Stout Scarab in South Bend

Sources such as this hold that nine Stout Scarabs were built, five of which survive.  Its creator, William B. Stout (1880-1956), was an engineer active in both the automotive and aviation fields.  Perhaps his best known work was an airplane that evolved into the famous Ford Trimotor transport.

By the mid-1930s Stout was back into automobile work, creating the Scarab -- what some consider the precursor of the minivan.  Sources on the Internet mention that the Scarabs were essentially custom-built, no two being identical.  They might be regarded as a more practical form of Buckminster Fuller's three-wheel Dymaxion car of 1933.

A 1935 Scarab can be found in the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana where I recently took the color photos shown below.

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A poor-quality image of the first Scarab from 1934.

Interior view of that car.

Probably the 1935 Scarab shown in the museum.

Stout, at left, discussing a 1936 Scarab at a filling station.

There was a 1946 Scarab, shown here with Stout.

1935 Stout Scarab as seen in the museum, September, 2019.  This unrestored car was owned by Wrigley chewing gum family of Chicago.

Front quarter view.  The license plate letters refer to Philip K. Wrigley.  Note the strongly raked (in plan view) windshield.

Rear quarter view.  This Scarab was covered with fashionable 1930s parallel "speed lines."  I find this aspect of the car the most interesting and best looking -- though not beautiful.  The talon shape in white on the 1934 car is echoed here via sculpting.

Morris 1948 Badge Engineering -- And More!

What follows is not "badge engineering" (different brands of cars with minor appearance differences) in the narrow sense.  It is definitely the use of major body components by two brands and various models.  And in one instance regarding appearance, there is true badge engineering.

The subject matter is variations on Morris Motors' first postwar design.  The primary model was the best-selling Morris Minor that I wrote about here.

The postwar Minor began as a two-door saloon (sedan), and it wasn't until around the end of 1950s that a four-door version appeared.  That version used the body shown below.  However, abaft of the forward edge of the C-pillar, two-door and four-door Minors used the same 1948-vintage stamping.

Using the body discussed above, from the cowling aft, front ends and wheelbases varied depending upon the motors used.  Those cars were the Morris Oxford MO (97 inch, 2646 mm wheelbase), the Morris Six MS (110 inch, 2794 mm wheelbase), and two Wolseley models, the 4 cylinder 4/50 and six cylinder 6/80 (respective wheelbases 102 inches, 2591 mm, and 110 inches, 2794 mm).  Note that the Morris MS and Wolseley 6/90 have the same wheelbase: these are the badge-engineered models.

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1948c. Morris Oxford MO
The smallest of this set.  Note the stubby front end and the shaping of the fender extension over the front door.  This fender design is that of the Morris Minor.

1948c. Wolseley 4/50
The 4-cylinder Wolseley carries a high hood and grille that visually define the brand.  The section of the fender overlapping the front door is shaped differently from the Oxford's.

1948c. Morris Six MS
Two views of the Morris Six.  It's hard to see here, but the grille's design differs from the Wolseley's, being more curved, less severe. The fender line here is the same as the Wolseley's, not the Oxford's.

1948c. Morris Six MS
Aft ends of all these cars were essentially the same.

1948c. Wolseley 6/80
The top of the line shown here is this six-cylinder Wolseley.  These were popular police cars in England.

1954 Wolseley 6/80 for sale photo

1934 Bendix SWC Experimental Car

I first learned of the experimental 1934 Bendix SWC in the late, lamented Special-Interest Autos magazine when it was edited by Michael Lamm.  It was contemporaneous to the Chrysler and DeSoto Airflow streamliners of the same year, and looked similar in many respects -- slightly better, perhaps, due to its longer hood.  The link credits its styling to William F. Ortwig who had done work for Fisher Body.

Due to Bendix's South Bend Indiana heritage, the car was eventually donated to the Studebaker National Museum in the same city, where it currently can be seen positioned next to the 1956 Packard Predictor concept car..

