1953 Nash Statesman Hardtop Walkaround

Around 1940, Nash cars were nicely styled, fitting well into the preferred mode of the time; I wrote about that here.  But when the American automoble industry launched its postwar redesignes around 1949, Nash became a styling outlier.  I posted about the '49 Nash redesign here and here.

Those 1949-1951 Nashes were bulky, having streamlined shapes that observers, including elementary school age me, called "upside-down bathtub."  Then Nash pulled another Old Switcheroo for its 1952 redesign.  Streamlining was abandoned, replaced by boxiness.

The major carryover feature was that front wheel openings were essentially eliminated, replaced by front fender sheetmetal.

Today's post featues a 1953 Nash Statesman 2-door hardtop, the short-wheelbase (114.25 inches, 1902 mm) alterative to the longer, more expensive Nash Ambassador.

Those enclosed front wheels and rounded slab-sides suggested that Nashes were quite wide.  Let's put that in context.  Nash Statesmen were 78 inches (1981 mm) wide.  Pontiacs were 75.8 inches (1925 mm), DeSotos 74.3 inches (1887 mm), Buick Specials 76.7 inches (1948 mm), and Mercury, also redesigned for 1952, 73.5 inches (1867 mm).  So most competing post- World War 2 cars launched prior to 1952 were two or three or even four inches (50-100 mm) more narrow.  One wider example is the Buick Super, whose width was 80 inches (2032 mm).

The car featured below is a 1953 Nash Statesman Country Club hardtop coupe listed for sale.

Gallery

Pinin Farina was credited by Nash publicity as the designer, though actually most of the design was via Nash's styling group and the NXI concept car designed by William Flajole.

Nash Ambassadors had longer hoods, so had slightly better proportions.

Nash backlight windows retained this three-segment design through model year 1955; most competing brands went to one-segment wraparound backlights earlier.

Basically, a tidy design aside from the width.  Imagine how it would look with flatter, slightly narrower side.

Slab side appearance was somewhat mitigated by the sculpting below the windows and the low, lengthy chrome strip.  Open front wheels would have helped even more.  But Nash president George Mason insisted on covered wheel for (dubious) aerodynamic reasons.

I suspect the width was to provide halfway acceptable turning radius for the enclosed front wheels.  Were front wheels exposed in a normal manner, the sides could have been made narrower without affecting interior width.

The hood was low, front fenders high, both in keeping with early 1950s styling fashion.

The centralized instrument panel was more typical of car brands with considerable sales in regions with different driving positions.  I doubt that applied very much to Nash.

General Motors' Massive 1958 Facelift: Buick Hardtops Version

For around 30 years, General Motors was regarded as the America automobile industry's styling leader.   That was while Harley Earl was in charge of styling.  But around 1955, Earl was losing his touch.  He was having trouble deciding what redesigns of his successful 1954-1955 designs should be.

Earl seems to have had a preference for rounded, as opposed to more angular, sculpting.  Those designs introduced in '54 and '55 were less rounded than before.  So for the 1957 model year redesign of GM's more upscale  B- and C-bodies, Earl moved back to his preferred rounded surfaces.

Unfortunately for Earl, Chrysler Corporation redesigned its entire line for 1957 in a manner that made his new designs seem out of date.  Chrysler Corporation cars features low hoods, thin rooflines and bold tail fins.  That is, much less rounding than GM was doing.

Earl was nearing mandatory retirement age, and many on his styling staff began crash-project studies of angular designs for the 1959 model year while Earl was in Europe for his annual studies of new car designs there.

That's the story I've found in many places.  A story about the massive 1958 facelift of '57 Oldsmobiles and Buicks is lacking, at least in my reference library and results of some Googling on the internet.

Designs of 1958 GM cars were largely in place in the fall of 1956 when some GM stylists viewed forthcoming 1957 Chrysler cars in a storage lot.  Photos of 1958 styling models for Buick indicate that sheet metal changes were already planned, given normal tooling lead-times, before 1957 Chrysler styling was known to GM.  Trim detail alternatives seem to have been under consideration as late as early 1957, according to the book "Designing America's Cars: The 50s" -- Amazon reference here.  I think that might be a little later than what happened, given tooling and publicity needs.  Unless the '58 Olds and Buick facelifts were also crash projects.

