Pre- "Sharknose" Graham Ornamentation

I suspect that nowadays most automobile buffs think of the 1938-39 "sharknose" design if they think of the Graham brand at all.  Of course, there was more to the Graham story than that.  I wrote about the 1935 and 1936 Grahams that shared their basic body with Reo here.  That body was carried over to the 1937 model year, but was only used by Graham because Reo no longer made cars.

The present post features the ornamentation found on 1937 Grahams.  My inspiration was a 1937 Graham Cavalier that I saw while visiting the Nethercutt Collection, a museum mostly featuring immaculately restored American luxury cars of the 1920s and 30s.  Graham built mid-range cars, and the example on display had not been restored at all.  Perhaps that's why I noticed it.

Unless otherwise noted, the photos below are mine.  Click on images to enlarge.

Gallery

1937 Graham Model 116 Supercharged, Mecum Auctions photo.  This is a restored top-of-the-line '37 Graham.

And here is the non-supercharged Cavalier model at Nethercutt.  The right front fender is scuffed and some of the paint just in front of the hood opening is worn down.  Otherwise, the car seems in pretty good shape, considering that it's more than 80 years old.

The information plaque noting the car's low mileage.  Laws forbidding odometer adjusting came into play only in recent decades, so barring other documentation it's possible that the data is inaccurate.  On the other hand, given the car's condition and the care Nethercutt staff take regarding details, we should probably accept the 28,555 figure.

The details.  Horns are exposed rather than hidden.  All other major American brands for 1937 aside from Hudson had them tucked inside sheet metal.  The solid central section of the grille ensemble recalls Pontiac's Silver Streak motif that first appeared for 1935, except that Pontiac's grooved strip extended along the top of the hood as well as down the grille.  There is a scuffed, knock-out crank hole near the bottom.  The hood ornament includes Graham's traditional three overlapping knight's heads that represent the three Graham brothers.  An interesting touch is the set of five Art Deco style faux heat exhaust ports along the side of the hood.  Grahams from 1935-36 had large heat ports, but examination of images of 1937 Grahams found via a Google search suggests that the ports seen here are purely decorative.  If I'm wrong, please correct me in a comment.

Everything mentioned in the previous caption changed for 1938 and its "sharknose" styling that won critical acclaim while being a marketing dud.  Image via Shannons auction of Melbourne.