The color photos below were taken by me in September 2019.  Click on images to enlarge.

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This is a 1934 Chrysler CU Airflow sedan.

And here is an outdoors photo of the 1934 Bendix SWC (I don't have the photo's source).

I do not know if the SWC body form was wind tunnel tested.  The Airflow design was, and as mentioned, their shapes are similar.

Frontal view.  It seems that the right rear wheel opening lacks a spat, though the left rear opening has one.  When displayed at the Portland Oregon art museum a few years ago, the spat was present.  The link above notes that the grille came from the 1934 DeSoto Airflow due to time pressure preventing an original design.  I suspect that the original grille concept was not much different,  provided that little new front end metal shaping was done to accommodate the DeSoto grille.

The SWC featured a smoother, more graceful fastback than four-door Airflows.

Showing the metal sculpting around the windshield.

Peerless Sixteen: Frank Hershey's First Big Project

For most of the first 30 years of the 20th century, Peerless was ranked among America's leading luxury automobile brands.

When the Great Depression of the 1930s struck, Peerless was considering adding a V-16 motor to its lineup in light of Cadillac's V-16 introduced in 1930 and the 1931 V-16 Marmon, along with forthcoming 1932 V-12 powered cars by Packard, Pierce-Arrow, Lincoln, Franklin and Auburn (Cadillac introduced a V-12 late in 1930).

Peerless created a few engineering prototypes, but only one styling prototype.  That was built in 1931 by the Murphy coachbuilding firm of Pasadena, California.  The stylist was young Frank Hershey who soon became an important stylist at several Detroit car makers including General Motors and Ford.  Hershey prepared design proposals for a range of body styles, but only the prototype of a prospective 1932 V-12 four-door sedan was built.

It was about then that Peerless management decided to phase out its automobile business and move on to other fields that included brewing Carling beer.

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1931 Peerless Master Eight DeLuxe sedan -- what the company was building while the V-16 project was underway.

1931 Peerless V-16 by Murphy -- Murphy photos.  Hershey's design was essentially a cleaned-up, more rakish version of the 1931 American styling norm.

One distinctive feature was doors who tops curved into the car's roof.  Presumably the idea was that due to the low body, passengers could enter more easily without knocking off their hats.

Thanks to the long motor, the prototype had a long hood.  The windshield is slightly raked back and the hood line remains flat all the way to the windshield's base.  Production 1931 Peerless cars had a curved cowling that served as transition between the hood and windshield, as can be seen in the first photo.

This rear quarter view emphasizes the roof that's more rounded than the early 1930s norm.  All things considered, the prototype is an improvement on existing themes, but probably not too radical to frighten prospective affluent buyers.

For further context, here is a 1932 Cadillac V16 452B Fleetwood Imperial Limousine in an auction photo.  This would have been the Peerless Sixteen's competition had it entered production.  The Peerless was a nicer design.

Gordon Buehrig's Tasco: Update

A while ago I wrote about famed stylist Gordon Buehrig and the Tasco, a car he considered his worst mistake.  Or as he put it, "The Tasco, you might say, was my personal Edsel ... it still exists to haunt me..."

That quote and more from him regarding the project can be found at the link.

It turns out that the Tasco and a scale model of it still exist.  They can be found in the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana that has much more to offer the automobile enthusiast.

Below are some Tasco photos I took while visiting the museum.

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The detailed model is in a case, so reflections and case structure elements interfere with views of it.

And here is the car itself.  That's Burhrig's personal Cord 810 in the background.

The scale model includes many items seen here in the car's cockpit.

Ford Falcon Generations

Of the new, 1960-vintage American "compact" cars, the most successful in terms of early sales was the Ford Falcon.  I wrote about first-generation Ford Falcons here and here.  The present post sketches how Falcon styling changed over its 11 model year run.  (Falcons first appeared in the 1960 model year, were drastically facelifted for 1964, redesigned for 1966 and production ceased in 1970.)

