What Were They Thinking? Michelotti's Vignale Rolls Royce

"The Ugliest Roll Royce Ever?" -- That was the title of a 2001 piece on Motor Trend magazine's web page.  Well, maybe.  But there might have been a few that were worse.

The cited car was a 1954 Roll-Royce Silver Wraith with a custom body by Italian coachbuilder Vignale completed in 1955.  The designer was the well-known Giovanni Michelotti who later designed production car bodies for Triumph.

Being a custom bodied automobile, its design features were influenced by Vignale's client.  Some of this is mentioned here on the Bonhams auction web site in reference to its 2014 offering at Quail Lodge in California.  What might be important is that he was an American.  Which suggests that he wanted the car to have 1954-vintage American styling features.

Gallery

The car was on display for a while at the Blackhawk museum in California's Bay Area.  That is the source of this and similar images below.  The "ugly" bit is the front end design that features the then-standard Rolls grille along with 1954-vintage styling features such as "Frenched" headlight assemblies and flow-through fenders.

Here is a Michelotti proposal drawing of the car.

This side view shows that the actual car was longer than as depicted by Michelotti.  Though it needs mentioning that his drawings were not always true to form, as I posted here.

Aside from the front end, the most distinguishing feature was the reverse-slanted backlight window.

The 1953 Packard Balboa concept car's back window design might have influenced Vignale's client, but I can't rule out the possibility that it was Michelotti himself who was influenced by the Balboa.

A view of the rear end, unknown source.  The styling seems far more American than Italian.

Front view via Bonhams.  All the headlight assemblies are fussy, adding to an already cluttered composition.  The grille-flanking openings add to this because of the wide spacing of their vertical bars that contrast with the Rolls-Royce grille bar spacing.  Michelotti should have used the latter's spacing on the flank openings.

I think this might be the most attractive view of the design (Bonhams photo).  Very 1954 American (but no garish two-tone paint scheme).

BMW Convertibles Since 2001

I seldom write about convertibles because passenger compartment greenhouses require plenty of styling effort that's not required for convertibles.  However, I am now inspired to write about some BMW convertibles because my fiancée recently bought the 2013 328i convertible shown in the photo above (that's my '19 Toyota RAV4 in the background).

Hers is a retractible hardtop model that requires a good deal of space in the trunk area.  The following image of a 2014 BMW 4 Series Convertible retraction stage might offer an idea as to what goes on and why aft ends of BMW convertibles are shaped the way they are.

The images below of various BMW convertibles starting with the 2001 model year are side views intended to show the top storage areas in profile for comparison.  All images are factory-sourced photos.   Some cars shown have retractible hardtops, others are conventional soft top convertibles.

Gallery

2001 BMW M3 Convertible
All the cars shown here have a high, nearly flat trunk lid area top -- regardless of whether the retractible top is hard or soft.

2007 BMW 335i Convertible
This is an early variation of my fiancée's car.  Note the aft cut line for hardtop retraction.

2012 BMW 1 Series Convertible
The smallest BMW convertible, probably a soft top model.

2012 BMW 6 Series Convertible
The convertible version of the 5 Series sedans --  soft top raised.

2014 BMW 4 Series Convertible
The same car as in the retraction photo in the text above.  The 4 Series name was introduced for 2014 to differentiate convertibles and coupes from 3 Series sedans.

2015 BMW 6 Series Convertible
A 6 Series with the top lowered.

2018 BMW 2 Series Convertible
Convertible version of 1 Series BMWs.

2018 BMW 4 Series Convertible
Recent 4 Series.  Restyled, but the high trunk area is retained.

2019 BMW 8 Series Convertible
Recent convertible version of 7 Series sedans.  The rear overhang is longer than on 2 Series and 4 Series cars.

1939 Lagonda V12 Drophead Coupé, Frank Feeley Design Walkaround

Perhaps England's outstanding pre- World War 2 sporting luxury car was the Lagonda V12.  Frontal styling by Frank Feeley was strong, but rounded, unlike the angular Rolls-Royce motif.  Therefore, although some "razor edge" bodies appeared on V12 Logondas, the usual styling solution was to maintain curves.

The present post presents a walkaround set of views of a 1939 Drophead Coupé sporting a factory-built body designed by Feeley.  Images are via Bonhams, who put the car up for auction in 2016.  Bonhams' web page dealing with that car is here.

Some background on the V12 Loganda from Bonhams:

"1935 had brought bankruptcy and rescue for Lagonda, the benefactor being a young solicitor named Alan Good. Good reorganized the company and recruited W. O. Bentley, who by then was disillusioned with life at Rolls-Royce which had acquired Bentley in 1931. Bentley succeeded in refining the muscular, Meadows-engined Lagondas while working on a vastly more-advanced design that many consider the great man's finest. Luckily, the talented designer Frank Feeley was already working at Lagonda when Alan Good took over, and he was wisely retained. Feeley was made responsible for the elegant factory bodywork, and together, he and Bentley and would create the ultimate in British prewar grand touring cars. As usual, a short-chassis Rapide roadster was made available which provided even more performance. First seen in 1936, the Lagonda V12 did not commence deliveries until 1938, and only 189 had been built before the outbreak of hostilities ended production."

Gallery

Dramatic view.

