General Motors' Continuing Boat-Tail Interest

Boat Tail was a popular sporty style detail found on American roadsters in the late 1920s and early '30s.  Its general shape became impractical as cars became more streamlined-looking and body components more integrated as the 1930s wore on.  That shape also was impractical regarding trunk carrying capacity, another reason for its demise.

For some reason General Motors' styling boss Harley Earl and his successor Bill Mitchell occasionally used Boat Tail motifs on concept and production cars as late as 1971.

Images below are via General Motors unless noted otherwise.

Gallery

1933 Auburn Speedster - Mecum Auction photo
A pure example of Boat Tail.  Flipping the main body's aft end reveals a shape similar to the bow of a canoe.

1936 Auburn 852 Speedster - Mecum
By the mid-1930s Auburn's Boat Tail became more of a "streamline" detail.  As best I can tell, this '36 Auburn model was the last classic American Boat Tail design.

1938 Buick Y-Job
Harley Earl used the Boat Tail motif on this, his first concept car.  Note how integrated with the rest of the car it is.

1951 Le Sabre
Earl's sensational Le Sabre "Dream Car" also featured a Boat Tail on its trunk lid.

1951 Buick XP-300
So did the Le Sabre's sister Dream Car.

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray
Bill Mitchell's initial Boat Tail interpretation.

1971 Buick Riviera
He tried the same thing a few years later on this Buick, but the car was too large to incorporate it aesthetically.