1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow Walkaround

For around 30 years Pierce-Arrow was an important American builder of luxury automobiles.  That was due to excellent engineering and high quality materials and assembly.  Not design.  One major exception was the then-sensational 1933 Silver Arrow show car displayed at the 1933 New York Auto Show.  At the time, Studebaker owned Pierce-Arrow, and management was receptive to stylist Philip O. Wright's futuristic concept.  I wrote about the Silver Arrow here.

Five Silver Arrows were made, and it seems that three survive.  They are considered very important in car design history and are valuable.  For instance, in 2017 a Silver Arrow was auctioned by RM Sotheby's for $2,310,000.

For my analysis, refer to the above link.  Gallery images are without captions and are for your viewing enjoyment.

My search for photos on the Internet did not turn up a complete eight-image walkaround set.  Therefore, those shown below are uneven in background and lighting condition.  Image sources are: Blackhawk Museum, RM Sotheby's, Dreihaus Collection and Barrett-Jackson.

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1994 Cadillac DeVille

The Cadillac DeVille was produced in various configurations over model years 1958-2005.  Today's post deals with what Wikipedia calls the seventh generation, 1994-1999.  It was essentially styled during the Chuck Jordan styling director reign (1986-1992), though some details might not have been finalized until 1993.

This was shortly after the 1981-1990 Roger Smith era, when General Motors was clearly entering the decline from its former dominance of the American automobile market.

Competition in the American luxury car field was no longer solely from domestic rivals, but increasingly from foreign brands such as Mercedes and Lexus.  Mercedes especially had a performance air, something lacking for Cadillac, whose reputation was that of a posh highway cruiser or county club parking lot denizen.

Such too was the case of the new, 1994 DeVille iteration.

Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale or are factory-sourced.

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1994 Cadillac DeVille Concours, publicity image.

Compared to current cars and SUVs, the '94 DeVille is nearly clutter-free.

The trunk lid is raised noticeably above the passenger greenhouse beltline, and the C-pillar is wide.  Otherwise, the design is a continuation of 1970s-1980s crisp, "three-box" design fashion, featuring plenty of window glass.

Now for a brief, partial walkaround.  Grille design is simple, featuring Cadillac's signature 1941-plus eggcrate grille bar theme.

Well, the DeVille's shape was not quite as "crisp" as typical 70s-80 three-box designs.  That touch of rounding, even on the window outlines, is a small gesture to the mid-1980s' new god of aerodynamics.

Cadillac's slender, vertical taillight assembly theme began in 1961 and continues today.  I think that theme is rather weak, not strongly proclaiming Cadillac! despite being around for more than 60 years.

Here is the DeVille's domestic competition, the 1990 Lincoln Town Car, Mecum auction photo.

A former domestic competitor was the Chrysler Imperial that ended prodiction after the 1993 model year.

What Were They Thinking?: the 2023 BMW 7 Sedan

In 2014 I wrote about the controversial Chris Bangle 7 Series rear-end styling features, and in 2020 I posted "BMW 7 Series Recent Grille Design Evolution," regarding recent trends in ever-enlarged grilles.

That trend has now reached production for BMW's top-of-the-passenger-car-line BMW 7 Series four-door sedan for 2023.  Below are a few factory-sourced photos for your enlightenment.

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The frontal design has a very heavy appearance, weighing down the front of a car whose remaining styling already seems heavy.

Side styling is comparatively free of the overly sculpted manner of many current production cars from Asia.  The C-pillar retains BMW's signature dog-leg.  It's basically not that strong, but the chrome trim adds a good deal of unneeded emphasis.

Rear sculpting is better integrated thematically than on many cars, but still slightly on the fussy side.  The thin, horizontal tail tail assemblies echo the headlight assemblies.

The problem is that the grille frame is too large in proportion to the rest of the car.  I have no serious problem with its shape other than it does not relate to any nearby body and trim sculpting.  I suggest BMW styling and corporate management should head for the nearest bierkeller come Oktoberfest and give serious thought to new grille-related product identification alternatives.

Three Bodies in Three Model Years: 1949-51 Buick Special

In the 1940s and well into the 1950s General Motors used three body platforms for the various models of its five automobile brands.  These bodies were designated A, B and C, where A-bodies tended to be used for Chevrolets and Pontiacs and C-bodies for Cadillacs and upscale Buicks.  B-bodies were generally found on Oldsmobiles and lower-priced Buick models.

There were many exceptions, one of which is the subject of the present post.

As further background, usual American car industry practice in those days was to retain a redesigned body for three or even more model years before replacing it with a new design.  Therefore, it was highly unusual for a brand, or even a model, to be based on a body for one year only.  The most extreme example of this is that of 1958 Chevrolets and Pontiacs.