Frontal styling.  Very British, and around five years out of date by 1939 American styling fashion standards.

Side view, top down.  The hood (bonnet) is high and the belt line falls off to the rear.  This continuity is slightly broken by the tall, bulged trunk (boot).

Side view, top (hood) raised.  This seems to improve the composition, so I wonder what a fixed-head version might have looked like.

Spare tires are covered and the rear fenders feature spats.  These features might have been included to make the design seem more "modern" or "streamlined"  -- that is, smoother.

Rear view.  Those 1939 tires seem spindly in today's context.

Right side.

The flat windshield was also somewhat dated by 1939, though I doubt that a V'd version would have been an improvement.

Finally, a glimpse of the dashboard.

About the Sides on 1970 1/2 Camaros and Firebirds

Michael Lamm, founding editor of the late, lamented "Special-Interest Autos" magazine wrote "The Fabulous Firebird," a book about Pontiac's variation of the Chevrolet Camaro -- Firebird's Wikipedia entry is here.  The following background is based on Lamm's book.

Back in the late 1960s General Motors was prosperous and able to indulge the heads of the styling units responsible for the second-generation Camaros and Firebirds that appeared well into the 1970 model year.  The Camaro head stylist was Henry Haga, who I wrote about here in regard to his Art Center School days.  Firebird styling was initiated  by Jack Humbert and carried out by Bill Porter.

Camaros were given a more crisp appearance, whereas Firebirds were a bit softer, more rounded.  One result was disagreement over the placement and form of the character lines along the cars' sides.  Rather than forcing one concept to prevail over the other, GM management allowed both variations to be produced even though the sides of Camaros and Firebirds required body stamping variations -- a somewhat costly solution.

The images below illustrate the results.

Gallery

1970 1/2 Camaro, publicity image
This shows the strong character line on the side of the new Camaro.

1971 Firebird, for sale photo
Here the fold is less distinct.

1970 1/2 Camaro, for sale photo
Sighting down the car's side, the line remains strong.

1971 Firebird, Mecum auction photo
This is about as strong as the Firebird's character line can look.

1971 Camaro, Mecum auction photo
Here are side views.  The doors have the same cut-lines.

1971 Firebird, Mecum auction photo
But the Firebird's character line is slightly lower than the Camaro's.  That seems to have to do with its placement at centerline height of the headlights that, in turn, are lower than the Camaro's.
I think the Camaro could have used the Firebird's character fold, perhaps with a bit of integrating work around the headlights, or maybe a fade-out abaft of them.  That's would be if corporate beancounters insisted on lower tooling costs.  That said, the 1970s Firebirds and Camaros were attractive, good-selling cars, so the added expense might have been worth it.

Some Frank Wootton Automobile Drawings

Now for a change of pace.

Frank Wootton (1911-1998) is probably best known here in the USA for his illustrations of aircraft and automobiles.   I wrote about his aircraft paintings here and elsewhere (use the Search tool at the right).  But he was more versatile than that: I wrote about his poster art here.  A brief Wikipedia entry on him is here.

The present post presents some car drawings from his "How to Draw Cars" books.  The cover of "Volume 2" is shown above.  It was published in 1955, but contained essentially the same text as the 1949 version.  The difference was that the 1955 edition had many drawings of more recent cars along with a few from 1949.

Wootton had a very nice way of presenting highlights and reflections on dark, shiny surfaces of automobiles.  The images below are mostly from the 1949 book.

Gallery

Sketches of Rovers from the 1955 book.  Previous images are from 1949.  Alas, my knowledge of pre-1950 English cars is limited, so please comment if you can identify any of Wootton's subjects from that era.

A slightly differrnt version of this post appeared on my Art Contrarian blog.

2021 Porsche Targa 4

A body style found on Porsche sports cars since the late 1960s is the Targa, a semi-convertible incorporating a substantial roll-bar and, usually, a fixed glass rear window.   Some early Targas featured a "soft" (non-glass) rear window that could be lowered.

Recently, Porsche announced its latest Targa, the 2021 Targa 4 (Car and Driver link here).

This post compares the new Targa (factory images) with examples of first-generation Targas.  The Porsche 911 series and derivatives since production began in 1963 retain the general feeling of the original Ferry Porsche design even though the cars' proportions were gradually altered over the years.  The same can be said for the Targa, as can be seen below.

Gallery

2021 Porsche Targa 4

1970 Porsche Targa - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
The Targa concept includes a wide, metal-finished roll-bar, a fixed rear window (backlight in stylist jargon), and a detachable roof spanning the roll bar and the windshield frame.  The roll bars feature three parallel grooves on the sides, as can be seen in this image and the one above.

2021 Porsche Targa 4

1969 Porsche 911 T Targa - Mecum auction photo
Though the shapes differ in detail, the Targa spirit is retained.

2021 Porsche Targa 4

1969 Porsche 911 T Targa - Mecum photo
The Targa feature is less apparent in frontal views.

2021 Porsche Targa 4
The rear of the new Targa 4 is where major differences appear.  Compare this photo to the one below.  The Targa 4 has an aggressive rear air intake that both retains the location of the original while fitting the more sculpted current body shaping.  The band below it is a variation on today's styling clichés, as is the sculpting below.

1969 Porsche 911 S Targa - Coy's auction photo
The cleaner original rear shaping and detailing.