New Book About Artists Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman

The Pontiac advertisement illustration above was part of a famous 1959-1972 series. The car was illustrated by Arthur M. Fitzpatrick (1919-2015), Wikipedia entry here.  The background was by Van Kaufman (1918-1995).  It is of the Monte Carlo casino in Monaco.

Early in his career Fitzpatrick worked as a car stylist at Briggs (which made bodies for carmakers) and Hudson as well as "Dutch" Darrin's California organization.  After World War 2 he shifted to automobile advertising art, delineating vehicles for advertisements and brochures.

Kaufman studied art in Los Angeles and worked for Walt Disney painting backgrounds and doing some animation work.  Following the war he went into freelance illustration and began working with Fitzpatrick in 1950.

A new book titled "Art Fitzpatrick & Van Kaufman: Masters of the Art of Automobile Advertising" arrived in my mailbox a few days ago.  Here is the cover:

 It is filled with illustrations of Pontiacs, Buicks, Mercurys and a few other brand cars.  It also has a good amount of text that describes the working methods of the artists.  I was fascinated, reading the book in one session.

The website for the book is here.

Illustration Magazine issue No. 73 has some material on "Fitz" and "Van" by the book's author. And the book's website has some sample pages for your inspection.

EMW (Eisenacher Motorenwerk) Prototypes, Circa-1950

Following Germany's World War 2 surrender in 1945 the country's boundaries were redrawn and the resulting area was subdivited into occupation zones. The Soviet Union's zone became the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), or East Germany, in 1949.

BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) automobile production facilities in Eisenach, DDR, were marooned from the parent company and became a separate firm.  In 1952, following legal proceedings, it was named Eisenacher  Motorenwerk and produced cars with the EMW label for a few years before further name changes were made.  A brief Wikipedia entry in English is here, and from there one can link to a more detailed entry in German.

In 1949-51 three prototypes of large sedans were announced by EMW (still known as BMW at the time).  These are pictured below.

Gallery

1949 EMW 342-1 prototype
This car featured tall windows that helped reduce slab-side induced visual bulk.  The front end styling followed BMW practice.

1949 EMW 342-2 prototype
In 1949 EMW/BMW model 340s received non-traditional BMW grilles, so this car had its version.  I do not know for certain if two prototypes were built or whether the 342-2 was a facelifted 342-1.

1951 EMW 343 prototype
Again, the 342-1 body might have been facelifted to become the 343, whose front and rear differed from the 1949 designs.  The grille is kind of a mess, sporting USA style large chrome bars.  I suppose the justification of the central round element is that it incorporates the round BMW/EMW logotype.

Quasi- side view.  The sculpted elements help reduce visual bulk in German fashion.

Apologies for the poor quality of this image.  The backlight and trunk shaping differ from the earlier prototypes.

1953 Packard Caribbean

American carmakers launched several luxury-sporty convertibles for the 1953 model year.  These included the Oldsmobile Starfire, Buick Skylark and Cadillac Eldorado.  To my mind, the most attractive was the Packard Caribbean (background here).

It was derived from the 1952 Packard Pan American show car that I wrote about here.

Caribbeans were built by Mitchell-Bentley of Ionia, Michigan.  Packard shipped them chassis and basic sheet metal stampings along with dashboards and other stock Packard items.  Mitchell-Bentley then added what was needed to create finished Caribbeans, of which 750 were built for 1953.

Gallery

1952 Packard Pan American - via Consumer Guide
A few Pan American show cars were built to a design by Richard Arbib.  Packard convertibles were sectioned to reduce their height and otherwise served as the Pan Am's basis. I like the chromed grille outline: modernized classic Packard brand identity.

The Continental spare tire kit was a major carryover to the Caribbean.

1953 Packard Convertible Coupe - for-sale photos
Caribbeans were not sectioned production convertibles.  Minus hood and side trim, this is what Mitchell-Bentley worked from.

1953 Packard convertibles used entry-level Clipper tail lights, whereas Caribbeans received upscale Patrician tail lights.

1953 Packard Caribbean - Mecum auction photos
Grilles were stock '53 Packard, but the hood air scoop was not.

Fender chrome strips were eliminated, replaced by rocker panel strips.  The most distinctive Caribbean side feature is the chromed, rounded wheel openings fore and aft.  Richard Teague is credited with the styling.

This shows the Continental kit and the Patrician tail lights.

1953 Packard Caribbean - RM Sotheby's auction photos
Now for two dramatic, overhead views.

This car has a chromed, spare tire cover edge not found on many Caribbeans.

1954 Packard Caribbean - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
1954 Caribbeans got two-tone paint jobs and lost the rounded rear wheel opening.  These changes were detrimental.