Today's example is not that of a redesigned body being used for only a single model year.  Instead, it's a case of a model using a slightly inappropriate body for a single year while its replacement was still under development.

That model is the Buick Special (or Model 40), the brand's lowest-price line.  During the 1940s, Buick Specials used GM's B-body while the more expensive Buick Super and Roadmaster models were C-body based.  The C-body was redesigned for the 1948 model year and used by Oldsmobile's line-topper 98 series and Cadillacs.  Buick Supers and Roadmasters used that body for an extended (for Buick) 1949 model year.  Then C-bodies were redesigned for 1950.  But a redesigned B platform was not due for production until the 1951 model year, and the current B-body was stylistically obsolete, having first appeared for 1941.

So what could Buick do for its Special line?  The decision was to give Specials the up-market C-body for 1950.  The marketing danger was that Specials, sharing the same platform as Supers, next up in Buick's hierarchy, might steal sales from the more profitable Supers.  And that is just what happened.   For 1950, about 338,000 Specials were made compared to 252,000 Supers, whereas for 1951 when Specials reverted to B-bodies, the respective numbers were 165,000 and 169,000 (overall production slowed that year due to the Korean War).

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1949 Buick Special - for sale photo
Few 1949 Specials were built.  They looked essentially the same as comparable 1947 and 1948 models.  This basic B-body design first appeared for the 1941 model year.

1949 Buick Super Sedanet - Hyman Ltd. photo
A fastback 1949 Buick Super, built on the C-platform.

1950 Buick Special - Worldwide Auctions photo
Here is the short-wheelbase C-body Buick Special.  Roadmasters and some Supers were longer and had six-window passenger compartments.

1950 Buick Super Tourback Sedan - brochure illustration
This is a short-wheelbase Super.  Its exterior is almost identical to that of the lower-priced Special with the same body.

1951 Buick Special Deluxe - Mecum auction photos
Now for views of a 1951 Buick Special with its redesigned B-body.

Its fenderline is higher and has less sculpting that the previous year's C-body version.  The passenger compartment greenhouse differs in the C-pillar area.

Rear-quarter view.  GM's new B-bodies were intentionally less-impressive than the up-market C-bodies.

1951 Buick Super Riviera Sedan - Mecum
A long-wheelbase C-body Buick Super with its six-window greenhouse.

1930 American Luxury Sedans

Styling departments had only recently begun to appear in the USA by the 1930 model year.  Most high-priced cars having factory-built or contract body-builder bodies were not professionally designed.  General Motors had a styling section and Chrysler Corporation was setting one up around that time.  Otherwise, "factory" bodies were usually designed by engineers, though some carmakers might have made use of custom body designers to make suggestions or even do some actual design work.

The present post presents some non-custom-bodied sedans from that essentially pre-styling model year.  Car bodies were typically wood-framed with metal or sometimes fabric cladding.  How appealing are they?

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1930 Cadillac V-16 - Hyman Ltd. photo
The body seems to be by Fleetwood, a captive supplier.  Fisher-bodied V-16 sedans were similar, but had hood louvers rather than doors.

1930 Chrysler Imperial Seven-Passenger Sedan
"Styled" Imperials arrived the next model year.

1930 Lincoln L Series Sedan - for-sale photo
This was the final model year for that series, so the design is less up-to-date than some others seen here.

1930 Packard 740 Custom Eight Five-Passenger Sedan
At that time, Packard was regarded as the premier American luxury carmaker.

1930 Pierce-Arrow Model A Seven-Passenger Sedan - for sale photo
Most Pierce-Arrows featured distinctive (and ugly) fender-mounted headlights.

1930 Peerless
I'm not sure if this is a sedan or a limousine.  Alexis de Sakhnoffsky might have contributed to the design.

1930 Marmon Big Eight Five-Passenger Sedan - via Marmon Club: owner's photo
The rounded top and window outlines suggest a designer's touch.

Big Change While Preserving Brand Identity: 1953-54 Cadillac

I wrote here and here about how brand identity was preserved when General Motors made an especially drastic redesign for its B- and C-body lines for the 1954 model year on Oldsmobiles and Buicks.  Today's post deals with brand identity practiced by Cadillac on C-bodies.

As I noted in the linked posts, "General Motors' 1954 redesigned B- and C-body Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs were sensationally futuristic when they were announced in the Fall of 1953...  Those cars were lower, more squared off than previous models and, especially, they featured panoramic or wraparound windshields -- a feature mostly seen on Dream Cars and special, low-production luxury convertibles."

Oldsmobile (first link above) carried brand symbolism from 1953 to 1954 with the least distortion.  Cadillac had a well-established set of symbolic features.  So variations on these -- so long as they were present -- was good enough to preserve Cadillac's strong image in those days.

Unless noted, images below are of for-sale cars.

