1990 General Motors W-Body Sedans

By 1990 General Motors was on its path from industry dominance to bankruptcy.  Ford's aerodynamically influenced 1986 Taurus was a marketing success that required a response from GM.  That response was in the form of its new W Platform.  Coupes appeared for the 1988 model year, sedans following for 1990.

The present post deals with the sedans.  These were the Chevrolet Lumina, Pontiac Grand Prix, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Buick Regal.

Shamed by the lookalike 1982 A Body line, GM made an effort to have W Body cars for each brand look distinctive.  Some details are discussed below.

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Chevrolet Lumina Euro
I owned one of these during my time as demographic forecast supplier to GM.  The basic Lumina had a different grille and no trunk lid spoiler.

Pontiac Grand Prix
This car had a slightly higher beltline and six-window passenger greenhouse.  Rear door cutlines differ.

Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
The basic body here is similar to the Lumina's with the same rear door aft cutline.  But the beltline is more like the Pontiac's.

Buick Regal
A six-window greenhouse like the Grand Prix, its beltline is distinctly curved.

Chevrolet Lumina Euro
Lumina aft windows (backlights) were not fully wraparound.  Note the low beltline and tall side windows.

Pontiac Grand Prix
Showing the aft window treatment.

Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
The Olds, Like the Chevy, was a four-window car.  But the backlight was a full wraparound.

Buick Regal
Its backlight is the same as the Pontiac's.
Aside from beltline treatments, what we see here in terms of major passenger compartment differnces, is that the Chevrlet and Oldsmobile were paired as were the Pontiac and Buick.

Ur-Saab and Some Antecedents

In 1947 SAAB (Svesnska Aeroplan AB), builder of military aircraft, was exploring entering the automobile market.  The initial result was the prototype that some people nowadays call the UrSaab.  (In Germany and some parts of Europe probably including Sweden, the prefix "Ur" is sometimes applied to the earliest example of something.  The word Ur is the name of what some anthropologists claimed was the world's oldest city.)

A series of prototypes were built, details edging towards the first production model, the Saab 92 that reached the Swedish market in 1950.

Below are images of that car and another prototype along with two earlier cars with similar rear styling details.  Because Saab built aircraft and had a wind tunnel, it is no surprise that the new car was tested to enhance aerodynamic efficiency.  Whether or not the other streamlined examples actually influenced Saab designers is belong the scope of my source materials.  That said, I hope you might find the similarities interesting.

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The UrSaab.  There are no wheel openings.  The hood has "boat tail" sculpting on the part covering the high parts of the motor.

Lower level view of the front.

A later prototype featuring wheel opening spats similar to those on production cars.  The visual feeling is "teardrop" -- a common automobile aerodynamic solution of pre- World War 2 days.

Rear quarter view of the UrSaab in motion.  The plan view of the passenger compartment has the "boat tail" treatment.

Rear quarter view of the Phantom Corsair, a solitary concept car of 1938.  Although some details differ, it and the UrSaab are conceptually the same from this perspective.

The is a Tatra 97, marketed 1936-1939.  Unlike the UrSaab and Phantom Corsair, its engine was mounted in the rear.  It too has something of a passenger compartment boat tail.  The same was true of production Volkswagen beetles.

The front of the Phantom Corsair differed greatly from the UrSaab, which was a much smaller car.

The same can be said for the Tatra 97.

As it happened, production Saab 92s had a different rear end shape than those of the first prototype.  The boat tail plan view was abandoned, perhaps to simplify production or perhaps because more trunk space was desired.  The rear window is now one-piece, but it's mounted so low that I wonder how good rear vision was for Saab drivers.  This is a 1952 model.

Separated Twins - Jaguar XJ and Postwar Hudsons

My e-book on automobile styling argues that there hasn't been much evolution in the appearance of sedans since about 1950.  Yes, technology has improved in terms of metal stamping, autoglass forming, headlamp structure and other fields related to how cars look.  And there has been increased attention since the early 1980s regarding improved aerodynamic efficiency as a means of reducing fuel consumption.  But the dominant factor is fashion. Automobile styling fashions come, go, and occasionally return.

A case regarding the return of a style is the design of the 2010-vintage Jaguar XJ model.  It took me a while to make the connection, but it finally dawned on me that the XJ can be considered a modern version of the "step-down" Hudson of the 1948-1954 model years.

Let's take a look:

Here are the cars in profile, the XJ above, the Hudson below.  Both designs might be called "almost-fastback," where the top gradually curves downward and meets the lower body slightly in front of the back of the car.  Both designs use a "six-window" treatment, each door having a window plus a window placed to the rear of the rear door. (A "four-window" style has only door windows.)

