General Motors' 1961 Y-Body Coupes

The title above refers to 1961 model year cars, but most 1962 versions had essentially the same styling as the '61s.  So I'll include 1962 examples in the Gallery below.

I compared styling of 1961 generation "compact" (Y-platform) 4-door sedans here.  Today's post deals with coupes.

This platform was noticeably smaller than the "standard" size cars produced by Detroit's three largest automobile makers. For example, Oldsmobile's compact F-85 had a wheelbase of 112 inches (2845 mm) compared to 123 inches (3124 mm) for its standard size 88 models.

This was in response to American Motors Corporation's Rambler compact car line that was rapidly increasing its market share in the late 1950s, while Studebaker introduced its compact Lark model for 1959.

Chrysler Corporation introduced its compact Valiant for the 1960 model year, and Ford Motor Company launches its Ford Falcon and Mercury Comet compact cars for 1961.

As was the case for brands and models sharing the same basic platform, Y-body cars shared many features in the interest of development/production economy as well as brand-specific differences needed for marketing purposes.

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

Gallery

1961 Pontiac Tempest - BaT Auctions photo
Model year 1961 saw the return of Pontiac's two-segment grille that was introduced for 1959, but abandoned for '60.  Thereafter, two-segment was a visual brand identifier for Pontiac.  The grille design seen here differs from two-segment grilles on 1961 standard size Pontiacs.

1962 Pontiac Tempest LeMans
For some reason, Tempests lost the two-segment theme for 1962, yet returned to it for '63.  An odd repeat of the 1959-1960-1961 pattern of the standard size line.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass
"Cutlass" was used to denote F-85 coupes.  Later, it was applied across much of Oldsmobile's line.  The car pictured here has fancier trim than the Pontiacs shown above.  That would be expected becuase Oldsmobile was one notch ahead of Pontiac in General Motors' brand portfolio.

1962 Buick Special
Buick Specials featured the same projecting, tapered leading fender profile as standard size '61 Buicks had.  All 1961 Y-body coupes were just that -- Buick added a hardtop (pillarless) version for '62, as did Olds.  There were no compact Pontiac hardtop coupes until the 1964 redesign.

1962 Pontiac Tempest
Fronts and rears differed for reasons of brand identity.  Sides were more uniform.  The bold, near-beltline character sculpting is found on all 1961 Y-body coupes.  Tempests had a faux air exhaust vent abaft of the front wheel opening with an attached character line extending back over the rear wheel opening.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass
No faux air vent, but the lower character line is the same as Pontiac's.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire - Jay Leno Collection
The Jetfire hardtop coupe was added to the F-85 line for 1962.

1962 Buick Special - BaT Auctions
1962 Specials looked nearly the same as '61s from the side.  The lower character line and side sculpting differs from Tempest's and F-85's.  The line does touch the tops of the wheel openings, however.

1961 Buick Skylark
Buick's '62 hardtop coupe.

1962 Pontiac Tempest LeMans
Rear quarter views.  This car lacks vinyl roof covering, revealing the crisp metal sculpting.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass
Similar to the Tempest.

1962 Buick Special - BaT Auctions
Buicks ranked above Oldsmobiles in GM's hierarchy.  So side sculpting takes a scooped-out form.  The backlight window is wider than on the other cars.

1965 Ford Galaxie Hardtop Coupe Walkaround

In this post I considered that 1965 Ford Galaxie styling was very good, almost at the level of the 1963 Pontiaac Grand Prix.

I stated: "Like the Grand Prix, the Galaxie had a trim, taut look: no visual flabbiness.  Also like the Grand Prix, its quad headlights were stacked and set in angular, "frenched" housings.  I never liked cars with four headlights, but they looked their best on the Galaxie and Grand Prix."

Today's post's subject is a walkaround of a Galaxie 500 hardtop coupe.  The subject car was listed for sale on the Internet.

Gallery

The generally clean appearance.

Aside from the wheel openings and some areas of rounding, the lower body seems almost geometrical with horizontal and nearly-horizontal elements from beltline to rocker panel.  The passenger compartment greenhouse design is carried over from 1963 Galaxie 500s.

