatable, but I wonder if in this case a side-view with a pillar-mounted light was done before the perspective drawing.   Otherwise, it's a detail that could safely be omitted from a preliminary sketch from this low viewpoint.

Rendering of Triumph GT6 - mid-1960s
By the mid-60s Michelotti was making more accurate perspective drawing of his design proposals.

Cross-posted at Art Contrarian

Lincoln Finally Selects a Grille Theme

Six years ago I wrote about Lincoln's thrashing around regarding a design theme for its grilles.  Back then, Lincoln marketers and stylists were making use of several themes from the marque's past -- even the distant past.  I highly recommend that you read the post linked above in order to put the present post into context.

More recently it seems that Lincoln management has come up with a more coherent plan.  For example, the somewhat cryptic model designations (MKZ, MKX, MKS) are being replaced by (GASP!!) actual names that potential buyers might be able to relate to.

And as the title of this post mentions, they've even come up with a grille theme that's spreading across Lincoln's various models.

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2007 Lincoln Navigator
An example of a grille theme from the past -- in this case from 1942 Lincolns.

2015 Lincoln Navigator
Here the past was eliminated aside from the four-pointed star that has been a consistent Lincoln symbol since first appearing on the 1956 Continental Mark II.

2018 Lincoln Navigator
Now the Navigator had the new grille. Its design has a rounded isosceles, trapezoidal frame with the lower portion containing accent folds toward the sides.  The center is a mesh pattern borrowed from the four-pointed star's frame.  The star medallion is stretched vertically and placed on the grille's centerline.  These are the new theme's elements that can be adjusted depending upon the vehicle's configuration.

2017 Lincoln Continental
The new theme first appeared on the new Continental.

2019 Lincoln Nautilus
Similar to the '18 Navigator, but smaller and shorter.

2020 Lincoln Aviator
Bolder, more truck-like front.

2020 Lincoln Corsair
Somewhere between the Nautilus and the Aviator.
I approve of Lincoln's new grille theme.  Although it reminds me of Jaguar's recent grilles, it is still distinctive and flexible.

The Nethercutt Collection

It seems I only saw some of the cars on view when I visited the Nethercutt Collection in Sylmar, California recently (links here and here.)  I simply took in the museum part and failed to opt for the guided tour of the "Collection" segment that featured super-classic cars.  Will correct that error next time I'm in southern California.

One surprising feature of the Nethercutt is that admission is free!

The cars on display when I visited were mostly American, and from the 1920s and 1930s.  There was a row or two of antiques (which don't interest me because there are from before the professional styling era) along with a few post- World War 2 examples.  That suited me because the 1930s interest me greatly.

Posts from time to time will include photos I took at the Nethercutt.  For now, I feature an atypical example seen near the museum entrance, a 1931Type 51 Bugatti that was re-bodied by the Louis Dubos firm in 1936 when the Type 57SC Atlantic was Bugatti's most stylish design and which must have served as inspiration for the car on view.

Click on the images below to enlarge.

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The Information plaque.

Pre- "Sharknose" Graham Ornamentation

I suspect that nowadays most automobile buffs think of the 1938-39 "sharknose" design if they think of the Graham brand at all.  Of course, there was more to the Graham story than that.  I wrote about the 1935 and 1936 Grahams that shared their basic body with Reo here.  That body was carried over to the 1937 model year, but was only used by Graham because Reo no longer made cars.

The present post features the ornamentation found on 1937 Grahams.  My inspiration was a 1937 Graham Cavalier that I saw while visiting the Nethercutt Collection, a museum mostly featuring immaculately restored American luxury cars of the 1920s and 30s.  Graham built mid-range cars, and the example on display had not been restored at all.  Perhaps that's why I noticed it.

Unless otherwise noted, the photos below are mine.  Click on images to enlarge.

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1937 Graham Model 116 Supercharged, Mecum Auctions photo.  This is a restored top-of-the-line '37 Graham.

And here is the non-supercharged Cavalier model at Nethercutt.  The right front fender is scuffed and some of the paint just in front of the hood opening is worn down.  Otherwise, the car seems in pretty good shape, considering that it's more than 80 years old.

