Plymouth Barracuda: Second Generation

Ford's Mustang started it all, and by the 1967 model year all American car makers either had sporty 2-door models on the market or were about to enter.  Plymouth's first-generation Barracuda appeared in the spring of 1964, about the same time as the Mustang.  American Motors' Rambler Marlin showed up for the 1965 model year.  But '67 was the big year for "pony car" launches.   These included the Mercury Cougar, the Pontiac Firebird, the Chevrolet Camaro, and the subject of this post, the second-generation Barracuda.  American Motors' Javelin arrived in 1967 as a 1968 model.

Barracudas were based on Plymouth's compact (American size class) Valiant. I wrote about the first Barracuda generation here.

Barracudas ranged from basic models powered by Plymouth's well-known "slant six" motor to flashy cars with powerful V-8 engines.  They came in two closed-body variations, a bustle-back coupe and a fastback coupe.  There also were convertibles.

Despite the intended image related to those V-8 motors, Barracuda styling strikes me as being rather delicate.  I would expect a more aggressive appearance.  And Barracudas finally got that when redesigned for 1970.

Gallery

1967 Plymouth Valiant Signet "for sale" photos
Two views of a two-door Valiant, upon which Barracudas were based.

1967 Plymouth Barracuda "for sale" photos
These images are of a Barracuda bustle-back lacking the fancy decals, striping and other ornamental clutter applied to sporty American cars in the late '60s and the 1970s.  From the notional B-pillar forward, Barracudas were nearly the same as Valiants.  Abaft of that point, they had different shapes.  Judging from these photos, the back seating area seems pretty cramped.

1967 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S - Mecum auction photos
This is the fastback variation.  It seems to offer more room for back seat passengers.  To a limited degree it harkens to first-generation 'Cudas that also were fastbacks with a dog-leg C-pillar

1969 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S - Mecum photos
This car is from the final model year for the second generation.  Attempts were made to make this look aggressive, but failed.  Nevertheless, Barracudas were pleasant looking.

The 1957 Imperial's Nine Facelifts: Front Views

For a far longer number of years than the 1960-vintage American industry average, Chrysler's Imperial brand cars used the same basic body, refreshing the styling via several major facelifts.   I compared side views of Imperials over model years 1957-1966 here and rear views here.  Front-end styling changes are discussed in the present post.  Annual facelifting is most evident for this part of the car.

Some background:  All Chrysler's makes got new bodies for 1957.  For the 1960 model year, all brands except Imperial were given new bodies featuring a form of unitized construction.  I've yet to read an explanation for Imperial's exception, but I'll speculate that it had to do with wheelbase length and the task of modifying unit-bodies that was difficult compared to modification of body-on-frame cars.  Chrysler New Yorkers had 126-inch wheelbases both before and after the changeover.  Imperials had 129-inch wheelbases in 1959, but to have them share the new unitized bodies while maintaining the longer wheelbase would have been expensive for a brand that typically sold fewer than 20,000 cars per year.  In other words, it was cheaper to continue the body-on-frame arrangement, especially because Imperials were already being assembled at their own factory on Warren Avenue in Dearborn -- a facility formerly used by Graham and DeSoto -- and therefore didn't need to be integrated into assembly lines for other Chrysler products.

This arrangement continued through the 1966 model year.  Thereafter, Imperials were again derivations of Chryslers until the brand was phased out after 1975.

Wikipedia's Imperial entry refers to 1957-1966 models as the brand's "second generation," so scroll down the link for its take on those Imperials.

Unless otherwise noted, the images below are of cars posted for sale on various web sites.

Gallery

1957 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupe
First model year for the new Imperial body.

1958 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupe, Mecum Auctions photo
The grille and front bumper were restyled for 1958.

1959 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupe, Hyman Ltd. photo
The bumper remains the same, but the grille, its framing and the chromed framing by the headlights have changed.

1960 Imperial Custom Southampton Sedan
A major facelift came for 1960.  Only the fender tops are basically unchanged, though even here windsplit creases were added at their fronts.  The overall result is fussy, not very pleasing.

