Triumph 1930s Dolomite Roadster

The Triumph Motor Company went into receivership in July 1939.  Then World War 2 intervened, soon halting car production.  In 1940 the Triumph works were destroyed by German bombing.  The Standard Motor Car Company acquired the Triumph name along with a few assets in 1944, leading to the postwar TR sports cars many of us are aware of.

Triumph's last major gasp while independent was the Dolomite line (Wikipedia entry here).  Technically, the line appeared in 1934, but consisted of only three cars.  Main production was 1937-1939, with a few leftovers sold in 1940.  There was a range of Dolomite types, including coupés, roadsters, drop-head coupés and even saloons (sedans).  Today's post features the Dolomite Roadster, or Roadster-Coupé, as it has also been called.

As for styling, Dolomites featured a flashy grille theme that was briefly in fashion in the USA around 1936, and was far from typical English design conservatism.  I posted "Triumph Dolomites Wearing a Hudson Fencer's Mask" here.  The grille design was by Walter Belgrove.

Gallery

1938 Triumph Dolomite Roadster - Brightwells Auction photos
Yes, it does remind one of a 1936 Hudson.


Behind the seat is what appears to be a high, generous-size trunk (boot), but isn't.  Note the arrow design of the hood air vents -- suggesting speed, I suppose, even though Dolomites could not reach 80 miles (130 km) per hour.


But the hight is what was needed for a rumble seat (dickey, in the UK).  Note the open fold-down dickey step abaft of the door.  Not very welcoming for women wearing dresses in those days.

1939 Triumph Dolomite Roadster - car-for-sale photos
Front end.  The grille design too complex for the space allowed for it.


The dashboard, cockpit and dickey seat.

All Dolomites were built on 110-inch (2794 mm) wheelbases.  A more serious sports car would have had a shorter wheelbase and no dickey seat -- therefore a shorter trunk zone.  Other British sporty cars such as the postwar Sunbeam Alpine had similarly inappropriate proportions due to being based on saloon chassis'.

The spare tire sits behind the dickey seat.  As best I can tell, trunk access is either via it or the dickey seat, there being no other obvious cutlines.

1938 Triumph Dolomite Roadster-Coupe - Bonhams Auctions photo

Here's a view of a Dolomite Roadster with its top attached -- not raised.

1935-1936 General Motors A & B Body 2-Door Sedan Comparison

According to Michael Lamm and David Holls (here, page 97) General Motors' shift to multi-brand body platforms began in 1931 from an analysis of current production bodies by Vince Kaptur.  This took a while to implement, but was in force by the 1936 model year for all GM cars, perhaps aside from luxury vehicles.

Factors that brought this into play were the Great Depression that resulted in fewer sales and lesser income as well as the shift to all-steel bodies that required more expensive production tooling.

Platforms were designated by letter.  The book states:

"Harley Earl showed Kaptur's conclusions to Fished Body and suggested that all GM cars share four basic body shells.  He designeted these A-B-C-D.  The A-body would be used by Chevrolet, standard Pontiac and small Oldsmobile.  The large Pontiac, mid-size Oldsmobile and small Buick would use the B shell.  The C-body accommodated the big Olds, big Buick, LaSalle and small Cadillac.  And all Cadillac and Buick limousines used the D body."

That was the concept, but details varied over time.

Wikipedia has entries dealing with the bodies dealt with in this post: A platform here; B platform here.  At this time I drafted this (February 2024), some early time details did not agree with Lamm and Holls, who I am more inclined to trust.

I lack charts of body dimensions, so the analysis below is simply based on study of photos.  More precise information is greatly appreciated.

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

Gallery

1935 Chevrolet Master DeLuxe
Both A (seen here) and B bodies for 1935 had B-hinged "suicide" doors.

1936 Chevrolet Master DeLuxe - BaT Auctions photo
Hinging was shifted to the A-pillar for 1936.  Aft passenger compartment profiles on A-body Chevys were nearly vertical.