The information plaque noting the car's low mileage.  Laws forbidding odometer adjusting came into play only in recent decades, so barring other documentation it's possible that the data is inaccurate.  On the other hand, given the car's condition and the care Nethercutt staff take regarding details, we should probably accept the 28,555 figure.

The details.  Horns are exposed rather than hidden.  All other major American brands for 1937 aside from Hudson had them tucked inside sheet metal.  The solid central section of the grille ensemble recalls Pontiac's Silver Streak motif that first appeared for 1935, except that Pontiac's grooved strip extended along the top of the hood as well as down the grille.  There is a scuffed, knock-out crank hole near the bottom.  The hood ornament includes Graham's traditional three overlapping knight's heads that represent the three Graham brothers.  An interesting touch is the set of five Art Deco style faux heat exhaust ports along the side of the hood.  Grahams from 1935-36 had large heat ports, but examination of images of 1937 Grahams found via a Google search suggests that the ports seen here are purely decorative.  If I'm wrong, please correct me in a comment.

Everything mentioned in the previous caption changed for 1938 and its "sharknose" styling that won critical acclaim while being a marketing dud.  Image via Shannons auction of Melbourne.

Current Luxury SUVs

Crossover Sport-Utility-Vehicles (SUVs) are taking the American market by storm.  They seem to be catching on in Europe too, based on what I recently saw in northern Italy -- this despite high ($6.50 per gallon) gasoline prices there at the time.

Moreover, luxury brands have been adding SUVs to their lineups lately.  One expects luxury vehicles to be more distinctive than high-volume equivalents, though that seems to be less the case than it was decades ago.  And given that SUVs tend to have more constrained basic shapes than even current wind-tunnel tested sedans, I became curious as to how much style variation might be found in a sample of such brands and vehicles.

Results are in the images below.  Cars are shown side-view because that reveals their packaging better than other viewpoints that tend to favor brand-specific identification ornamentation.  Marques are in alphabetical order.

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2017 Honda CR-V
Not a luxury SUV, but a contemporary and popular example included as a reference point.  It rides on a shorter wheelbase than the luxury SUVs, and consequently has a narrower rear passenger door.  All the vehicles shown here have a lip overhanging the rear window (backlight), a feature dictated by wind-tunnel test.  Aside from sheet metal sculpting, SUV designers have their greatest stylistic freedom in shaping the aft side windows and the slope of the cars' sterns.

2016 Bentley Bentayga
Clearly manufacturers are running out of good names for car models.  This Bentley has the trace of a rear fender providing a visual link to its sporty Continental line.  This is its most distinctive feature, but not part of the basic body architecture.  The aft is more greatly sloped than the Honda's and its hood is longer.  My overall impression is that it's bulky.

2019 BMW X7
This BMW SUV features a comparatively long hood and short front overhang.  Rear slope is less than that of the Honda.  The passenger compartment greenhouse is high in part due to a slightly low beltline.  Its aft side window is larger than most others.  Overall, the impression is boxy.

2017 Cadillac XT5
Cadillac's main SUV is its large, boxy Escalade.  I thought I would show its smaller, less-popular XT5 instead due to its styling.  An XT6 is on the way, but few photos are available as this post is being drafted.  Features include a rising beltline and an aft slope similar to Bentley's.  Small, angular aft side window.

2017 Jaguar F-Pace
Tapered side-window treatment similar to the Cadillac's, but less angular.  Hood and overhang setup is like the BMW's.  And the aft slope is steep like the Bentley's, so carrying capacity seems secondary to sportiness -- the key factor for Jags and Bentleys.

2017 Maserati Levante
This Maserati is a trifle more sporty than the Bentley and Jaguar, if aft slope matters.  Its roofline is the most curved of the lot, making the car almost a hatchback four-door sedan instead of a SUV (the Subaru Crosstrek is a similar case).  Very short side windows due to a high beltline.  Like the Bentley, there's a trace of a rear fender, but it's cosmetic and unrelated to our main objective here.

2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Rolls sedans are shaped like bricks -- I assume the idea is to look imposing.  This SUV builds on that base, featuring a tall passenger greenhouse atop a high beltline.  All side windows are large, and there's also a large C-pillar.  Front overhang is short.  Aft slope is considerable, but not as extreme as the Maserati's, thereby reducing visual bulk ever so slightly.  Carrying capacity seems great, however.  Side sculpting is minimal.
All these luxury SUVs, aside from perhaps the Cadillac, are longer than typical mid-range SUVs found in North America.  Excepting the BMW, the slopes of the backlights (rear windows) tend to be fairly great, providing a sporting appearance and less capacity for hauling large, tall objects in their cargo zones.

