Harley Earl's Final, Unsuccessful 3-Segment Backlights

A styling feature that has a curious power to attract my attention is the three-segment rear window ("backlight" in stylist jargon).  For example, I wrote about Cadillac's backlights here.

Now I want to extend the timeline from the late-1940s and early 1950s to later in the '50s when automobile glass production technology had reached the point where breakage rates were low, making strongly curved windows economical.  Actually, this was attained for the 1953 model year wherein GM cars that had had 3-segment backlights in 1952 got unitary backlights on cars with the same basic bodies.

In other words, it was no longer necessary to have 3-segment backlights.  But GM styling boss Harley Earl, late in his career, for some reason opted for including them on some 1957 Oldsmobile and Buick models.

Resulting sales were disappointing.  Chrysler Corporation's redesigned '57 line with thin tops and tail fins was sensational compared to the rounded, heavy-looking new designs of GM's senior lines.  That was bad enough, but the three-segment windows with comparatively heavy segment dividers added to the heavy, unfashionable appearance of those cars.

Those segmented back windows were eliminated on 1958 models.

Gallery

This General Motors Heritage Center photo shows a 1949 Buick Roadmaster Riviera Coupe, one of GM's first hardtops.  It's not a generally-acclaimed classic design, yet one of my favorites.  The design of early GM hardtop greenhouses was exceptionally good.  Note the segmented backlight.

This design appeared the following model year on GM's lesser brands, Chevrolet and Pontiac, having smaller bodies.  Shown in this Mecum auction photo is a 1950 Pontiac Chieftain Catalina.

Background on the 1954 Pontiac Strato Streak concept car shown above is here.  Even though GM cars all had unitary backlights by this time, it seems that Earl still liked the three-segment idea.  Note the segment divider posts have ridges that continue up onto the roof.  This style was used on production cars for 1957.

This is a closeup view of the backlight on an Oldsmobile 98 Holiday Coupe.  The backlight segment divider ridges extend all the way over the top and down across the trunk lid -- far greater length than on the Strato Streak in the previous image.  The rounded corners of the window segments add visual bulk to the design: a marketing mistake.

Here's how the segmented design looks on a four-door sedan, this an Oldsmobile Super 88.  Note the overall heaviness of the design that the segmentation contributes to.  Mecum auctions photo.

This is Oldsmobile's top-of-the-line Ninety-Eight Holiday four-door hardtop (Mecum photo).  It's longer than the Super 88, so visual bulk due to large-radius rounding is less apparent and the three-piece backlight is slightly less of an issue.

Sharing the same basic body were Buick's entry-level Special and Century models.  This a a Century four-door hardtop.  The ridges show up well in this Mecum photo.

Some Super and Roadmaster Buicks based on a different body also received segmented backlights as shown on this 1957 Roadmaster Riviera Coupe (Barrett-Jackson auctions photo).  Here the divider posts are thin, helping to lighten their effect.  Rather than ridges, continuations on the roof and trunk lid are supplied by chrome strips.