It was GM that launched wraparounds in what proved to be, not the wave of the future, but a fad or fashion whose welcome was passing by 1960. That launch was for 1954 when Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs got new bodies.
Those new GM cars seemed sensationally futuristic at the time. Besides the panoramic windshields that had been previewed by "dream cars," those new designs featured low hoods, long trunks and proportionally higher passenger compartment greenhouses on those overall lower (than 1953) cars. Of course, those new designs were popular. Compared to the 1953 calendar year, calendar year 1954 sales for Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac respectively increased 36, 10, and 20 percent, while most other brands showed declines. Overall 1954 American car sales fell 10 percent from 1953. Ford and Chevrolet sales were fairly constant over the two years.
Suffering the most were the "independent" (non- Big Three) brands. But Big Three member Chrysler Corporation's brands also experienced serious sales declines. An important reason was their seemingly out-of-date styling. I wrote about their '54 facelifts here.
Decline percentages for Chrysler brands were: 40 for entry-level Plymouth, the firm's highest-production line; 48 for Dodge, another normally high-volume car; 46 percent for DeSoto; and 37 percent for Chrysler.
In the Gallery below 1954 Oldsmobile and Buick four-door sedans are compared to Chrysler Corporation models with similar list prices. This is an attempt to show the designs the typical buyer faced if considering sedans in those price categories. Clearly, the GM cars sold well and Chrysler's didn't. But were those GM designs actually better than those of competing Chrysler products? From the perspective of 70 years later, the matter is not so clear.
The best-looking GM designs were on sporty hardtop coupes, but as mentioned above, sedans were generally the go-to models in those days. (Buick was a 1954 exception where its hardtops often outsold 4-door models.)
GM Styling supremo Harley Earl usually favored high hoodlines suggestive of a powerful motor underneath. But his 1954-1955 redesigned cars had high fenderlines and hoods not raised far above them. As mentioned in the text, the key styling feature was the wraparound windshield.
The competing Chrysler Corporation car. Slightly smaller than the new GM B-body competition. More rounded sides. But there's that old-fashioned windshield.
GM's more upscale B-body cars were almost identical to the entry-level ones so far as exteriors are concerned.
Buick's Century was basically a Special with a more powerful engine.
However, prices were high enough to yield their competition from Dodge to the Chrysler's lower-price Windsor line that had a different basic body.
Buick Supers and Roadmaster had GM's new C-bodies. A-pillars are vertical, unlike the slanted B-body ones. Hoods here are more raised and fenderlines slightly lower.
The competing Chrysler Corporation body is similar to GM's 1948-vintage C-bodies and 1949-1954 A-bodies mostly found on Chevrolets and Pontiacs. The main similarity being the separate rear fender, a feature also seen on 1954 Packards. The DeSoto's hood is high: Harley Earl would have been pleased. These and some other style elements had been found on the road for several years, making DeSotos and Chryslers seem dated compared to the new GM cars.
Top-of-the-line Buick.
Top of the standard Chrysler line (Chrysler Imperials were the firm's luxury line and priced much higher than the Buick).
Back in 1954, the Oldsmobiles and Buicks pictured here indeed seemed like glimpses into the future, and the Chrysler Corporation cars looked out of date. Yet now those GM sedans strike me as looking more awkward than the Chrysler cars. Why? I think it has to do with the panoramic windshields. They are bulky. Their vertical and forward-slanting A-pillars interrupt the front-to rear design flow. For that reason, Chrysler Corporation's redesigned 1955 cars with back-slanting A-pillars have aged better than competing models with GM-style wraparounds.
Until reading this blog I thought the 1955 Fords and Mercuries were a completely new body (if probably about the same frame/suspension). Back then you could tell an actually new body by the station wagons, and the 1955 version is clearly completely different from the 1954. That was an unusual move by Ford.
ReplyDeleteAn opposite case was the 1963 Chrysler. Other than the telltale windshield it looked like a completely different design from the 1960-62 version, more Continental than Forward Look. But the station wagon continued with the old obviously 1960 style greenhouse including the curving rear door window/C pillar shape.
I've never gotten the "futuristic" from 1954 Olds and Buick. The old ads show them soaring like rockets or parked in front of modern architecture and it is always a disconnect for me. Maybe because they were becoming old cars when I was young.
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