1936 Chevrolet Standard
The shortest A-body Chevrolet.  This car lacks an attached trunk, so the spare tire is exposed.

1936 Pontiac Master Six
A-bodies for other GM brands featured ogive-curved aft passenger compartment profiles, as seen here.

1935 Pontiac Eight - GM photo
This model appears to have a unique rear profile -- less curved than other B-body two-door sedans as shown below.

1935 Oldsmobile Eight
This, and the other B-body 2-door sedan shown here seem nearly the same as the A-body cars.  

1936 Buick Special
So I wonder if two-door sedans all had essentially the same body, Chevrolets perhaps excluded.  Note this Buick's rear side window profile differs slightly from those on the other cars shown.

Triumph TR2 and TR3

By the mid-1950s, British sports cars were selling well in the USA.  As I recall it, the price/prestige hierarchy in ascending order was: MG, Triumph, Austin-Healey, Jaguar.

Triumph's first model was the TR2 produced 1953-1955, followed by the TR3 (1955-1962).  I previously wrote about the TR2 in 2014.  Today's post provides more analytical detail.

I never liked the styling of those cars, and was pleased when the redesigned (by Giovanni Michelotti) TR4 emerged in the early 1960s.  Even so, TR2s and 3s were popular thanks to their peppy performance.

In the images below I try to show why I wasn't a TR2/3 fan.

Gallery

1952 MG TD - car-for-sale photo
This was the most popular imported British sports car when the TR2 was designed by Walter Belgrove.  The roadster style featuring cut-down doors was sometimes seen on pre- World War 2 cars, but was mostly found on MG T-series sports cars from 1936 through 1955.

1954 Triumph TR2 - car-for-sale photo
TR2s also had cut-down doors, and the cut was more drastic than on MGs.  So drastic that TR2/3s seemed to be almost chopped in two.  Compare the low-points of the beltlines on this car and the one above to their cowling heights.  The ratio of this cut length to the cowling distance from the lower body edge on the MG is around one-third, whereas on the TR2 it's about one-half.  The rear fender's leading curve pushes close to the cut.  This and the trunk (boot) creates a massive element adjoining the deepest part of the cut, emphasizing the effect of the body being essentially separated front and rear parts.  That is, seemingly "chopped in two."

1953c. Triumph TR2 - publicity photo
Another styling problem is the frontal design, especially the radiator opening where the grille is a grid mounted far inboard.  I suppose functionality purists might defend this, but I think it's ugly.  Those bug-eye headlight assemblies don't enhance the car's appearance either, but were probably inescapable given the front fenderline curve and American headlight height regulations.

1954 Triumph TR2 - car-for-sale photo set
Now for a brief walkaround.  The top edge of the cut-down door is slightly padded, providing an armrest for the driver.  Disregarding that "functionality," a higher front fenderline or beltline would have improved the car's looks.

A final look at TR2 front end styling.

1959 Triumph TR3 - BaT Auctions photo
The TR3 front was mildly facelifted from the TR2.  The conventionally-placed grille is an improvement aided by slight reshaping of its sheetmetal framing.  This should have been used on TR2s.  I suspect it wasn't because the TR2 was a marketing gamble and its front was cheaper to build.

General Motors 1948-1949 C-Body 4-Door Sedans

This post is one of a series dealing with General Motors' A, B, and C-bodies from the late 1930s into the 1950s.  Today's focus is the C-body used on line-topping models of three brands for 1948 and 1949.

I find it interesting that this C-body was so short-lived; typically, a GM body would be in production for three or four model years around 1950.  The subject C-body was used for 1948-1949 Oldsmobile 98s, 1948-1949 Cadillacs, and for 1949 Buick Supers and Roadmasters -- 1949 being an extended model year for Buick.

C-body wheelbases varied considerably.  The shortest was that of the Buick Super: 121.0 inches (3073 mm).  Next were the Oldsmobile 98 at 125.0 inches (3175 mm), Buick Roadmaster and Cadillac 61 and 62 at 126.0 inches (3200 mm), and finally the Cadillac 60 Special at 133.0 inches (3378 mm).  Side-view images below illustrate how these different wheelbases were dealt with in terms of bodywork.