Harlow Curtice was GM's Chief Operating Officer from 2 February 1953 to 31 August 1958. In the 1930s and'40s he was President of GM's Buick Division, and tended to favor it later as he continued his upward path in GM's executive hierarchy.  In those days, General Motors was financially rich, dominating the American automobile market.  It could afford major facelifts and crash projects.  Chevrolets and Pontiac were given major facelifts the final year of their 1955-1957 run.  Buick was given notable facelifts over its B- and C-body 1954-1956 run -- front end designs being changed both for 1955 and 1956.  I suspect Curtice was happy to approve tooling funding.

So there clearly was precedent for major facelifting of 1957 models for 1958.  And 1958 GM designs were not a reaction to the 1957 Chrysler line.  Nor could they have been, given development time requirements.  Those overly decorated 1958 Buicks and Oldsmobiles were largely a matter of Harley Earl in desperation for viable new styling ideas.

Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale.

Gallery

Two-Door Hardtops

1957 Buick Century Riviera Coupe - RM Sotheby's Auctions photo
First, B-body two-door hardtops.  The hood is flat, while the passenger compartment greenhouse roof is high and rounded.  Buick's traditional Sweepspear side trim serves define two-tone paint areas.

1958 Buick Special Riviera Coupe
Not shown is the revised front end.  The backlight window is larger.  Slight smoothing at the front of the rear fender.  Rear wheel opening reshaped to allow that large chromed shape on the rear fender.  It visually conflicts with, and encroaches on, the Sweepspear.  Surprisingly unprofessional detail styling from GM.

1957 Buick Century Riviera Coupe - RM Sotheby's
This rear quarter view shows the unfortunate backlight window design that was not popular with potential 1957 model buyers.  The problem is the rounded framing of the outer windows next to the central segment.  Sharp framing next to the sculpted flow-through from the roof to the trunk (not necessarily a bad thing, that sculpting theme) would have largely solved the defect.

1958 Buick Century Riviera Coupe
That framing was abandoned for 1958.  Tail light framing was reshaped and chrome added to the top of the rear fenders.

1957 Buick Super Riviera Coupe - Mecum Auctions photo
Now for C-body 2-door hardtops.  Again, low hood and rounded greenhouse.  These cars had longer wheelbases.  C-pillar slants back, conforming with the backlight window,

1958 Buick Roadmaster Riviera Coupe
Side trim changes the same as on B-bodies.  The fenderline now drops below the beltline, requiring new stamping.  The C-pillar is now chromed.

1957 Buick Super Riviera Coupe
Similar to B-body versions.  Some line-topping Roadmasters had narrow chrome strips running from the roof to along the trunk lid, dividing the backlight into three segments.  That was aesthetically okay, being much less ponderous than the window division scheme on B-bodies, as shown above.  Front fenderline is slightly dropped.

1958 Buick Super Riviera Coupe
Similar '57-'58 changes here.


Four-Door Hardtops

1957 Buick Century Riviera Sedan
B-bodies.  The greenhouse window profile is similar to the of the 2-door hardtop, but adjusted for the presence of the added doors.

1958 Buick Special Riviera Sedan
Unlike the 2-door hardtops, the fenderline is dropped below the beltline.

1957 Buick Century Riviera Sedan
Again, the unfortunate backlight framing.

1958 Buick Century Riviera Sedan
Same changes at the rear.

1957 Buick Roadmaster Riviera Sedan
Now 4-door C-body hardtops.  This monochrome car seems attractive in side-view.  Aside from the heavily chromed aft trim.

1958 Buick Roadmaster Riviera Sedan
The wide C-pillar is replaced by a small side window.  Front fenderline is a bit lower, making the hood appear, or perhaps slightly be, higher (something Earl liked).

1957 Buick Roadmaster Riviera Sedan
Those trunk lid chrome strips in some cased extended up across the backlight window and then over the roof, as noted above.