The chrome strip separating the roof from the lower body suggests that the roof might be lowered or removed -- though it cannot.

Simple rear end design aside from the tail light assemblies.

Tail lights have notionally six-sided framing that relates to body sculpting.

That character line abaft of the front wheel opening trails off to the rear as it become less strong.  A subtle touch that relieves the otherwise strongly horizontal theme.

A nearly-flat hood.  The upper side character line starts at the level of the gap between the headlights (a professional touch), but does not touch or interact directly with it (another subtlety).

Most of the grille projects forward.  Grille bars are simple -- but the 1966 facelift remade it into heavy, stacked, horizontal elements -- a retrograde touch.

Front quarter high perspective.

Rear quarter high perspective.

The dashboard features rectangularities.

Renault's 1998 Vel Satis Concept Car

Automobile styling has been "internationalized" for several decades.  Back when I was young, American cars looked American, British cars usually seemed British, Italian cars Italian, and so forth.  Those distinctions were fading by the 1960s, in part because Italian designers such as Pinin Farina and Giovanni Michelotti were hired by the likes of Nash and Triumph to style production cars.  By the 1970s the great Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign firm had its hand in the design of cars from as far away as South Korea.

One rear-guard attempt to preserve a national design feeling was France's Vel Satis executive car by Renault.  In 2013 I wrote "Renault's Not-So Vel Satis Adventure" that dealt briefly with it and its concept version.

The man behind the design was Patrick Le Quément, who became Renault's Vice President, Corporate Design in 1987.  As this Wikipedia link notes, although Le Quément was French-born, he was raised and educated in England.  Much of his early car styling experience was at Ford's British subsdiary as well as in Germany at Volkswagen.

That said, his early efforts are Renault had to do with creating a French look to Régie Nationale des Usines Renault styling.  An important part of that was the Vel Satis concept car's design.

By the way, Wikipedia notes: "The name Vel Satis is a portmanteau of Velocity and Satisfaction."

By the time the concept car appeared, the "Frenchness" of the Citroën Traction Avant and DS 19 was well as Peugeot's 1930s 302s and 402s was long past.  I suppose the concept's 1989 Frenchness lies in the fact that the design was different, distinct, compared to what was common at the time.  And yes, some details seem to be examples of French la logique.

Photos below are all probalby via Renault.

Gallery

Frontal air intakes seem too small, and I don't notice a chin-level intake.  That said, it was powered by a transverse-mounted V-6 motor that required a radiator.  Perhaps it wasn't driven long enough to overheat.  Or else there was a hidden source of air to cool the radiator.

Rear styling has a completely different theme from the frontal.

Simple fender line.  Largely flat sides.  Round wheel openings.  Very basic design components.

This profile image shows the rather odd (French?) proportions.  Long, slanted hoodline and frontal overhang.  Minimal rear overhang and a chopped-off roofline at the rear that contrasts with a rounded lower rear body.  That rounding corresponds to the round aft wheel opening.

This shows the passenger greenhouse sculpting.  The crease begins at the fender front, becomes the A-pillar, then flattens and transitions to side window upper framing, and finally wraps around to become upper framing of the backlight window.  Interesting, maybe French la logique.

The short, rounded aft body is echoed by the curved backlight with its contrasting flat roof.  The trunk lid is necessarily tiny.

View of the car in fairly normal lighting.  An interesting design, more intellectual than attractive.

Similar Mid-Late 1970s Standard-Size American Sedans

When I see photos taken or films or TV programs set, say, 1900 to 1970, I can often pin down the date to within a few years simply by observing women's clothing, hairstyles, and perhaps makeup.  I'm less knowledgeable regarding earlier periods, so my guesses would be less accurate.

It's all a matter of fashion, of course.  But since the early 1970s, women's fashions are more eclectic, and harder to pin down by date -- though there are some exceptions.  Fortunately for this blog, automobile styling fashions have been fairly easy to identify by period.  Again, in more recent times, that task has become more difficult.  That's because car body designs remain in production far longer than they did in, say, 1934-1980 America.

