1939 Hotchkiss Cabourg Berline

Hotchkiss was a weapons-making firm that added automobiles to its product line in the early 1900s, as its Wikipedia entry mentions.  By the mid-1930s, its cars were solid entries in France's upper-middle to entry-luxury price/prestige hierarchy.  Plus, Hotchkiss was quite successful in the famous Monte Carlo Rallies.

Today's post deals with Hotchkiss' 6-cylinder 4-door berline (sedan), the model 686.  It appeared for the 1936 model year and continued in production until the early 1950s, with time out during World War 2.  Those berlines were marketed under the model name "Cabourg," a town on the Normandy coast located between Deauville and Caen.

It was succeeded by a car with a somewhat similar 1930s appearance that I discussed here in the post "Hotchkiss Anjou Walkaround".

Due to availability of Internet images, model year 1939 cars are feaured below.

Gallery

1939 Hotchkiss 686 Cabourg berline
As seen at the 1938 Salon de l'automobile, Paris.   Photo via Toutes les voitures françaises 1939 - p.52.  There is some camera lens distortion in the photo: note the front wheel.

1939 Hotchkiss 686 Cabourg berline - unknown photo source
A slightly better view of the Cabourg's left side.  The passenger compartment greenhouse side windows are not especially tall or rounded around the B-pillar, thereby avoiding the bloated appearance seen on a number of American cars of the mid-thirties.  Whereas the design is not exciting or even memorable, it's well-done and I class its appearance as pleasing.

1936 Hotchkiss 680 Cabourg berline - car-for sale photos
Early Cabourgs had front fenders that flowed over the wheel wells: standard practice for most early 1930s cars.

Rear quarter view.  The trunk hinges suggest that this might be an early production version.

c.1939 Hotchkiss 686 Cabourg berline - via Auto ancienne
Hotchkiss's 1937 facelift focused on fenders, reshaping them into the fashionable teardrop profile.

1939 Hotchkiss 686 Cabourg berline - car-for sale photos
Now for a mini-walkaround.

French car styling could often be quirky, but this design would have been at home in the U.S.A.

Hotchkiss grille design was improved in 1938 with the addition of the central, vertical divider.  The flat, one-piece windshield was out-of-date in 1939, two-segment, V'd windshields being the most common in America.

The dashboard also is old-fashioned by 1939 American standards.

Packard Caribbean Convertible Evolution

For model years 1953-1956 Packard marketed an upscale line of convertible coupes named Caribbean.  I wrote about the 1953 Caribbean here.

Caribbeans did not sell in large numbers because Packard limited production: 750 cars for 1953, 400 for 1954, 500 for 1955, and 276 convertibles for 1956 (that year there was a hardtop coupe version, 263 built).

Surviving Caribbeans can yield decent prices when auctioned.

Examples from each model year are compared below.

Gallery

1953 Packard Caribbean - Mecum Auctions photos
Aside from the hood airscoop, frontal styling is the same as upscale Packard Cavaliers and Patricians, as well as Convertibles.

1954 Packard Caribbean - Mecum
The two most important styling changes for 1954 were the reshaping to the rear wheel opening and the addition of the chrome strip above it that serves as a two-tone paint boundary (see examples below).

1955 Packard Caribbean - Mecum
Packards were heavily facelifted for 1955 (note the wraparound windshield) and received mechanical upgrades (the inline 8-cylinder motors were replaced by V8s).  Again, the main frontal difference from standard Packards is the hood air intakes. 

1956 Packard Caribbean - RM Sotheby's Auctions photo
Chrome décor added to the hood air intakes and mesh screen added to the grille opening.

1953 Packard Caribbean - Mecum
I agree with many other observers that the '53 Caribbean is the most attractive of the lot.  A nice, useful touch is the chrome strip on the beltline that widens to accent the transition to the rear fender.  Also, it reverse-echoes the traditions pen-nib feature found on hoods and fender sides at various times.  On the other hand, I see no aesthetic gain on the part of the exposed spare tire at the rear  That was a 1950s American styling/marketing fad.

1954 Packard Caribbean - Bat Auctions photo
That two-tone paint scheme was not an improvement over the 1953 design.

1955 Packard Caribbean - Mecum
Front and rear ends lean outwards to enhance visual length.  An impressive design from a marketing point of view.

1956 Packard Caribbean - Bonhams Auctions
The two- or three-tone paint scheme transforms the Caribbean from a sporty look to the appearance of a luxury convertible.  Which it is.

1953 Packard Caribbean - BaT Auctions photo
I suppose the spare tire adds interest to the rear end.  And I wonder what else might have been used to that effect.

1954 Packard Caribbean - BaT Auctions
More of that unfortunate two-tone scheme.  Even on the spare tire cover, in this instance.

1955 Packard Caribbean - Barrett-Jackson Auctions photo
The spare tire is now located in the trunk.  Rear end styling is the same as on other Packards.

