Gallery of English "Airline" Designs

Around the mid-1930s there was a British styling fad known as the "Airline" body.  Typically, these cars were two-door coupés or saloons (sedans) with rounded rear profiles that suggested streamlining.   Given that front ends were normally strictly stock and aerodynamically messy, those rear ends did little or nothing to improve aerodynamic efficiency.  That said, they are interesting to look at, and serve as counterbalances to normal, conservative British car design examples from before, say, the 1950s.

I discussed Airline design using a particularly nicely-styled example here.

The cars shown in profile below are arranged in ascending price-prestige order.  Exceptions are the final two, which are of special interest.

Gallery

c.1933 Hillman Aero Minx 2-3 Seat Saloon - unknown photo source
A tiny car based on a popular model.  Besides the rounded profile, there are no running boards.

1935 Hillman Aero Minx Cresta Saloon - car-for-sale photo
This four-passenger version has a "pillarless" window arrangement that resembles post- World War 2 "hardtop convertible" styling.  Except the after side window does not roll down, being in effect part of the body structure.

1936 MG PB Airline Coupé - Sussex Sports Cars photo
A two-passenger Airline.

1937 Talbot 10 "Airline" Sport Saloon - Anglia Car Auctions photo
Another "pilarless" Airline.

1935 SS1 20HP Airline Coupé - Bonhams Auctions photo
SS was the predecessor of the Jaguar, whose brand-name appeared on what had been SS cars during 1935, but apparently after this one was built.  A four-passenger car, but with a normal B-pillar.

1935 Rolls-Royce 2-Door Airline Coupé by Barker - Jonathan Wood Restorations photo
A very attractive Airline design.  Note the fashionable drooping beltline also seen on the Minx Cresta and SS1 above.  In each instance, the beltline curve is abaft of the door, as is the roof curve..

Triumph Gloria Flow-free - at 1934 motor show
This is the design I featured in the post linked above.

1935 Talbot 105 Airline 4-Door Saloon - car-for-sale photo
A dramatic design with four doors, not the usual Airline two-doors.

Hupmobiles and Grahams with Cord Bodies

The 1936 810 and 1937 812 Cords are considered by many, including me, as being among the very greatest automobile body designs.

So amongst many Cord fans, -- besides lamenting that there never were Cords after 1937 -- there was the feeling that the design had been desecrated when the body dies were used a few years later for the Hupmobile Skylark and Graham Hollywood.

All three links deal with that matter.  Hupp was a failing automobile company and Graham-Paige was in nearly as bad a shape.  Cord body dies (not well suited for mass-production) were purchased and then adapted to a chassis that was ten inches (254 mm) shorter than Cord's.  Skylarks were powered by Hupp motors and Hollywoods by Graham's.   The cars, including motors, were assembled by Graham.

Sources mention that there was some initial demand for these cars, but production delays diminished this to the point that fewer than 2000 were built 1940-1941.

The Graham-Paige link above credits John Tjaarda with the restyled front end.  The front could be shorter than Cord's because the Skylark and Hollywood powertrains were conventional front-motor-rear-drive as opposed to Cord's front-wheel-drive layout with the differential placed forward of the V-8 motor.

Gallery

1941 Hupmobile Skylark - RM Sotheby's photo
From the outside, Skylarks and Hollywoods are nearly identical.  One difference (based on Internet images) seems to be the lack of chrome trim on many Skylark cars' upper grille segments.

1941 Graham Hollywood - Hyman, Ltd. photo
Grahams seem to have more chrome trim.  Frontal features compared to Cord include a rounded-nose, the lower grille incorporated into a catwalk, and freestanding headlight assemblies.

1937 Cord 812 Westchester - Hyman photo
Cords had their famous "coffin-nose" hoodline wrapped in a horizontal louver motif.  Fenders and FWD drivetrain extend the front a ways ahead of the hood.  Headlights are hidden behind rotating doors.

1941 Graham Hollywood - Driehaus Collection photo
Abaft of the cowling/firewall, Cords, Skylarks and Hollywoods were nearly identical.  Compare this car's frontal zone with that of the Cord's in the image below.

1936 Cord 810 Westchester - Hyman photo
Cord's front fenders seem more separated from the hood than those of Skylarks and Hollywoods, but this might be an illusion.

1936 Cord 810 Beverly - car-for-sale photo
The main differences are most obvious in side-view.  Ignoring the Beverly's trunk, we see the longer front section of the Cord.

1941 Graham Hollywood - Driehaus photo
The Hollywood's hood is about the same length of the Cord's due to the need to house inline six-cylinder motors.  But the front axle is positioned closer to the cowling/firewall.  The front of the hood and lower grille are slightly forward of the fender's front edge -- the reverse of Cord's layout.  Note that whereas rear fenders of both cars are the same, the Hollywood's front fender is stubbier than the Cord's abaft of the wheel opening.