Today's post presents some upper-middle priced cars from the period 1974-1978 or so.  They are of the so-called "three-box" variety common in the years leading up to wind tunnel influenced shaping.  The cars shown are four-door sedans or hardtop (pillarless) sedans from each of America's Big Three automakers.  Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation examples are surprisingly similar.

Gallery

1977 Mercury Grand Marquis Brougham - car-for-sale photo
This Marquis generation was launched for the 1973 model year.  Headlights were rectangular-shape, here hidden behind retractible doors when not in use.  The hood is sculpted to blend into the rectangular grille frame.

1975 Dodge Monaco Royal Brougham - BaT Auctions photo
Exactly the same things could be said about this Dodge.  Monacos were redesigned for 1974, but develop[ment was probably largely set when the '73 Marquis appeared.

1978 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency - BaT Auctions
Introduced for model year 1977 as a down-sized car -- shorter, with flatter sides.  That makes it less comparable to the larger cars shown above.  That said, its general appearance is similar to the others.

1978 Mercury Grand Marquis - car-for-sale photo
Compare passenger compartment greenhouse, fenderline, door cut-lines, etc. to those of the Dodge below.

1975 Dodge Monaco Royal Brougham - BaT Auctions
Monaco's Wheelbase is 121.5 inches (3086  mm), the Marquis' is 124 inches (3150  mm).  The difference can be seen in the relationships of C-pillar zones to rear wheel openings.

1978 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency - BaT Auctions
Wheelbase is 119 inches (3023  mm), down from 127 (3226  mm).  It resembles the other cars most closely in side-view from the B-pillar forwards.

1978 Mercury Grand Marquis - car-for-sale photo
Rear-quarter views.

1976 Dodge Monaco Royal Brougham - car-for-sale photo
I couldn't find a closer perspective view, but note the tail light placement is below the trunk lid on both cars.

1978 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency - BaT Auctions
Backlight window is more vertical than on the other designs.  Rear-end detailing has a more delicate look.

1976 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency - BaT Auctions
The previous, much-longer Olds 98.  Backlight is slanted like those on the Dodge and Mercury above.  Note the tail end detail carryover to the 1977 redesign shown in the previous image.

1953 Plymouth in Context

Chrysler Corporation's first new post- World War 2 designs shared the same basic body for model years 1949-1952.  Then for 1953, Plymouths and Dodges were given new bodies while DeSoto and Chrysler were massively facelifted.

From what I've read here and there, it seems that the Corporation's leadership thought that the trend in car size would be to smaller vehicles.  So wheelbases of Plymouths were reduced from 118.5 inches (3010 mm) to 114 inches (2896 mm) on standard models.

Competing 1953 Chevrolets and Fords had 115-inch (2921 mm) wheelbases, but their overhangs and overall lengths were greater, especially the Ford's: 198 inches (5029 mm) versus 189 inches (4801 mm) for the new standard Plymouth's.  So size was indeed a potential appearance and sales consideration.

Plymouth production for 1953 was 662,515 and 399,900 for 1954.  The '53 figure was comparable to  some previous Plymouth numbers, so the new design was not a liability at first.  1954 saw an industry-wide fall-off, but Plymouth's decline was noticeably stronger than the average, as was that for the rest of the Chrysler Corporation line.  Since DeSoto and Chrysler were on a different basic body than Plymouth (and Dodge), I don't think 1953-54 Plymouth styling itself was the only decline factor.

The Gallery below has a brief comparison of 1953 Plymouth Cambridge coupes to comparable competing cars from Chevrolet, Ford and Studebaker (a lesser rival).  Most are from entry-level price lines, though there is a partial exception.  Also, a four-door Ford is displayed, though it shouldn't affect the comparison much.

Images below are of cars listed for sale or assumed so.

Gallery

1953 Plymouth Belvedere
I wrote about the grille design here.  This is Plymouth's top-of-the-line model, showing what potential buyers might consider.  Below are entry-level cars.