Given that Falcons were Ford's entry-level cars, their styling was blandly competent, but not memorable.  Potential buyers with thicker wallets and a desire for more exciting appearance were expected to shop for standard-size Fords or Mercurys.

Unless otherwise noted, images below are factory publicity photos or picture of cars listed for sale.

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Factory image of the new 1960 Ford Falcon four-door sedan.  Wraparound windshields and tail fits were now passé.

Rear quarter view of a two-door sedan.  Over the years, all Falcons retained those classic, round Ford tail lights.  Mecum auction photo.

Side view.  Compare to the photo below.

The first link above calls 1964 Falcons "Second generation."  Indeed their appearance was altered, but this actually was a major facelift.  No change in wheelbase.  Note that the door cuts are essentially the same as for 1960, as are the windshield and the wheel openings.

To a casual observer, 1964 Falcons probably did seem to be totally new.

Two views of a 1964 Falcon hardtop coupe.

Model year 1966 saw the appearance of a larger, redesigned Falcon.

Falcons never had those awful quad-headlights.  Barrett-Jackson auction photo.

Again, those nice, round tail lights.  I miss them, and like to hope that they reappear on Fords sometime soon, as they are a useful brand visual identification feature.

Where to View the Packard Predictor Concept Car

One of my favorite concept cars of the 1950s was the Packard Predictor that I wrote about here.  In that post I mentioned that:

"For me, the most frustrating aspect of the Predictor is that something like it might have revived the Packard brand in the luxury market. That's because it was an example of a restrained 1950s style, unlike the direction Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial took over the next few years."

I also noted that the Packard brand was dying at the time.  Had the firm been in better financial shape, perhaps something like the Predictor might have emerged to keep matters going for a few more years.

The Predictor still exists, and can be found in the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana where I saw as long ago as 2008.

To give those of you who haven't visited the museum and viewed the Predictor a sense of the place, some photos I took are below.  Click on the images to enlarge.

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Publicity photo from 1956.

And photos I took September 2019 at the museum.  The gray automobile in the background is the 1934 Bendix SWC experimental car.

The 1936 Hupmobile's Art Deco Touches

Hupmobile was an American brand whose popularity peaked during the late-1920s, declined in the '30s, and disappeared shortly thereafter.  Its Wikipedia entry is here.

As the link mentions, Hupp was in serious trouble in 1936.  But the styling of that year's models was interesting due to the amount of Art Deco / Moderne ornamentation applied to its otherwise conventional body styles.

Click on the photos below to enlarge.

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1936 Hupmobile rumble seat coupe, photo from a Wikipedia site.  The "fencer's mask" grille was a styling fad of that year which I discussed here.  The droopy headlights were a styling feature found on Hupps starting in 1934.  1932 and 1933 Studebakers had similar headlights.  The airfoil-shaped heat exhaust on the side of the hood is very Streamline Moderne.

Now for three views of a "for sale" Hupp four-door sedan.  Those doors are hinged on the B-pillar.  The windshield is sloped slightly, but not V'd as seen on many competing brands.

The two-tone paint job is unusual, but apparently a factory offering.

This quarter view is devoid of Deco touches abaft of the hood.

Now for a few photos I took of a 1936 Hupmobile in June at the Nethercutt Collection.  This might be the car shown in the previous images, but probably isn't because it has a medallion on the lower part of the grille and the artillery wheels are a slightly different color.

View of the front end.  The grille is divided into two sections with vertical "speed line" bars flowing over the top along with a few horizontal stiffening bars.  Note the stylized "H" medallion on the broad, painted center bar.

An even-closer look at the upper ornamentation.  I find the hood ornament especially interesting because it looks like the sort of rocket ship that might be seen in Buck Rogers comic strips or science-fiction magazine covers in those days.