For the purposes of this post, I selected model year 1951 as representative. If it wasn't the peak year for sculpted grilles, then it was close. By the late 1950s the fashion turned to grilles featuring moderate-size grid patterns.
Not all American brands are shown below because not all brands had extreme designs. Omitted here are DeSoto, Dodge, mainstream Chrysler, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Kaiser, Nash, Henry J and Studebaker.
Unless noted otherwise, images are of cars listed for sale.
The bumper includes fat ribs that echo the bold, horizontal central grille bar.
Plymouth and all other Chrysler Corporation brands received front-end facelifts for 1951. For some reason the downturned frame harkens to the similar "sad" expression on 1949 Lincolns that had been a source of shopper complaint and was quickly altered for 1950. The horizontal central bar follows the shape of the framing.
Spinners was a Ford theme beginning in 1949 and lasting through 1954. 1949 and '50 Fords has a single, central spinner, but the '51s were given two of them. The fog lights mounted on the bumper are accessories and not part of the grille design.
An example of a "not-sad" Lincoln frame. The theme is strongly horizontal, but provided some relief by the raised "teeth" whose section is aligned with the hood cut lines and bumper guards.
Not large sculpted bars here. But the band of vertical bars is itself a large, sculpture element.
For many years Buicks were identified by their sets of vertical grille bars. The main sculpting here is the parking light assemblies at the edges of the grille.
Cadillac grilles carried a grid theme for many years. Here the grid bars are few and bold.
Sculpting here is mainly in the form of a gull-wing for the main bars. The gap is bridged by a cross pattern and Indian head symbol. Also present are a few teeth below the gull wings. Perhaps because my father bought a 1951 Pontiac, I'm inclined to think this was perhaps its best grille design during that era.
I think this was a superior Hudson grille design. Rounded elements of the license plate frame are nicely related to both the Hudson triangle motif in the central section and the curved sections of the frame and upper interior bar.
Final model year Frazers surprisingly were given a drastic facelift. That included the large, bold element seen here that is part frame and part additional decoration. Truly a sculptural design.
Packards were redesigned for 1951. The 200 series was the marque's entry level and received a less elaborate grille than other Packards. Most of the sculpting is found in the framing, a bold interpretation of the traditional Packard grille/hood interface. Given the framing and central vertical splitter, the remaining details are largely logical.
Above the baseline 200 models, Packards were given sets of grille "teeth" that complicated the design. This was not corrected until the 1953 model year when grilles were given a moderate restyling.
1 comment:
The large grille bar thing has returned on Subarus and in more stylized versions on Hondas and Nissans. As we go electric who knows. Modern ICE cars don't need a "radiator" grille either.
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