Of design interest is how successfully Harley Earl's divisional styling teams were able to create visual brand personalities on that basic body platform.

Unless noted, images below are photos of car listed for sale.

Gallery

1948 Oldsmobile Futuramic 98
Oldsmobile design was one of the "cleanest" of the C-bodies.

1949 Buick Super - Mecum Auctions photo
Buicks featured hood sculpting, fender "portholes" and a wide, "toothy" grille.  Even more detail was in the form of turn-signal lights with trailing chromed strips atop the front fenders.

1948 Cadillac 62
Entry-level Cadillac 61s looked the same as 62s other than lacking the chromed panel abaft of the front wheel opening.

1948 Cadillac 60 Special
Also a "clean" design in terms of lack of chrome trim.

1948 Oldsmobile Futuramic 98
Simple rear styling in the form of cascading rounded shapes.  Modest tail lights.  The backlight window is in two sections because auto glass forming technology was not quite up to production of single-unit windows of that size.  The problem was probably production wastage rates, solved shortly later.

1949 Buick Super - Mecum Auctions photo
Even more cascading elements -- note the aft ends of the rear fenders.  Backlight is in three segments here.

1948 Cadillac 62
The 1948 model year marked the first appearance of Cadillac tail fins.  Cadillac had been using three-segment backlights since 1934, as I wrote here.  So it was as much a brand-identifier than only a technical feature.

1948 Cadillac 60 Special
Much larger trunk than on the other cars.

1949 Buick Super
Not a well-preserved car, but it's the best side-view I currently have of a car with the shortest C-body wheelbase.

1949 Oldsmobile Futuramic 98
The 98's longer wheelbase was accommodated forward of the cowling.  Compare the distance from the forward cutline of the front door to the aft edge of the wheel opining.  Abaft of the cowling the sheetmetal is almost identical.  (I don't have a good side view of a 1948 98, so this '49 model will have to do.)

1949 Buick Roadmaster
Wheelbase only an inch (25.4 mm) longer so little or no body adjustment for that.  Fender portholes and chrome trim help make this Buick distinct from the Oldsmobile.

1948 Cadillac 62 - Barrett-Jackson Auctions photo
Chrome trim detail and the tail fin help to differentiate the Cadillac.  But note that the passenger compartment greenhouses, doors, side window shapes, and basic fender shapes are the same on all these cars.

1949 Cadillac 60 Special - Mecum
Significantly longer wheelbase.  Greater length forward of the A-pillar.  Also some lengthening in the vicinity of the C-pillar, though it's difficult to specify exactly where, based on these images.  The greenhouse seems the same, but the rear axle line is closer to the backlight, and the rear fender leading edge is farther aft on the rear side door than on the other cars.

Merkur Scorpio and First-Generation Mercury Sable Compared

I noticed something, and it seems it also was noted here in Wikipedia's entry on the Merkur Scorpio.

Merkur was a Ford Motor Compay brand that briefly (1983-1989) existed in the USA.  The name was German for "Mercury" and the cars were imported from there.  It seems the idea was to climb on the American preference trend for European executive-class cars, hence the European origin and the foreign brand name.

Two types of Merkurs were imported.  A two-door hatchback XR4Ti (model years 1985-1989) entered the American market first, followed (1988-1989) by a four-door hatchback called the Scorpio.  The XR4Ti was an Americanized Ford Sierra XR4i and the Scorpio was an altered German Ford Scorpio Mk. I (UK Ford Granada Mk. III).

What was noticed, as hinted above, was the similarity of passenger compartment greenhouses of the Merkur Scorpio 4-door hatchback (launched in Europe for 1985) and the Mercury Sable sedan introduced for model year 1986.