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1953 Cadillac 62 - Mecum auction photo
1950-53 C-body Cadillacs had GM styling director Harley Earl's favored large-radius curves that were somewhat offset by linear features.  The hood is high, the fenderline dropped well below the passenger compartment beltline.  Grille chrome work is heavy, a continuation of 1950-vintage American car styling fashion.

1954 Cadillac 62
The new C-body was lower and more block-like, though the roof is more curved than before..  The hood remains higher then the fender, but not as high as it was.

1953 Cadillac 62
The fenderline undulates.  Note the front fender-door chrome strip and the vertical faux-air intake where the rear fender begins.

Those two features were carried over to 1954.  So was the chrome strip along the lower edge of the body.  In other words, nothing new on the side except the sheetmetal shaping that included a straighter fenderline.

At the rear are Cadillac's famed tail fins.  Another identifier is the crest nested in a golden V on the trunk lid.

The fins were more squared off for '54, yet still saying "Cadillac!"  The crest-and-V was retained as were the exhaust ports on the bumper.

1953 Cadillac Coupe DeVille - Mecum
Cadillacs had egg-crate grilles every model year starting in 1941.  Here the cells are few, the bars large.

1954 Cadillac 62 Coupe DeVille
The grille design was much improved for 1954 -- the best since the classic 1941 design in my opinion.  Many small bars that create a more elegant (rather than garish) appearance.  The bumper is less massive and the guards are angled, a carryover from 1951.  The crest-V motif is retained.

Pierce-Arrow's Peak Styling Years

For the first third or so of the twentieth century Pierce-Arrow was one of America's leading luxury car brands.  Its carbuilding years were 1901-1938, but the Great Depression of the '30s snuffed out the company along with other luxury makes such as Peerless and Marmon.

Pierce-Arrow's heyday was in the years before the Great War, years when engineering predominated and corporate styling staffs were unknown.  By the end of the war Pierce automobiles were conservatively designed to the point of looking old-fashioned.

And from 1913 through the 1932 model year most Pierce-Arrow front fenders sprouted a strange, awkward, ugly headlight housing.  I wrote about that in my post "Not All Pierce-Arrows Had Those Awful Headlights," where I noted that some Pierce-Arrows had conventional assemblies and looked better for it.  As will be seen below, starting in 1933 headlight assemblies became better integrated with other aspects of the car's design.

As for Pierce-Arrow styling in general, discounting prewar models, the best-looking cars were those for model years 1929-1933, especially 1933 when the those headlight stalks disappeared.  There was an unfortunate redesign for 1934 that might have helped kill the company.

Below are some examples of Pierce-Arrow design in the period 1925-1936.

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1925 Pierce-Arrow Model 80 2-door coach - for sale
An example of a design that seemed old-fashioned at the time.  Pierce-Arrow's marketing strength was its high quality engineering and assembly.

1927 Pierce-Arrow Model 35 Limousine - for sale
The same applies here.  Note the headlight assembly stalks.

1928 Pierce-Arrow Model 81 4-door sedan - for sale
This car has normal (for 1928) headlight assemblies.  Model 81s appeared for 1928 only, but passenger compartment details were carried over to 1929.

1929 Pierce-Arrow Model 133 4-door sedan
The front from the cowling forward was redesigned to house the new inline-eight cylinder motor that replaced sixes.  The grille design is handsome in an understated way.

1930 Pierce-Arrow Model 41 Sport Sedan by LeBaron - Barrrett-Jackson Auction photo
Custom bodies were rare for Pierce-Arrow, as were two-segment windshields.

1933 Pierce-Arrow Model 836 Sedan - RM Sotheby's
Headlights are now blended into the front fenders.  The grille is V'd and slanted, conforming the the then-new streamlining fashion.  All-told, an attractive design in Pierce-Arrow's context.

1933 Pierce-Arrow Model 1242 Seven Passenger Sedan - Owls Head Auction photo
This V-12 engined car is more traditionally styled.

1934 Pierce-Arrow Five Passenger Sedan - Auctions America photo
Pierce-Arrows were redesigned for 1934, this being perhaps the most attractive example.  Its one-piece windshield is sort of old-fashioned (though Lincolns and some Chrysler Corporation cars retained them well into the 1930s), but a V'd, two-segment design would have been better.  This design was in line with 1934 expectations aside from Chrysler-DeSoto Airflows and the redesigned Cadillacs and LaSalles.

1935 Pierce-Arrow Sedan - Mecum Auction photo
Similar car, next model year.  But about to drop behind the times.

1936 Pierce-Arrow DeLuxe Sedan - Auctions America
A longer four-door sedan with restyled headlight assemblies.  It looks out of date and not upscale.  The main problem is the passenger compartment greenhouse with its flat windshield and nondescript side windows.  Pierce-Arrow died shortly after the next model year.