1961 Imperial LeBaron Southampton Sedan - Hyman photo
Another major facelift appeared in 1961.  Here Chrysler styling boss Virgil Exner opted for a classic 1930s look.  The grille is smaller and narrower.  Fortunately, the bumper is back to being horizontal rather than angled.  The most noticeable feature is the freestanding headlight assemblies.  Very 1930s and probably very difficult to keep them and the sheet metal behind them clean.

1962 Imperial Crown Southampton Sedan
The main change for model year 1962 is the divided grille.

1963 Imperial Custom Southampton Coupe
Another grille restyling for '63, but little else new on the car's face.

1964 Imperial LeBaron hardtop coupe
By now Exner was gone and Elwood Engel replaced him.  Engel was responsible for the classic 1961 Lincoln Continental and proceeded to impose Continental features on Imperials for 1964.  Most of the sheet metal was changed, as were the front bumper and grille.

1965 Imperial Crown hardtop coupe
The two-segment grille was flattened and unified for 1965.  headlights were combined into rectangular assemblies.  Otherwise, little was changed.

1966 Imperial LeBaron hardtop sedan
The final year on the 1957 body featured only another grille redesign on the front end.

Publicity Photos of American Styling Studios in the 1950s

For a change of pace, I decided to post some images of 1950s styling studios.  In every case, they are staged photos intended to promote the idea that Corporation X is a really future-oriented place.  At the same time, care was usually taken not to reveal style features slated for near-term production.  One way of achieving this was to release photos taken a few years earlier in advanced design studios, where car models and renderings still looked flashy, but were no longer likely to have future production features.

Some of the images below are poorly identified as to the manufacturer and, especially, the year they were taken.  Regardless, I hope you enjoy viewing these carefully posed peeks behind various styling curtains.

Gallery

The Internet source of this image had it that it was from Chrysler Corporation.  It shows a corner of an Interior studio.  Probably from the early '50s.

A Ford Motor Company studio as photographed in the mid-1950s.

Not necessarily of a studio -- most likely a public display of Ford advanced designs.  The models look like they are from the very early 1950s, some perhaps from the end of the 1940s.  If this was indeed a public display and not one intended for company management, none of those models were recently made.

Another Ford photo, perhaps taken 1952, give or take a year.

The renderings in the background are of Oldsmobiles showing features current around 1952.

A Studebaker photo from around 1950.  That's Raymond Loewy touching the model.  Bob Bourke is behind him.

I don't have any information regarding this photo.  The renderings look like GM thinking in the late 1940s, but I cannot rule out Ford.

Again, I have no information.  The spaceship-like rendering subjects suggest this is a Ford studio.

Readers with solid information are encouraged to provide sources and dates in comments.

The 1957 Imperial's Nine Facelifts: Rear Views

For a far longer number of years than the 1960-vintage American industry average, Chrysler's Imperial brand cars used the same basic body, refreshing the styling via several major facelifts.   I compared side views of Imperials over model years 1957-1966 here. Rear-end styling changes are discussed in the present post.

Some background:  All Chrysler's makes got new bodies for 1957.  For the 1960 model year, all brands except Imperial were given new bodies featuring a form of unitized construction.  I've yet to read an explanation for Imperial's exception, but I'll speculate that it had to do with wheelbase length and the task of modifying unit-bodies that was difficult compared to modification of body-on-frame cars.  Chrysler New Yorkers had 126-inch wheelbases both before and after the changeover.  Imperials had 129-inch wheelbases in 1959, but to have them share the new unitized bodies while maintaining the longer wheelbase would have been expensive for a brand that typically sold fewer than 20,000 cars per year.  In other words, it was cheaper to continue the body-on-frame arrangement, especially because Imperials were already being assembled at their own factory on Warren Avenue in Dearborn -- a facility formerly used by Graham and DeSoto -- and therefore didn't need to be integrated into assembly lines for other Chrysler products.

This arrangement continued through the 1966 model year.  Thereafter, Imperials were again derivations of Chryslers until the brand was phased out after 1975.

Wikipedia's Imperial entry refers to 1957-1966 models as the brand's "second generation," so scroll down the link for its take on those Imperials.

Unless otherwise noted, the images below are of cars posted for sale on various web sites.