American 1942 Wraparound Grille Chrome Strips

The history of automobile styling presents many examples of fads and fashions.  One such was the 1942 model year emergence of chrome grille bars extending outwards from the grille opening, across fender fronts and then around to the fenders' sides.  These were a form of "speed lines" -- parallel grooves or chrome strips aligned in the direction of air flow over a car's surface.  All this an aspect of the industrial design "streamlining" fashion of the 1930s and early 1940s.

This was a short-lived fancy for some car brands that participated, lasting that one year only.  (There were exceptions, dealt with below.)

Images in the Gallery are of cars listed for sale unless noted.

Gallery

1942 Chrysler Windsor Coupe
Probably the best-known example of 1942 wraparound grille bars is Chrysler.  I find this scheme attractive and nicely integrated with frontal sheet metal sculpting.

1941 Chrysler Royal 4-door sedan
Previous-year Chrysler grille designs were narrow, with thicker bars.

1941 Nash 600 2-door sedan
It was Nash that pioneered the wraparound fad in 1941.

1942 Nash Ambassador 4-door sedan
Moreover, Nash continued the theme through the 1948 model year with styling similar to this 1942 example.

1942 Mercury Town Sedan - factory photo
1942 Mercury chrome strips extended beyond the grille opening, but did not quite wrap around the fenders.

1942 Lincoln-Zephyr Sedan
Lincoln's bars did wrap, but not on the fenders.  Instead they wrapped around an odd-looking bulge placed above the bumper.

1941 Packard Clipper Touring Sedan
Packard Clipper grilles for 1941 (and perhaps to some extent for 1942 under Packard's 14th Series) looked like this.

1942 Packard Clipper Club Sedan - factory photo
But the true '42 (15th Series) design featured the wraparound extensions seen here.  Postwar Packard Eight and Super grilles continued the theme through 1950, but not the Custom line.

From Wood to Steel: Ford Motor Company Station Wagons Circa 1950

This post is one of a series dealing with the American transition to all-steel station wagon bodies from part-wood construction.  This took place during model years near 1950 for various carmakers, though timing varied.

Today's subject is Ford Motor Company station wagons.  They were found on the company's Ford and Mercury brands, but not on line-topper Lincolns.  Commentary is in the image captions below.

Gallery

1947 Mercury Station Wagon - for-sale photo
This is representative of Ford's wood-based wagons in the period before post- World War 2 redesigns appeared.

1947 Mercury Station Wagon
Abaft of the cowling and windshield, wood framing and panelling predominated.

1947 Mercury Station Wagon
Note the thickness of the framing.  Such cars required a good deal of upkeep for the wood in the form of cleaning and perhaps re-varnishing.  This almost surely inhibited sales.  Price was another consideration.  A wagon such as shown here cost more than 30 percent more than a four-door sedan.

1949 Ford Station Wagon - Mecum auction photo
Redesigned Ford and Mercury station wagons featured less wood than before: note the metal top.  There was steel framing combined with wood paneling and somewhat decorative wood frames.  (This is guesswork on my part, based on photos.  Please comment on this matter if you are knowledgeable regarding construction of these cars.)

1949 Ford Station Wagon
Redesigned Ford and Mercury wagons were two-door models only.

1949 Ford Station Wagon
Steel framing is evident in this rear-quarter view.

1949 Mercury Station Wagon - RM Auctions photo
I am curious regarding the front door of the Mercury wagon.  Note how it contains a continuation of the front fender line -- not exactly like that on all-steel Mercurys.  Was this shaping atop a metal foundation?  Or was it strictly wood-based.  Please comment if you know for sure.

1952 Ford Station Wagon - factory photo
The Ford Motor Company line was redesigned for the 1952 model year.  Station wagons were all-metal.  Here is a two-door wagon with no wood trim.

1952 Ford Country Squire - for-sale photo

This four-door wagon has applied-wood side décor.  The window frame "wood" is actually a set of decals.

1952 Mercury Custom Station Wagon - RM Auctions
Here is the Mercury version.

Long and Short Hood Cars with Same Basic Bodies

Back in the days before the US federal government mandated fuel efficiency goals, before car shapes had to be wind-tunnel tested, before body-on-frame construction was abandoned, carmakers were able to achieve a good deal of variation on basic car body components.

One such instance was the length of a car's hood.  A long hood suggested it housed a large, powerful motor, whereas a short hood implied an ordinary engine.  These perceptions stemmed from the 1920s and 1930s when in-line eight cylinder motors (and V-16s) were long and required a long hood.  The other extreme was a four-cylinder (or V-8) engine that didn't need a long hood.  Of course, some cars had long hoods and comparatively short (straight-six or V-12) motors, the long hood being largely for marketing purposes.