Riley Nine Early-Mid-1930s Closed-Body Styles

During the 1930s, British carmaker Riley had a sporting reputation.  It offered three four-cylinder motors of various sizes along with other types, as mentioned here (scroll down to the "Riley (Coventry) Limited" section).  There also were a number of different body styles.  Most reference material I've read blame this proliferation as a major cause of the firm going into receivership in 1938.

Today's post deals with some early-to-mid 1930s closed body styles on Riley's popular "Nine" series that shared body styles with other Riley series.

The "Nine" refers to the British horsepower tax formula in place in the 1930s (Wikipedia entry here) that was calculated as follows: piston diameter (in inches) squared, times the number of cylinders, then divided by 2.5.  The Riley Nine being in the 9 tax-horsepower class (actual engine horsepower was higher).

In that scheme of things, a Riley Nine was comparatively affordable.  For example, a typical entry-level car was the famous Austin Seven, and a number of firms offered eight tax-horsepower models.  Luxury cars such as Daimlers and Rolls-Royces usually had RAC Treasury ratings of 30 horsepower and higher. The highest-rated Rileys were 16 taxable horsepower.

Below are images of some of Riley's 1930s car bodies as found on the Nine series.

Gallery

1933 Riley Nine Monaco Saloon - car-for-sale photo
Riley bodies the 1930s had some style features that helped to visually identify the brand besides the usual radiator grille.  Here we find side windows with dipped lower frame lines -- something we'll see again.  The top is clad in a fabric of some kind, a feature also found on other Riley models.

The Monaco features a "bustle back," something rare in 1933.

1933 Riley Nine Falcon - via Ashridge Automobiles
The Falcon's lower window frames are also not parallel with the beltline.  No bustle back and no fabric covering on this car.

But the two-segment backlight window has lower framing similar to what we'll be seeing on Kestrel side windows, below.

1934 Riley Nine Lincock Coupé - via Ashridge Automobiles
Here's a coupé, for a change of pace.

Another instance of a divided backlight, but the framing is nearly conventionally rectangular.  But not quite: lower edges are slightly angled.

1933 Riley Nine Kestrel Four-Light - car-for-sale photo
"Four-Light" was the British way of saying "four-window."  Window shapes are far from purely horizontal and vertical.

Note the after passenger compartment roof's panel separator.  This shape is found on other Riley bodies, including the one shown below.

1935 Riley Nine Merlin Saloon - car-for-sale photo
A slightly later design featuring a hint of fastback.  Side windows are less Riley-like than on some of the designs pictured above.

The spare tire is housed in the trunk.  Note the curve of the separation line between fabric roof covering and the lower body: similar to the Kestrel's.

1953 Cadillac Le Mans Concept

A concept car design I've always liked is that of the 1953 Cadillac Le Mans.  Unusually, four were made, the final one with differing appearance.  The basic design is the subject of this post.

Some concept cars are strictly "blue sky" exercises, intended to keep young stylists happy and productive, and/or showing the car-buying public how creative and future-minded the carmaker supposedly is.  Others are less extreme, incorporating some styling and engineering features considered for future production.  Still others fairly closely resemble designs slated for production within the next few model years.  The Cadillac Le Mans is the latter kind.

As the images below reveal, the 1953 Le Mans includes important styling features of the redesigned 1954 Cadillac line.  However, the Le Mans is smaller, its wheelbase being 115 inches (2921 mm) as opposed to 126 inches (3200 mm).  It was also shorter, of course.

In the Gallery below, the Le Mans is compared to '54 Cadillacs.  Photos of it are by General Motors.

Gallery

My subjective ranking of Cadillac front ends has the 1954 design not far behind the classic 1941 model's.  That '54 front is strongly previewed on the Le Mans, but the rear considerably less so.

The Le Mans shown from a lower viewpoint.  Compare to the Cadillac below.

A 1954 Cadillac 62 convertible listed for sale.  From the cowling forward, the cars are the same aside from the Le Mans being sectioned, the removed area located between the headlight assembly and front wheel opening.  Wraparound windshields differ above the A-pillar -- the Le Mans' frame leaning forward in the mode of GM's new 1954 B-body cars (Oldsmobiles and some Buicks).  The Le Mans features a different hood ornament.  Farther aft, both cars have faux- air intakes at the front of the rear fender.  Well, that on the Le Mans might be functional.  The '54's extends from the centerline down to the rocker panel.  This shortens the design visually, but the Cadillac is a long car, so that is not really a problem.  That said, I prefer the Le Mans'.

Despite its shorter wheelbase, the single-seat Le Mans features a long rear deck.

Barrett-Jackson auction photo of a '54 Cadillac 62 convertible.  The only carryovers from the Le Mans are the tail fins and the bumper edges containing exhaust ports.

Another perspective.  The hood seems a little too high compared to the low trunk lid.  I might have raised the latter an inch or two.