And here are rear quarter views that offer more information on the treatment of the passenger compartment greenhouse.  Note the pinched, roughly triangular aft side windows on both designs as well as their relationship to the backlight windows.

True, there are differences in appearance. The XJ makes plenty of use of technological refinements and wind tunnel testing, but the most visible difference is that its rear wheels are exposed, whereas the Hudson's are skirted.  Nevertheless, the cars separated by the Atlantic Ocean and 60 years are conceptually similar in terms of basic shape.

BMW Z8 -- the BMW 507 Reimagined

The BMW 507 produced 1956-1959 is widely considered a design classic, especially in the context of its time.  Its Wikipedia entry is here.  It was styled by Albrecht Graf von Schlitz genannt von Goertz von Wrisberg, or in shorter, English terms, Count Albrecht von Goertz (1914-2006) -- Wikipedia entry here.

Wikipedia notes that it was hoped that the 507 would sell well, but in fact only 252 were ever built.

About 40 years later a Chris Bangle design team (Henrik Fisker in charge of the exterior) did what Wikipedia (here) calls a "styling exercise intended to evoke and celebrate" the 507.  A show car followed  in 1997 and production began in 2000, continuing into 2003.  Total produced was 5703.

Below are comparative images of the 507 and Z8.

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1959 BMW 507, Bonhams auction photo.  Its styling theme is typical 1950s sports car: Flowing fenderline with upkick at the rear, hood lower than the front fenders but with a higher cowl.  The character line extending from the front wheel opening adds individuality.

A for-sale 2002 BMW Z8.  The 507 seems a little spindly from today's perspective, and the Z8 is a filled-out, aerodynamically refined modern package.  The front fenders are high with headlights at the front.  This is a carryover from the 507, but little more than a hint.  Rear quarter shaping vaguely suggests rear fender pickup.  Grilles are the main similarity.  And both cars have air vents abaft of the front wheel opening.

Here is Graf Goertz's personal 507 in a Bonhams photo.  My early quibbles aside, the styling is curvaceous, yet lean, taut.  A very nice 1950s sports car styling theme interpretation.

Rear quarter view showing the variety of curved surfaces employed by Goertz.  The overall impression from this photo is that the various elements -- rear fenders, trunk lid curve, passenger compartment opening, windshield -- are a bit too distinct, not quite as integrated as perhaps they should be.

Similar view of a for-sale Z8.  Here we find bulges suggesting rear fenders.  The trunk lid's surface is convex.  These details feebly recall the 507.  Rather than having perhaps-too-distinct features, we find something of a blob here.

Side view.  Very nice profile proportions and shape.  A bit hard to see, but there are character lines flowing from both wheel openings.  I think the forward one needs to conform a little better to the fender line above it.  The decorated air vent seems arbitrary in its position, shaping and detailing, but something similar is needed nevertheless.

The Z8 has a short character line extending aft of the air vent.  It is in line with the front impact area's cut line, helping to unify the detailing.  The profile itself is less graceful and not as well proportioned than that of Goertz's 507.

Publicity photo of a Z8 alongside a 507.  All things considered, I prefer the 507.

Some Awkward Convertible Top Designs

A fairly easy job for American automobile stylists around 1950 was the creation of a design for a convertible.  Mostly it required razing the top off a coupé or two-door sedan and replacing it with a retractible canvas top design.  And those designs were largely shaped by engineering requirements.

That task became more difficult to a greater or lesser degree when the shape of the source of the derivation interfered.  Below are images of some American convertibles from that era whose canvas top (and related sheet metal) designs were more or less awkward.  Unless noted, the photos are of cars listed for sale.

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First, a 1949 Chevrolet (Mecum auction photo).  General Motors stylists were at the top of their game, and the raised convertible top is attractive.  This was in spite of the rounded trunk lid and the body shape falling off towards the rear, two elements that might have led to a less satisfactory result.

This 1949 Hudson Commodore 8 convertible retained some coupé sheet metal above the windshield, an unusual touch.

This was probably done to simplify convertible top engineering.

Aside from that detail, the raised top shown in this Bonhams auction is a little too angular due to its ribbing placement.

Packard's postwar major facelift was a design failure, though convertibles looked better that the rest of the line.  That said, the top on this 1950 Packard (Mecum photo) is not nearly as cleanly designed as that of the Chevy in the top photo.

Side view of a 1948 Packard.  The car has a fine, long hood, but the back passenger seats are fairly close to the curved rear, affecting the top design.  A much more awkward setting than for that Chevy.

1949 Lincoln Cosmopilitan convertible.  I'm not sure if the double-backlight was standard design.

The distinguishing feature of Cosmo convertible tops is the wide "C-pillar" zone.  These cars were large and somewhat bulky looking, but the top's design fits the rest of the car well.