Today's post presents a few examples of American cars that had hoods of varying length attached to the same basic four-door sedan bodies.  Images below are of cars listed for sale unless otherwise noted.

Gallery

1948 Plymouth 4-door sedan
Chrysler Corporation used the same basic body across its entire line during the 1940s and into the early '50s.  Above is a Plymouth, Chrysler's entry-level brand using the Corporation's body used 1940-1948.

1948 Chrysler New Yorker 4-door sedan
And here is a top-of-the-line Chrysler New Yorker.  The cars are essentially the same abaft of the cowling.  Plymouths had inline-six motors whereas New Yorkers had straight-eight engines -- partly justifying differing hood lengths.  The Chrysler's wheelbase is 10 inches (254 mm) longer than the Plymouth's.

1950 Packard Eight DeLuxe Touring Sedan
Packard facelifted its 1941-vintage Clipper body for the 1948 model year.  The car above has a 120-in wheelbase.

1948 Packard Custom Eight Touring Sedan
Packard's more expensive models such as this featured 127-in wheelbases -- seven inches (178mm) longer.  All 1948 Packards had inline-eight cylinder motors.

1948 Packard Super Eight Convertible
Packard appearance differences might be more apparent where convertible coupés are concerned.  This short-wheelbase car seems rather stubby.

1950 Packard Custom Victoria Convertible - Mecum auction photo
But the long hood makes this otherwise unattractive 1948-1950 vintage Packard presentable, even impressive.

1950 Buick Super C-body 4-door sedan - Mecum auction photo
Less dramatic are the differing hood lengths for these Buicks.

1950 Roadmaster C-body 4-door sedan - factory photo
The Roadmaster wheelbase is four inches (102mm) longer than that of the Super in the previous image.  All Buicks also had straight-eight engines in those days.

Some Opel Kapitän Facelifts

German automobile maker Opel (Wikipedia entry here) was purchased by General Motors around 1930, eventually selling it in 2017.

In the late 1930s GM sent Frank Hershey and other stylists, including Strother MacMinn, to Opel.  The first "Americanized" design was that of the new Opel Kapitän line, launched in the spring of 1939.  (Kapitän zur See was a German naval rank, corresponding to a US Navy or Royal Navy rank of Captain, not the lesser army Captain rank.  By the way, a German army captain is called a Hauptmann.)

Kapitän production ended in 1940 due to World War 2, and did not resume until 1947 using the prewar body.  There was a major facelift for the 1951 model year followed by a 1954 redesign and its 1956 facelift.  These are discussed below.  Images are either factory sourced, of cars listed for sale, or from sources I could not identify for certain.

Gallery

Opel Kapitän Modell 1939
Seen from this angle, the car has a strong American appearance.  The passenger compartment seems very late-1930s, as is the grille.  The most advanced feature is the front fenders extending over the front doors, something GM did not introduce in the USA until the 1941 Cadillac Sixty Special and then for most of its 1942 line.

On the other hand, the rear had a European character.  Note the backlight windows and the spare tire mounted on the trunk lid.

Opel Kapitän Modell 1947
1947 Kapitäns were nearly identical to prewar cars.  The main difference was use of standardized sealed-beam headlights that required modest reshaping of the front fender faces.

From this perspective the Kapitän could easily be confused with a USA 1942 General Motors car.  Its rear end was essentially unchanged, however.

Opel Kapitän Modell 1951
A facelifted 1951 Kapitän seen from a similar angle.  The grille and hood have been redesigned, the former using bold chromed shapes in the contemporary American vein.

Closer view of the revised front end.

Side view.  Chrome trim was added along the beltline and over the rear fender.  But the major change was a new, longer rear end.  No more fastback with a spare tire cover.  Instead a bustle back similar to American practice.

Rear quarter view showing the new design.

1947 Chevrolet Fleetmaster
An example of 1940s General Motors' American styling: Note the similarity of the passenger compartments.

Opel Kapitän Modell 1954
Here is a retouched publicity image of the redesigned 1954 Kapitän.  The body is of the postwar "envelope" ilk, but poorly shaped.  Perhaps unavoidable from a packaging standpoint is the high roof crown.

The oddest features are the after curve of the fender combined with the beltline extension aft to the projecting tail light assemblies.  There is a certain logic to that feature, though the result strikes me as being especially awkward.

Side view of the 1954 design.

Opel Kapitän Modell 1956
Side view of the 1956 facelift.  The main charge is the addition of more chrome.

The front got a new grille, hood and "frenched" headlight bezels that provided a more contemporary style.

Tail light assemblies were restyled, but the result was little or no improvement.  The three-piece backlight is now one-piece.  The 1958 model year saw another redesign.