1956 Packard Caribbean - Driehaus Collection photo
That large V on the trunk lid is a visual cliché not needed on a luxury car.

Did Pinin Farina Actually Design the Classic Cisitalia 202 Berlinetta?

On 20 October 2014 I posted "Design Classic: Cisitalia 202."  I gave Battasta "Pinin" Farina full-credit for the design,  mentioning among other things:

"Besides its good proportions and carefully stated details, Farina did make one bold move: he dropped the hood to near fender-level, a featured picked up by many later designs.  Here too there was precedent in certain prewar racing cars.  So while Farina was not innovative on the Cisitalia, it was his outstanding design ability that allowed him to pull the various features into one place in an extremely tasteful manner."

Eleven years later, I've come across Internet sources that contradict what I wrote regarding the origin of the design.  Unfortunately, there is not complete agreement regarding timing of the completion of first examples of various designs, so what I present here must be regarded as more sketchy than I prefer.  That said, the general picture I paint here seems basically correct.

The origin of the 202's design was by Giovanni Savonuzzi, 1911-1988 (Wikipedia entry here, and more background on his car designs is here).  He was a graduate mechanical engineer who worked in aviation pre- World War 2.  He joined Cisitalia in August of 1945, working on racing car designs.  His Cisitalia 202 CMM (Coupè Mille Miglia) was shaped using a wind tunnel at Torino Politechnio.  Strong elements of that design are found on the Cisitalia 202 Berlinetta.

Potential chronology problems occur because work on the CMM and Berlinetta happened in 1946 and the first part of 1947, a brief period in the context of developing car designs.  Internet sources tend to be vague regarding timing.  That noted, I am pretty sure that the form of the CMM was developed first, then the design of the Berlinetta emerged, though there clearly was considerable timing overlap -- the idea of a road car Cisitalia being considered and then worked on while Savonuzzi was refining the CMM.  The 1947 Mille Miglia race took place 21-22 June.  The Barchetta was first shown at Turin's auto show 28 June, then at the Paris Salon de l'Automobile that opened 23 October.  So both designs appeared in public at nearly the same time.

More information and conjecture is in the image captions below, while some background on the Cisitalia firm is here.

Gallery

Cisitalia 202 CMM by Vignale - Gooding Auctions
One of the racing coupes.  Some styling features appeared on 202 Barchettas in altered from.

However, rear-end carryover was nonexistent aside from the wheel covers.

Cisitalia 202 CMM by Vignale - photo by Hughes Vanhoolandt
Note the low hood and high fenders.  These features and the oval grill opening are found, productionized, on the Barchetta.

Savonuzzi three-view of 202 - via valocetoday.com, "Savonuzzi Part 1"
Pinin Farina changed the fender design, adding a distinct rear fender.  He changed the rear profile to a subtle S-curve and reduced the size of the backlight window.  The grille frame became more oval.  The door and its window were reshaped.  Savonuzzi credited Farina with these changes, and Farina took total claim for the design.  That's what design firm owners such as he and Raymond Loewy do, partly for marketing purposes.

1947 Cisitalia Berlinetta - photos probably via Pininfarina
This is either the original Barchetta Pinin Farina built, or an early one.

Compare this profile to that of Savonuzzi's drawing above.

The backlight windows shape differs slightly from that shown in the next group of images.

1950 Cisitalia 202 B Berlinetta by Stabilimentia Farina at Revs Institute - 2017 photos by Donald Pittenger
The "B" indicates a later production version where a noticeable difference is the one-piece windshield.  Pinin Farina built many 202 Berlinettas, but Stabilimenti Farina and Vignale also made some.  That in part was because these cars were hand-made, not productionized by the carrozzieri, as might have been the case in later years.  The designs were essentially consistent across these carrozzieri.

Air vents on front fenders are found on some Berlinettas, not on others.

No trunk lid.  Spare tire access is via the panel behind the license plate frame (note the cutlines).

Cisitalia Berlinettas featured right-hand drive, like other upscale Italian and French brands in those days.

Vedette from Ford to Simca

I recently was paging through some of my mid-1950s copies of Road & Track magazine that I bought when I was in high school.  In one, I noticed an advertisement for the Simca Vedette sedan.  A conventionally attractive car of that vintage, but not very French-looking, given that Citroëns and Renaults back then were pretty distinctive.

So I hopped into a search engine and turned up this Wikipedia entry for Simca.  Scrolling down to the section titled "Aronde and Ford SAF takeover," it seems that Simca took over the Ford SAF factory in 1954, as explained in the entry for the Ford Vedette here.  It also seems Ford found operating in France difficult, so pulled up stakes just as a redesigned Vedette was being launched.  Wikipedia's entry for the Simca Vedette is here.

The story continues in the captions below.