Gallery

1957 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupe
The first year for the new body featured styling director Virgil Exner's beloved tailfins in their classic form.  Tail lights are built into the fines, and those truncated chrome rings harken to the freestanding lights-in-rings introduced on 1955 Imperials.  The spare tire faux-cover on the trunk lid is another holdover feature.

1958 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupe, Mecum Auctions photo
Rear styling was essentially unchanged for 1958

1959 Imperial Crown Southampton Sedan
Some side chrome has been added, and interior detailing on the bumper is changed.  The 1957-59 bumper shape disappears for 1960, but partly returns in 1964.

1960 Imperial Crown Southampton Sedan
Imperials got a significant facelift for 1960.  Tailfins were enlarged and reshaped, the bumper was redesigned and the spare tire "cover" was replaced by a simple chrome strip.  Sedan back windows were also reshaped.

1961 Imperial LeBaron Southampton Sedan, Hyman Ltd. photo
Aft sections of the tailfins were restyled again for 1961.  Tail light assemblies are now freestanding, a side chrome strip has been added and  some trunk/bumper area ornamentation changed.  LeBaron sedans had smaller backlights than other Imperials.

1962 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupe
Fins disappear for the 1962 model year, requiring yet another tail light restyling.  Those torpedo-shaped tail light elements are functionally superfluous, only serving as a thematic link to previous Imperials.  Returned is the faux spare tire cover.  Also restyled is the bumper.  The after part of the passenger greenhouse is redesigned in a more angular fashion, and the backlight has changed as well.

1963 Imperial LeBaron Southampton Sedan
There were few changes for 1963.  Gone are those torpedo-shaped  tail light elements.

1964 Imperial Crown hardtop sedan, Mecum photo
Now the influence of new styling director Elwood Engel finally kicks in with this facelift echoing Elwoods masterpiece 1961 Lincoln Continental.  Everything abaft of the B-pillar has been changed.  It will be seen better on following images but the aft end of the trunk lid sports a squared-off sort of spare tire cover.  The bumper tapers towards the sides, harking to the 1957-59 shape.  The medallion at the center can be considered the hub of the notional spare tire.

1965 Imperial Crown hardtop coupe
The design is essentially unchanged for 1965 other than the back window being replaced by a smaller unit.

1966 Imperial Crown hardtop sedan
This is the final model year for the 1957 body.  At the rear, the only significant change is the elimination of the faux- spare tire "cover" -- now there is some squared-off shaping in the aft part of the trunk lid.

1999 Alfa Romeo Bella and 1938 Phantom Corsair

Rust Heinz's Phantom Corsair of 1938 has fascinated me for many years. I've posted about it here (click on its name on the right sidebar for these), and I'm doing it again in the present post.

The reason is that, while skimming through a book I bought dealing with Alfa Romeo models over the years, a photo that caught my eye was of a 1999 show car from Bertone called the Bella -- Italian for Beautiful or in more of a street-talk vein, "Sweetheart." Its Wikipedia entry is here.

My eye was caught because the Bella somehow reminded me of the Corsair.  That might be odd, because the references on the Web to the Bella that I came across only mentioned its design heritage in terms of previous Bertone creations.

True, the cars are 60 years apart and based on the technologies of their times.  Moreover, the details that caused me to make my connection are not identical -- they're only evocatively similar, or so I think.  Still, look at the images below so that you can form your own opinion.

Gallery

The Bella.  Note the designs of the front and the side windows, as these are the key details.

View of the Phantom Corsair when it was fairly new.

The Alfa shield-shaped grille and the Corsair's convergent grill louvers have a similar feeling.  But those louver shapes are strongly echoed by the shapes Bertone used for the Bella's grille-flanking cut-outs both above and below the bumper zone.

Rear ends differ because the Corsair was designed with pre-Kammback automobile aerodynamic concepts in mind.  But the aft part of the side window sharply tapers, as does that of the Bella.

The 1957 Imperial's Nine Facelifts: Side Views

During the 1950s, most American car brands got redesigned bodies every three or four years, relying on facelifts to freshen style during intermediate model years.

There were cases of more rapid body replacement.  Wealthy (at the time) General Motors' 1958 Chevrolets and Pontiacs had a body for only that year.  Chrysler Corporation cars got new bodies for 1955 and again for 1957, the '55s only having a two-year run.  GM's Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs had their new 1957 bodies replaced in 1959, another two-year example.