Lesser Lincolns such as the 1949 model in this and the following Mecum photos shared bodies with Mercury.

Like the Packard shown previously, the passenger compartment sits somewhat aft, and the trunk lid is short and curved downwards.  The result is a top design that looks bulky rather than graceful.

The 1950 Nash Rambler seen in these Mecum photos was the most successful sales-wise compact American car at the time.  It used a unit body structure which helps explain why the side windows have fixed structural framing.  The canvas top was simply pulled up or down along these "rails" rather than by a more elaborate mechanism.

However, the result was rather dumpy looking, and the slab-sided body with minimal wheel cutouts added to the problem.  Because the car was small, these defects were not as strong as they might have been on a standard-size car.

Kaiser and Frazer cars starting in the 1949 model year included convertible sedans having four doors.

The tops were large and not particularly attractive.  An unusual detail is the faux-B-pillar featuring a small, vertical window.  Again, the short, rounded trunk lid made the top design less attractive than it might have been otherwise.

1938 Horch 853A Special Roadster by Erdmann & Rossi

I wrote about ace race dirver Berndt Rosemeyer's Horch 853 Coupé by Erdmann & Rossi here.  This post is about another Erdmann & Rossi 853.  It's a 1938 853A Special Roadster restored by RM Auto Restorationn. Its commentary on the car and restoration is here.  It notes:

"These first two cars [discussed in the article] may be considered the 'first series' cars, in that they closely resemble the [factory's] wooden model, and are virtually identical to each other. Both survive, one in Texas (Dr. Charles Key) and one in Germany (Horst Lautenschlager). "A subsequent series of cars were built (the 'second series' cars) which differed from the first in several respects. The coachwork was more modern, and featured pontoon shaped fenders and a one piece rear body (no separate fenders).

"Five of these cars were built, three of which are known to survive today. The first example was built for Nazi Herman Goering ... This first Horch 853 Special Roadster was ordered to be dismantled, although parts of the car were used in the subsequent four Special Roadsters.

"A second car remains unaccounted for, while the three surviving cars include two currently residing in Europe, and the example presented here, the Cassini car.

"The Cassini car's prewar history remains unknown, but it was imported to the U.S. in the late 1940s by a returning serviceman ..."

Below are photos of the restored 853 via the RM web site.

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First, two photos taken at a Pebble Beach Concours d'Élegance.

Despite what the above quotation states, I contend the the rear fenders are essentially distinct.

This set of photos shows the car with its top raised.  The design is impressive from the firewall forward --  that long, long hood with its side louvres and bits of chrome trim.  The headlights seem a little too high, but the shape of the catwalk (see the first photo above) required that placement.  Abaft of the firewall, things get Baroque (the rounded cockpit coaming and curved character line across the door) and even Art Deco (the decoration on the rear wheel spats).

As for the rear fenders, whereas they are distinct when viewed from the rear or quarter, it's true that the front edges are almost completely blended into the body shaping as can be seeing this image and the one above.  The front fenders seem bulbous and might need a subtle character line to reduce that visual mass.

As for the car's rear, the tail lights are tiny and placed close to the thin bumper segments.  The rack forward of the spare tire is placed on a lid for storage of a few travel items.
Despite my quibbles, this Erdmann & Rossi design is very impressive as well as being emotionally satisfying.

1989 Cadillac Solitaire Concept

Cadlillac's 1989 Solitaire concept car was essentially a coupé version of its 1988 Voyage sedan concept.  Some background on the Solitaire is here.

Of the two, I found the Voyage a better, more interesting design and wrote about it here.  Unlike the Voyage, the Solitaire had no impact of the styling of future GM production cars.

All images below are from General Motors.  Some are of the Voyage for comparison purposes.

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Front quarter Solitaire view.  The below-the-beltline part of the car as seen here is generally similar to the Voyage, though details such as front lights and hood shaping vary.

This aspect of the car is quite different from the Voyage.  The beveled trunk is an interesting touch.  But storage capacity was thereby reduced, and that might have affected sales had the Solitaire entered production.

It's difficult to see in these images, but for some reason there is a see-through panel along the upper edge of the door but on the roof above the roll-down window.  I find no functional or aesthetic reason for that detail.

Behind the B-pillar is a wraparound rear window (backlight) whose lower edge is slightly raised above the belt line.  This odd touch and the adjoining greenhouse profiling seem at odds with most of the rest of the design because there is no sleekness.  In fact, this area strikes me as being rather dumpy.  Worse, the rounded shaping of the rear fender and forward part of the trunk echo this despite a touch of sharp sculpting. 

A sharper view, perhaps of a styling model.

For comparison, the Voyage seen from a high front quarter perspective.

High rear quarter Voyage view.

The Voyage in profile.