1958 Buick Roadmaster Riviera Sedan
Buick's new top-of-the-line model for 1958, the Limited, lacked the chrome swath on the rear fender.  Its outline trim piece was retained.  On the painted area inside it perimeter  were three sets of slender chrome slashes set at the same angle as the fender aft and.  This was more tasteful, but the frame continued to clash with the Sweepspear.

Finally, this is how front ends were changed.  Here is a 1957 Buick Roadmaster.  A reasonably simple design aside perhaps from the guards at each end of the bumper.

A facelifted 1958 Roadmaster.  Model year 1958 saw the introduction of quad headlights, a feature that degraded several car designs.  The distinctive multi-segment grille interior was difficult to repair following damage.  Trim at the front of the hood is excessive jazz.  Maybe only the word "Buick" should have been there.

1938 Hupmobile 822-E Walkaround

Hupmobile (Wikipedia entry here) was on its last legs as the 1930s ended.  Due to a corporate reorganization, there were no 1937 model year Hupps.  Redesigned sedans appeared for 1938.  They were built by Murray Corporation of America, according to Google's AI.

I have no information regarding the designer.  The pervious Hupp design was by Raymond Loewy, but for 1938 his firm was stryling Studebakers.  Presumably the new Hupp design was by Murray staff.  Prior to his February 1937 death, that staff was led by Amos Northup, but he has never been credited with the 1938 Hupp design.  I suspect he had a hand in it, however, given production lead-times -- assembly of '38 Hupps began in July of 1937, according to "Cars of the Classic '30s."

Photos below are via HandH Auctions, taken at the RAF Duxford aviation museum.  The auction site referred to the car as a 1939 822-E.  But for model year 1939, Hupp designated that sedan type as 922-E.  It's possible that the few '38 Hupmobiles shipped to England arrived during the 1939 model year or were registered or sold then.  Thus causing the confusion.  In any case, there was no significant appearance differences for the two model years that I am aware of.

Gallery

Basic design is in line with that of Buicks and other style-leading General Motors cars.

Most pictures of surviving '38 Hupps are of fastbacks such as this, though touring sedans with "bustle" trunk lids were also available.

Headlight and taillight assemblies are linked to side trim chrome strips, a fashionable touch.

Clean rear end.  Note the fuel cap discretely mounted on the inside of the fender, an unusual feature.

Some views of the car's right side ...

Headlight lens shapes are carryovers from the 1936-and-earlier designs.

Symmetrical placement of dashboard items.

1960s Lincoln Continental Gets Its Hardtop Coupe in 1966

The original, classic Lincoln Continental was a prestige car that lived in the minds of Lincoln marketers and potential buyers for decades.  This Wikipedia entry deals with all Continentals from 1940 through 2020 (though there were some model year gaps).  Some versions were little like the original concept.  Others, such as the famous (to automobile history buffs) 1956-57 Mark II, that I wrote about here and here, were attempts to evoke the original's spirit.

Today's post deals with some aspects of what Wikipedia calls "Fourth Generation (1961-1969)" Continentals.  These were stylistically unrelated to the original, yet the initial, 1961, design is considered by many (including me) to be a classic.

Model year 1961-1965 Continentals were four-door sedans and four-door convertible sedans.  Lincoln marketers decided that the line should be expanded to include a hardtop coupe to compete against Cadillac's Coupe DeVille.  It appeared model year 1966.

While researching this post, I noticed that passenger compartment greenhouses on the 1966-67 and facelifted 1968-69 Continental coupes had structural features similar to those found on contemporary Mercury models.  That became the main focus of the discussion in the Gallery below.

Lincolns were wider than Mercurys, so there must have been some necessary structural differences if other aspects of the passenger greenhouse actually used some Mercury tooling.   I do not know if that happened, but I find the similarities suggestive.  Comments with solid information are welcomed.

Gallery

1966 Lincoln Continental Sedan - BaT Auctions photo
The basic 1966 Continental.  Enough changed from the 1961 original that I can't call the design "classic."