Gallery

1956 Simca Vedette - unknown photo source
And early Simca Vedette.  It was produced in France 1954-1961.  Its design was Ford's new mid-1950s European model produced in several countries.

1959 Ford Taunus 17M - photo via car.info
German Ford, wheelbase = 102.5 inches (2604 mm).  Compare especially the passenger compartment greenhouse and door cutlines with the cars shown in the following two images.

1962 Ford Zephyr Ml II - car-for-sale photo
British Ford, wheelbase = 107 inches (2718 mm).  Longer than the Taunus forward of the front door hinging.

Simca Vedette Versailles - car-for-sale photo
Probably a 1956 model, wheelbase = 105.9 inches (2690 mm).  Structurally the same as the previous two cars, though the roofline seem higher, more rounded.

1956 Simca Vedette Régence - Artcurial Auctions photo
Top-of-the Vedette line model.  Different chrome side-trim from the Versailles model above.  But compare to the Oldsmobile below.

1955 Oldsmobile Super 88 - Mecum Auctions photo
I wonder if the Régence side trim + two-tone scheme was borrowed from Oldsmobile.  Not identical, but the spirit seems pretty similar.

1957 Simca Vedette Versailles - Gallery Aaldering photos
Front quarter view.  The grille strikes me as being the most fussy-French aspect of the design.

Rear quarter view.  Pretty conventional with a whiff of tail fins.

General Motors' Best-Looking 1948 Car

General Motors' first redesigned post- World War 2 cars were C-body based, appearing beginning mid-year 1948.  Model year 1948 cars were Cadillacs and Oldsmobile's upscale Ninety-Eights.  C-body Buicks (Supers and Roadmasters) were 1949 models.

Styling was unlike prewar car-of-the-future concepts featuring fenders completely merged into the basic body.  Instead, GM's styling boss Harley Earl had his team design cars with distinct, applied rear fenders, with the overall fenderline being a short distance below the cars' beltlines.  The purpose was to reduce likely visual bulk that slab-sides would create on the comparatively tall cars of the day.  That is, Earl's designs were generally graceful.

In my opinion, the best looking of the lot was the Oldsmobile convertible.  Of course, convertibles almost always seem more attractive than other body types because they lack passenger compartment greenhouses.  Those greenhouses include many items (doorposts, roof profiles, windows, passenger ergonomic considerations, etc.) that stylists have to deal with, including some that make attractive solutions hard to achieve.  Convertibles lack all that fuss.

As to why I prefer the Oldsmobile design, let's take a look.

The featured car is a 1948 Oldsmobile Futuramic 98 Convertible, photos via Mecum Auctions.

Gallery

One can see it, but I find it explaining it difficult.  It's just that all the elements work together to create a pleasing whole.  Even the the potentially awkward convertible top isn't a distraction.

Those horizontal fender chrome strips are set on the low side, drawing the eye downwards, making the car seem even lower.  That rocker panel chrome adds to the effect.

Instrument panel and dashboard.  Clutter is near the gauges, not spread around.  But all those similar knobs are ergonomically questionable.

Grille design is simple.  Roundings echo other rounder body features, reinforcing the theme.

Rear is not cluttered.  The convertible top is simple, though the backlight window is too tiny.

Yes, plenty of rounded features.  Yet there is a feeling of tautness.  And those strong, horizontal fender chrome strips provide a counter to the roundedness.

Left side.

Rear quarter view.  Perhaps the most awkward perspective, with the high trunk lid next to the low rear fender.

Again, the canvas top does not detract front the design more than a trifle.  Aft ends of the fenders nest the lower part of the trunk lid, adding visual interest.

1948 Cadillac 62 Convertible - car-for-sale photo
Looking at side views of the Olds and the other new C-body convertibles.  (By the way, the Oldsmobile grille design is much simpler and better integrated than Cadillac and Buick grilles.)  Again we find bold horizontal chrome strips placed at the same level as on the Olds.  The Cadillac has decorative chrome abaft of the front wheel opening.  Also a character crease across the front fender section.  Plus the famous tail fin that seems a little silly-looking here.

1948 Oldsmobile Futuramic 98 Convertible - BaT Auctions photo
Image of another Olds convertible placed here to aid comparisons.

1949 Buick Roadmaster Convertible - car-for-sale photo
The other C-body convertible.  This later-in-the-model-year car features the bold "Sweepspear" chrome swath.  Its main function proved to be a brand identifier, but adds confusion to the styling.  Not nearly as pure a design as the Oldsmobile's.

1949 Buick Super Convertible - car-for-sale photo
Buick Supers and early-1949 Roadmaster convertibles had simpler side trim than seen above: no Sweepspear.  Even so, there is more decoration than on the Oldsmobile.  Specifically, the "portholes" on the front fender and the chrome strip-plus-turning-signal-light atop it.  The "cascading" curves at the aft of the rear fender are interesting, but fussier than Oldsmobile's fender design.