I think I have a pretty good personal automobile reference library.  But it isn't good enough to let me know  the details of German Scorpio Mk. I styling process.  However on the Internet, Uwe Bahnsen's Wikipedia entry credits him with styling the Ford Scorpio Mk. I / Grenada Mk. III.  Not mentioned is the car's greenhouse.  The link to the Sable states that its design was created in the USA, but the window motif "borrowed design elements from the Ford Scorpio liftback sedan, using blacked-out B, C, and D-pillars for a 'floating roof' effect."  This seems reasonable, since the German Scorpio entered production slightly earlier and there surely were communication channels between Ford's German and American design operations.

Now let's look at those designs.

Gallery

1986 Mercury Sable - factory photo
The Sable and its stablemate Ford Taurus were the first "standard size" examples of Ford's 1980s aerodynamic design effort in America.

1988 Merkur Scorpio - photo via Haggerty
The Merkur's shape and detailing are remarkable similar aside from some frontal details.  This makes me wonder that there might have been more Transatlantic linkage than suggested above.

1987 Mercury Sable - unknown photo source
Sable sedans had conventional trunk lids.  So did non-hatchback German Scorpio sedans (that had C-pillars not clad by window glass).

1988 Merkur Scorpio - via Haggerty
Note the hatchback profile.

1992 Mercury Sable - possibly a factory photo
Now for the similarity.  The C- and D-pillars are fully clad by window glass, forming a smooth exterior.  Side window glass is positioned very far outward.  The combined effect is a smoothly shaped passenger greenhouse that seemed startling to many observers, including me, when first appeared.

1988c. Merkur Scorpio - unknown photo source
The same positioning for side glass and the glass-clad pillars are found on the Merkur Scorpio and its European sources.

Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud Walkaround

Rolls-Royce began building its own car bodies in 1949 when the Silver Dawn model was launched.  Of the in-house designs starting then, I think the best looking was the early-series Silver Cloud that appeared in 1955.

Here in America it gained attention by David Ogilvy's famous "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock" advertisement that I mentioned in my post "The Rolls-Royce with the Noisy Clock".

Wikipedia states that the lead stylist for the Silver Cloud was John Blatchley.  Two quotes of interest from Wikipedia (as of 21 May 2023) are:

"John Polwhele Blatchley (1 July 1913 – 16 February 2008) was a London-born car designer known for his work with J Gurney Nutting & Co Limited and Rolls-Royce Limited.  He began his career as designer with Gurney Nutting in 1935, moving up to Chief Designer before leaving in 1940 to join Rolls-Royce.  There he served as a draughtsman (1940–43), stylist in the car division (1943–55), and chief styling engineer (1955–69)."

"Development of new models continued but the designs presented to the board meeting which would decide on the new model to be introduced in 1955 were rejected as being too modern.  In the space of a week Blatchley produced a complete new concept to the board's requirements and it was immediately accepted... This became the Silver Cloud and S Type [Bentley], Rolls-Royce's last standard models based on a separate chassis."

Walkaround  images below are of a 1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud Sedan by Bring-a-Trailer Auctions.  The car has the standard 123-inch (3124 mm) wheelbase.

Gallery

The famous advertisement by David Ogilvy.  Click on the image to enlarge.

The classic Rolls-Royce Radiator grille design was retained -- but got increasingly altered in future redesigns.

It wasn't as easy at it might seem to combine the classic grille and hood with an envelope-type body where most element were integrated, rather than separate (as they were before the mid-1930s). 

The passenger compartment greenhouse hints of "razor edge" English coachbuilder designs of the 1930s and '40s.  

The trunks shape is rather bland, but that might have been necessary so as not to compete with and detract from other, more important details.

It doesn't even carry the Rolls-Royce logotype that's found below, on the bumper.

The character lines on the fender sides add interest and help reduce potential slab-sidedness.  Chrome trim in their place would have been disastrously undignified for "The Best Car in the World."

The fenderline is in line with post- World War 2 styling fashion.  The basic profile resembles that of the redesigned 1950 Buick Roadmaster line. 

But the rear fender retains a greater degree of separation due to its stronger front edge.  Besides the grille, frontal details that link the design to the past are the headlight assemblies and the rounded fender fronts.