1953 Studebaker Champion
Studebakers were redesigned for 1953.  This two-door is more awkward looking than the company's sleek coupes that share its front end and side sculpting.

1953 Ford Mainline Fordor
Not a coupe, but aside from the rear door, styling features are the same.  Fords were redesigned for model year 1952.

1953 Chevrolet One-Fifty
The entry-level Chevrolet.  Like Studebaker and Plymouth, '53 Chevy's were given new bodies.  Not very fresh styling, with carryover features (such as the fender design) from the previous (1949-1952) generation.

1953 Plymouth Cambridge
This is a typical entry-level Cambridge coupe.  I lack useful views of this car, so a variation is pictured below.

1953 Plymouth Cambridge
This is indeed a entry-level Cambridge -- note the lack or chrome around the windshield, for instance.  But the side chrome trim is the same as on the more-upscale Cranbrook line.  The appearance is more rounded than the competing cars.

Not much front overhang -- less than on the other designs.  But rear overhang is similar to the others'.  Side sculpting (enhanced by chrome trim here) visually reduces slab-sides somewhat.  Like Ford and Chevrolet, front doors are free of sculpting, more economical to form the steel.

A simple design, the lack of trim gives the car a 1950s-60s European appearance from this viewpoint.  The passenger compartment top is more domed than the Ford's, Studebaker's, and even the Chevy's.  That makes the car seem more old-fashioned.  A flatter roofline, coupled with the nearly horizontal fenderline would have made for a slightly sleek design.

Low-Mid Level Ford Granada Becomes Continental-Peer Lincoln Versailles

The automobile industry is usually in a turbulent state.  At times, the turbulence is more extreme than usual.  One such period for American carmakers was from around 1973 into the early 1980s.  Two major factors were (1) the oil supply crisis in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and (2) increased federal government regulation activity regarding fuel economy and collision safety.  The result was that new design generation cars were smaller/lighter/more-streamlined than before, while having more robust bumpers and stronger passenger compartment pillars.

This downsizing affected even luxury brands.  Cadillac introduced its 114.7 inch (2903 mm) wheelbase Seville for 1975, and Lincoln followed with the 109 inch (2769 mm) wheelbase Versailles for model year 1977.  In 1977, base prices were $11,500 for Versailles and $13,359 for Seville, the latter being 16 per cent more expensive.  Annual production in 1977 for Versailles was 15,434, 45,060 for Seville -- Seville production almost three times that of Versailles.

Why the large difference despite Versailles' price advantage?

The Seville was based on its own platform (derived from other General Motors platforms).  But the Versailles was a derivative of Ford Motor Company's 1975 Mercury Monarch and Ford Granada.  That's the American Granada, not Ford's European one.  The problem was that the Versailles was too similar to its less-expensive stablemates, even sharing the same motors.  More importantly, the 1977 base price for the entry-level 4-door Grenada was $4,118.  That's only about 36 percent of the Versailles' price.  And the two cars looked nearly alike, as is shown below in the Gallery.  No wonder the Versailles was a market failure.

Gallery

1975 Ford Granada - unknown photo source, probably car-for-sale photos
A "three-box" design, fashionable during the non-streamlined 1970s.

1977 Lincoln Versailles - car-for-sale photos
The grille design is similar to that of standard-size Lincolns.  Quad headlights are here rather than the round, twin headlights of the Granada.  However, bumpers and turn-signal light assemblies are almost the same on both cars.

Side views: this Granada has vinyl roof covering like the Versailles below.

The most obvious side difference is the carriage light seen on the B-pillar.

Rear quarter views.

The "Continental" spare tire bulge on the trunk lid is non-functional; the tire itself lies flat under the trunk's floor.  The padding under the roof vinyl is obvious from this viewpoint.  Tail light assemblies differ, bumpers are nearly alike.

1980 Lincoln Versailles - Mecum Auctions photo
For 1979, Versailles got modified roofs, and sales briefly rose.  ('79 production was 21,007, but fell to 4,478 for 1980, the model's final year.  Total Versailles production was 50,158.