Finally, an overhead view, also suggesting the the front and rear are not quite compatible.

Sodomka's Streamlined Czech Cars

Czechoslovakia was the land of streamlined cars in the middle of the 1930s.  The best-known were built by Tatra (some information here).  But Škoda also dabbled in aerodynamics, an example being the 1935 Škoda 935 prototype.

Another Czech aerodynamic actor was the important coachbuilder firm Sodomka.  Its circa-1934-1935 Regent Airspeed type built for Walter is featured below along with a 1937 Škoda 913 Superb with a more conventional version of the same design.

Some other mid-1930s streamliners are included below for added context.

Gallery

1933 Tatra 77 prototype
Streamlined Tatras had their motor in the rear.  This seems to be the earliest of the general shapes shown below.

1935 Škoda 935 prototype
Another rear-engine streamliner from Czechoslovakia.

c.1934-1935 Walter Regent Airspeed sedan by Sodomka: photo set
Walter Regents had conventional engine-forward layouts.  Note that the B-pillar extends only up to the beltline.  It's hard to see, but the rear door's window is in two segments, the forward one can be rolled down, the after element is fixed in place.  Wheelbase is a long 141.7 inches (3600 mm).

The rear taper is in the same spirit as the Tatra and Škoda prototypes shown above.

The front retains a sloped, yet mostly conventional radiator grille.  Headlight housings are blended into the fenders.

c.1934-1935 Walter Regent Airspeed cabriolet by Sodomka
I'm not sure if Sodomka's cabriolet was called an Airspeed, but its lower body essentially matches the sedan's shown above.

Side view.  Compare the fender design to those seen in the following images.

1935 Renault Vivastella Grand Sport

Scan segment of page 78 from Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1935: Le Salon 1934. These six-cylinder Renaults and the eight-cylinder Nervastella Grand Sport with its longer hood were announced at the 1934 Paris automobile show that opened 14 October.  Fenders and frontal styling are similar to Sodomka's contemporaneous Airspeeds.  If the Airspeed was designed and built in 1934, then we seem to have a case of what's called "simultaneous invention" such as the calculus by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz.  But if the Airspeed was truly a 1935 production, then it's possible that the folks at Sodomka were aware of the new Renault design and borrowed some of its features. 

1937 Škoda Superb 913 sedan by Sodomka
This later Sodomka streamliner has the same general fenderline character as the Airspeeds and Renaults, though the rear fender is almost entirely blended into the side of the car.  The rear door's window is also split into two segments, the forward one retractable.  Again, the design is "pillarless."

Studebaker Avanti Walkaround

I took the above photos in May of 1963.  The setting was North Charles Street in Baltimore, Maryland.  I was in the Army, stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland and would come to Baltimore on weekends to visit a nursing-student girlfriend.

I first learned of Studebaker's Avanti on 26 April 1962 or maybe a day later when the New York Times had a photo of it.  (At that time I was at the Army Information School, Fort Slocum, New York.)  I was captivated.  And remain so.

My previous Avanti post is here, and the Wikipedia entry is here.  It notes: "Designed by Raymond Loewy's team of Tom Kellogg, Bob Andrews, and John Ebstein on a 40-day crash program, the Avanti featured a radical fiberglass body mounted on a modified Studebaker Lark 109-inch [2769 mm] convertible chassis and powered by a modified 289 Hawk engine.  A Paxton supercharger was offered as an option."

The Avanti design is classic, and any criticism I might make would be nit-picking.

Gallery

1962 Studebaker Avanti - publicity photo (cropped)
Studebaker sent an Avanti to Palm Springs, California for a photo shoot.  Raymond Loewy had a house in Palm Springs, and the Avanti was designed there.

1963 Studebaker Avanti R1 - car-for-sale photos
The walkaround photos below do not include side views, so here are two nice ones I found on the Internet.

Avantis had flowing, sculpted lines aside from a few functional details such as the B-pillar.  Note that the beltline and fenderline are the same.

1963 Studebaker Avanti R1 - Hyman Ltd. photo set
The grille opening position below the bumper was innovative for American cars in those days.  The only previous example that comes to mind was the 1949 Crosley Hotshot sports car.

Styling was unlike anything seen on previous Studebakers.  The only visual brand continuity was its boldness in the spirit of Studebaker's 1947 Starlight Coupes and 1953 Starliner Coupes.

I selected this Hyman image set because, unlike most other sets on the Internet, wide-angle camera lenses were not used.  Wide-angle lenses distort shapes too much, so these Hyman photos present the design more realistically, especially in quarter-views such as this.

The least-attractive Avanti aspect, what with the clutter below the bumper.  Rear lights were simple, probably to save development and production costs.

The vertical nose crease is echoed by the side character line.  Very subtle, very nice.

1963 Studebaker Avanti R2 - BaT Auctions photo
This reveals the grille more clearly.  Due to its sunken position, it is essentially invisible to casual viewers.