Companies with less financial strength often had to defer replacement for more than the average cycle length.  For example, Studebaker sedan bodies were used from 1953 until the firm stopped making cars in 1966 -- that's 14 model years.

Another example is Chrysler's line-topping Imperial brand.  All Chrysler's makes got new bodies for 1957.  For the 1960 model year, all brands except Imperial were given new bodies featuring a form of unitized construction.  I've yet to read an explanation for Imperial's exception, but I'll speculate that it had to do with wheelbase length and the task of modifying unit-bodies that was difficult compared to modification of body-on-frame cars.  Chrysler New Yorkers had 126-inch wheelbases both before and after the changeover.  Imperials had 129-inch wheelbases in 1959, but to have them share the new unitized bodies while maintaining the longer wheelbase would have been expensive for a brand that typically sold fewer than 20,000 cars per year.  In other words, it was cheaper to continue the body-on-frame arrangement, especially because Imperials were already being assembled at their own factory -- a facility formerly used by Graham and DeSoto -- and therefore didn't need to be integrated into assembly lines for other Chrysler products.

This arrangement continued through the 1966 model year.  Thereafter, Imperials were again derivations of Chryslers until the brand was phased out after 1975.

Wikipedia's Imperial entry refers to 1957-1966 models as the brand's "second generation," so scroll down the link for its take on those Imperials.

The present post presents images of Imperials as seen in profile, later ones deal with frontal and aft facelift details.  What I find interesting is how extensive those facelifts became over time.

Unless otherwise noted, the images below are of cars posted for sale on various web sites.

Gallery

1957 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupe
In order to keep a reasonable length for this post, year-to-year comparisons are for four-door hardtop sedans.  However, let's first compare Imperial hardtop coupes for the first and final models years using the same basic body.

1966 Imperial Crown Coupe, Earlywine Auctions photo
A lot changed over those ten model years.  What is consistent in these two photos is the 129-inch wheelbase along with the windshield, its wing vent, and the door's position.

* * * * *

1957 Imperial Crown Southampton Sedan
This is the starting point's styling.

1958 Imperial Crown Southampton Sedan
The car in this photo has droopy rear suspension, so ignore the tilt.  Seen from the side, there are no obvious changes: those mostly are on the car's face.

1959 Imperial LeBaron Southampton Sedan
Again, the sides of Imperials are are essentially unchanged, even on this line-topping LeBaron.

1960 Imperial LeBaron Southampton Sedan
Other Chrysler Corporation cars got new bodies for 1960, whereas Imperials received a major facelift.  All Imperials' tailfins were restyled in an appalling manner.  LeBarons had back windows reduced in size, creating more privacy for rear-seat passengers.  This continued for the two following model years.

1961 Imperial Crown Southampton Sedan
Most Imperials were of the Crown variety.  Back windows were reshaped for the 1960 facelift.  Headlights were became retro, free-standing affairs harking to 1930s styles, as can be glimpsed here.  Tail lights were separated from the tailfins.

1962 Imperial Crown Southampton Sedan
The major change for 1962 was the elimination of tailfins, though restyled tail light assemblies remained detached.

1963 Imperial Crown Southampton Sedan
Elwood Engel, who replaced Virgil Exner as Chrysler's styling director in 1961, made his mark with the classic 1961 Lincoln Continental.  When development lead times permitted, he slowly nudged Imperial styling in that more angular direction.  Here we find a wider C-pillar and the integration of tail lights into the rear fenders.

1964 Imperial Crown hardtop sedan
Now Imperials assume even more Lincoln Continental characteristics.  The aft part of the passenger greenhouse is further squared off.  Those detached headlights have been moved into the grille ensemble and the front fender is reshaped accordingly.  A character crease is added to the rear fender side.  Continental chrome strips are atop the fender line.  For the first time, the rear door shapes have changed: compare their cut-lines with those in pervious photos.

1965 Imperial Crown hardtop sedan
No significant side changes for 1965.

1966 Imperial Crown hardtop sedan
The final year for the 1957 body.  Again, nothing new in the side view: visible differences are found on the grille design.  Compared to the '57, this seems like a totally different car.  The most noticeable similarity is the windshield.