This post deals with four-door sedans of each of the body platforms. It's part history and part spotter's guide. Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale.
C-Bodies
Cadillac 62 Sedan, Barrett-Jackson photo
C-Body four-door sedans are easy to spot because they are a four-window type.
LaSalle 52 Touring Sedan
LaSalles were the best-selling cars in Cadillac's line. But the brand was replaced for 1941 by the Cadillac 60 Series that continued the use of C-Bodies.
Buick Roadmaster Touring Sedan, Hyman Auctions photo
This photo shows that trunks were now well-integrated into GM bodies.
Oldsmobile Series 90 Sedan, Barrett-Jackson
Line-topping 90 Series Olds' received C-bodies, mid-range 70 Series Olds' had B-Bodies and the entry-level 60 Series had A-Bodies. This arrangement held for Pontiac's three lines. C-Body sedans were attractive, but not exciting-looking.
Pontiac Torpedo Sedan
The Pontiac brand was the next-to-lowest on GM's totem pole, but its Torpedo line did get C-bodies. Compare this photo with the one above, noting the comparatively stubby hood and front end of the Pontiac. A casual viewer of this and the LaSalle pictured earlier might not realize that they shared the same basic body.
A- and B-Bodies
Chevrolet Special DeLuxe Sedan
A 1940 Chevrolet four-door sedan A-Body.
Chevrolet Special DeLuxe Sedan, auction photo
Now for a comparison with the B-Body introduced in 1939. The A-Body Chevy pictured here is a six-window type, and all the windows' corners are radiused.
Buick Century Sedan
A 1940 Buick sporting a B-Body. It also has six windows, and at first glance might seem the same as the Chevrolet in the previous image. But there are differences. The trunk of the B-Body is more squared-off, less gently curved. The B-pillar and C-pillar window corners along the beltline are sharp, not radiused.
Pontiac Special Sedan
Entry-level '40 Pontiac showing the curved A-Body trunk lid.
LaSalle 50 Touring Sedan, auction photo
This shows a top-of-the-B-Body-line four-door sedan with its more squared-off trunk.
1 comment:
Great post. One thing that caught my eye was the treatment of the Oldsmobile's front fenders. I don't know what the technical term is, but the whole surface has curves to it that the others don't.
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