General Motors' New 1961 Compact Cars and Standard Models

Model year 1961 saw major new designs from General Motors.  Swept away were panoramic (wraparound) windshields.  Nearly eliminated were tailfins.  But the big news was the launch of smaller cars for Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick that were generally called "compacts."  Production of larger, "standard size" cars continued, the compacts being an adjunct brought to life in reaction to increasing sales of smaller cars in America.

The bodies of GM's compact line differed noticeably from those of standard models.  So the obvious styling tactic was to place brand identification cues on the compacts so as to link them to the host brands in the minds of potential buyers.

How this was attempted is shown below.

Gallery

First, Pontiac.  Its compact line was named Tempest.  The first image appears to be a factory photo of a coupe, the second is a "for sale" photo of a coupe's rear quarter.

Here are standard size Pontiacs, a Ventura hardtop coupe (Mecum auctions) and a Catalina four-door sedan for sale.  1961 was the second year of Pontiac's to-be-traditional two-segment grille theme.  The first model year was 1959, but 1960 Pontiacs had a different theme.  The designs differ, with Tempests having oval-shaped openings that harken to BMW grilles, whereas standard Pontiac grilles were more angular.  Rear-end styling was similar in that both versions had tail lights with the same basic shape along with a recessed panel setting for them.

The smaller Oldsmobile was called the F-85, seen here respectively in factory and "for sale" photos.  The shoulder level character sculpting seems the same as that of the Tempest.  There is additional sculpting reinforcing the side chromed strip.  These features are absent on standard Oldsmobiles.

Standard size Olds' shown above are of the same Dynamic 88 Holiday Sedan offered for sale.  Unlike Pontiac, Oldsmobile's grille theme is found on both compact and standard cars.  Otherwise, the designs are different.

Buick resurrected the Special name for its compact line. The upper photo is a car show view of a four-door sedan, the lower is of the same model in a factory image.  The strong side sculpting is largely the same as that of the F-85: differences are at its front and rear.

The Standard 1961 Buick images here are of the same Invicta hardtop sedan that was for sale.  At the rear, the tail lights have horizontal profiles, but that is the only similarity aside from the word Buick on the back of the trunk lids.  Brand theme unity is found via the spear-shaped front fender ends and the similar grille layouts.