The Maserati and Rolls-Royce have the most distinctive shapes.  The former is this most graceful (and least SUV-like), the latter is the most boxy (though the BMW comes close).  I won't consider overall attractiveness here because that involves frontal and rear styling as well as side sculpting and other ornamentation.

The Last Judkins Custom Body

The Nethercutt Collection in Sylmar, California contains many prize-winning restorations of noteworthy luxury cars, mostly from the 1920s and 1930s.  One such is a 1938 twelve-cylinder K series Lincoln Touring Coupé built by J.B. Judkins Company of Amesbury, Massachusetts.

According to the link, Judkins built more custom bodies for Lincoln than any other coachbuilder.  The example at Nethercutt was Judkins' final car body, and was made for J.B. himself.

Unless otherwise noted, the color photos below were taken by Yr. Humble Blogger in June, 2019.  Click on images to enlarge.

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1938 Lincoln K coupé by Judkins.

Plaque describing the car and its history.

Showing more detail of the "pillarless" passenger compartment.  This design was not original to Judkins.  It was borrowed from a series of custom bodies on Delage automobiles.

This c.1934 Delage Conduite Interieur Sport has a body by Letourneur et Marchand.  Because its B-pillar is truncated at the car's beltline, the design can be classed as "pillarless" even though that's only in a visual sense. This early example does not match the Judkins body shown above.

But this 1936 Delage D8-120 Aérosport Coupé by Letourneur et Marchand is an example of the design that inspired the 1938 Judkins Lincoln.  Photo via Hyman, Ltd.

Bonus image: Featured are Lincoln'e greyhound mascot and the round, blue, Art Deco style badge.

Four-Door Fiat 500s

Fiat's "500" model designation dates back to 1936 and the tiny Topolino (little mouse), as it was called.  The most recent version was launched in 2007 (Wikipedia entry here).  From a styling perspective, it is an attractive small car (wheelbase 78.7 inches, 2000 mm).

But the new 500 obviously had limited carrying capacity, so a few years later a larger (wheelbase 102.8 inches, 2610 mm) model, the 500L, was introduced.  According to this, it was considered to be a minivan.  I did not know that.  Seeing them on the road here in the USA, I assumed they were four-door sedans.  For one thing, they lack the expected minivan sliding side door.  A more apt description is that 500Ls are mini-crossover SUVs.  That's because they have normal hinged doors along with a small third side window and a sort of squared-off rear. It was the third window's design that struck me as being awkward, especially since I assumed them to be sedans (which they virtually were).

This shouldn't have surprised me, however, because the Mini Countryman featured a similar window treatment since 2010.

Shortly after the 500L appeared, Fiat launched the 500X, an actual four-door sedan.  Even though they've been marketed in America for a couple years, I never really noticed them until I was in Italy recently.  Perhaps that was due to low sales volumes here or possibly because the styling is closer to that of the base 500 than the more distinctive 500L's.

Like the 500, the 500X is attractively styled for its size, whereas the 500L is not.

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A 2008 Fiat 500 (reference photo).

2018 Fiat 500L.  It is slightly longer than the 2012 version due to a facelift.

Side view.  As the link above mentions, the 500L package is slightly more cab-forward than on other 500s.

Rear quarter view.  Its rear cargo zone is larger than those on other 500s, but is not large if rear seats are not folded.  The aft side window transitions awkwardly to the C-pillar and rest of the forward part of the passenger greenhouse.

2015 Fiat 500X, a four-door hatchback sedan.  Slightly shorter than the 500L, it lacks the cab-forward proportion, being about the same frontal design as regular 500s.

Rear quarter view.  Nicer looking than BMW's Mini from this perspective due to its more conventional C-pillars.  Note the roof rack.

Side view comparison of a 2019 500X (here) with a 2013 500L (below).

The 500L's larger cabin area can be seen here.  All things considered, it is a slightly more versatile and practical package than the 500X, but not as attractive.