1966 Lincoln Continental Hardtop Coupe - Mecum Auctions photo
Here is the new hardtop coupe version.  Note the shape of the passenger compartment greenhouse and the window profiles.

1966 Mercury S-55 Hardtop Coupe - BaT Auctions
This is Mercury's top of the 1966 hardtop coupe line.  The C-pillar and after greenhouse segment led some to consider this a "fastback."  Ignore that: focus on the rest of the greenhouse and compare it to the Continental's in the previous image.  Note the widow profiles forward of where the C-pillars begin.  They seem identical to me.

1966 Mercury Park Lane Convertible - photo via Pinterest
As a side-note, this convertible's top illustrates what the Mercury's greenhouse shape might have been absent the "fastback" effect.

1968 Lincoln Continental Hardtop Coupe - car-for-sale photo
Continentals were slightly facelifted for 1968.  Here we see a revised greenhouse that was mostly changed in the C-pillar zone.

1967 Mercury Cougar Hardtop Coupe - car-for-sale photo
This is the first-year version of the Mercury Cougar.  Its passenger compartment greenhouse seems nearly the same as that of the '68 Continental.  Visible differences include the slope of the windshield and the upper right corner of the window profile.
Be aware of the different sizes in terms of wheelbase of the cars shown above.   Continental: 126 inches (3200 mm); standard '66 Mercury: 123 inches (3124 mm); 1967 Cougar: 111 inches (2819 mm).  The latter helps explain the differences in windshield slants.

1941 Graham Hollywood Walkaround

I recently discussed the Graham Hollywood, a 1940-41 sedan based on 1936-37 Cord bodies.  A while back I posted "Hupmobles and Grahams with Cord Bodies."  The first-mentioned post contained multiple views of one of those Grahams, but today's post is a more traditional walkaroud.

As mentioned, both Graham and Hupmobile were badly damaged by the Great Depression on the 1930s.  In efforts to survive, they made use of (inefficient) Cord body tooling to produce stylish cars in hopes of survival.  The resulting design was Cord-like aside from the hood, grille, headlights, front fenders, and a few other details.

Whereas the Cord design was advanced for 1936, by 1941 American car styling fashions had changed in the direction of fenders integrated (or nearly so) into the main car body.  Also, grilles were generally in horizontal layouts on comparatively flat front ends.  Graham Hollywoods, on the other hand, had separated, teardrop-shaped front fenders and sculpted hood and catwalk fronts with part of the grille in the hood front.

The early 1940s context was that the Hollywood definitely had a distinctive appearance that was a touch old-fashioned.  (The same might be said for pre-Clipper Packards.  But the Packard brand was far stronger than Graham's.)

Photors below are via Mecum Auctions.

Gallery

This illustrates the features mentioned above.  Another archaic feature is the headlight housing; by 1941, most American cars had headlights blended into fenders or the grille zone.

Standard 1936-37 Cords had a 125-inch (3175 mm) wheelbase.  The Hollywood's wheelbase was 115 inches (2921 mm), the shorter length manifested forward of the firewall/A-pillar.  For that reason, the front fender profile has less of a teardrop profile than Cord's.

The Hollywood is essentially Cord-like from this perspective.  The main difference is the bumper design.

Another difference from Cord is the fixed quarter window pane on the rear door.

Unlike the famous Cord "coffin nose," the Graham has a boat-like hood form.  Aside from the clutter of headlights and the supplemental fog lights, the appearance is pleasant.

The return of the 1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser Concept Car

A 1950s Ford Motor Company concept car that always interested me is the 1956 Mercury XM Turpike Cruiser.

I've posted about it twice, the more recent one here.  Besides commentary and images of the car in its prime, I included some photos of it from 2018 when it was about to be restored.  It turns out that around the time I wrote the article, the restoration was completed.  The next year it was put up at Mecum Auctions, but failed to sell at the restorer's price.  After that, it was purchased by the American Muscle Car Museum.

As for the restoration, the restorer's Hemmings account of the process is here.

Images below are via American Muscle Car Museum.  Mecum Auctions has an image set here.

Gallery