Peugeot 601 Coach Profilé: "Airline" Type Body

Around the mid-1930s there was a styling fashion related to increasing interest in streamlining car shapes.   This "streamlining" was done on the cheap.  Since it wasn't practical or economically feasible to quickly redesign car bodies for most carmakers, the solution was to round off rear-ends.  This improved aerodynamic efficiency only a little -- what was actually needed were rounded front ends such as on the new 1934 Chrysler Airflow line.  But those "streamlined" afts had the sales virtue of at least seeming streamlined.

I posted "Gallery of English 'Airline' Designs" here, British carmakers being the fashion leaders for that style.  "Airline" was the term used for it.  Some examples I posted about were the "Airline Bodied Triumph Gloria" here, and "1935 Clément-Talbot 105 Airline Saloon" here.

Other countries got into the act, too.   A French example was in the Peugeot 601 line.  It was the 1935 Peugeot 601 D Longue Coach Sport Profilé, this post's featured car.

Longe (Long) refers to wheelbase.  The 601 was Peugeot's short-lasting mid-30s upscale line whose wheelbases were 2,980 mm (117 inches) for the 601 Normale, and 3,200 mm (126 inches) for the Longue.  The Coach Sport was Longue, allowing for a more graceful profile than found on stubbier British Airline examples.

Most photos below are from original sources that I cannot determine.

Gallery

The front is conventional Peugeot 601.  The only whiff of streamlining is the slanted, slightly "shovel nose" grille.

The windshield is sloped back somewhat.  The beltline falls off to the rear abaft of the B-pillar -- falling beltlines also being found on Peugeot's new 402 "Fuseau Sochaux" line, many Renaults, and the Citroën Traction-Avant models.

The backlight window is placed fairly high, perhaps to allow for more trunk room.

Overhead frontal view.  The body widens from front to rear.

Overhead rear view.  Interesting how the rear fender is blended towards the back edge of the body.

Another example.  From images found on Web searches, it looks like at least three of these cars survive.

A graceful production design for its time.  Peugeot's new (as of 1932) styling chief Henri Thomas' previous experience included working for coachbuilding firms, which might be why this car has a custom-car appearance.

Chevrolet Hardtop Coupe Evolution, 1950-1958

Today's post deals with some of General Motors' early passenger compartment greenhouse designs for what were popularly called "hardtop convertibles."  Ordinary convertible coupes, lacking a canvas top, also lacked B-pillars projecting above the beltline.  But the addition of a metal top while retaining truncated B-pillars suggested convertibles having "hard" roofs or tops.

Given the fact of a greenhouse with all its components and ergonomic/functional requirements, stylists spent several years and product redesigns exploring styling possibilities.  That was coupled with technological advances, particularly those related to practical formation of curved automobile window glass.

In order to keep this post fairly simple, my focus is on the years GM started building hardtops, but before the corporation and the rest of the American auto industry added a variety of different sized body platforms to their brand sets.  I chose Chevrolet as the example case because it was key to GM's profits and used only GM's A-body platform.

Back in 2015, I posted "Design Classic: GMs Original Hardtops" here, supplementing it with "Non-GM First-Generation Hardtop Convertibles" here.  Read those for some context on today's subject.

Gallery

1950 Chevrolet Styleline Bel Air - car-for-sale photos
General Motors' first hardtops appeared on its C-body platform during model year 1949.  This body type was extended to GM's other platforms for 1950.  The greenhouse design used on Chevrolets, Pontiacs, and  Oldsmobile 76s and 88s closely resembled the initial design.  B-body and C-body 1950 GM hardtops featured different window designs.  I consider the original greenhouse design, as seen here, to be classic.  The side window profile and roofline suggest the canvas tops of convertibles, if the backlight window is disregarded.

1953 Chevrolet Bel Air Hardtop Coupe - car-for-sale photos
A-bodies were redesigned for 1953.  The backlight window shape was retained, while the C-pillar was given a dog-leg profile.  A likely reason was to improve exterior viewing for back-seat passengers.

1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe - Mecum Auctions photos
The next redesign included GM's panoramic/wraparound windshield.  The C-pillar became thin while overall glass area was enlarged.

1958 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe - car-for-sale photos
This was a one-year model, as GM drastically redesigned all its brands for 1959, upsetting previous brand identification to a great degree.  The C-pillar returns to 1953 form.  Wraparound windshield and backlight profiles complement one another, an industry fashion in the late 1950s.

Now for a set of rear-quarter views.  This shows what I consider the classic design.  Simple in concept, it strikes me as being "Right."  The three-segment backlight window had to do with the state of the art of window glass formation -- one-piece windows could not be mass-produced economically.

That limitation had been eliminated when the 1953-generation A-bodies appeared.

1955 backlight windows were taller than before.

The backlight is quite similar to that of 1953, though taller.  The roofline is thinner now, maintaining an airy feeling with few obstructions to exterior vision.

1954 Pontiac Strato-Streak Concept Design Reaches Production in 1973

1954 Pontiac Strato-Streak Concept Car As for this post's headline -- it's not the entire design, but similarity, especially for the aft end profile.  And a shape at odds with American design/packaging preferences in both 1954 and 1973.

Some background on the Pontiac Strato-Streak concept car is here, and Pontiac Grand Am production cars is here.

Although there are exceptions such as the 1947 Studebaker and 1951 Kaiser, American "bustle back" sedans entering production in the late 1940s and after have featured fairly large trunks for carrying luggage, golf clubs and such.  Trunks on the Strato-Streak and 1973-vintage Grand Ams were not small, but their potential capacity was reduced due to the curved shapes of their lids.

This was not a problem for a concept car, but an instance of odd product planning in the case of the Grand Am.  As it happened, 1973-1975 Grand Ams sold poorly -- only around 71,000 were built, about 14,000 of those were 4-door sedans.

Photos of the Strato-Streak are either via General Motors or are from unidentified contemporary sources.

Gallery

The 1954 General Motors Motorama concept  car.  The B-pillar was entirely lacking.  Doors were hinged on the A and C pillars and secured to the lower framing when closed.  That would probably be forbidden today, and was a sketchy idea even back in '54.  Window framing seems to be fixed, so this is not a "hardtop sedan."

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan - General Motors photo
Compare the back fender curve here with that shown in the image above.

The Strato-Streak was moderately long, even by 1954 standards: wheelbase of 124 inches (3150 mm), with an estimated length of 206 inches (5232 mm).  The passenger compartment greenhouse features the new panoramic windshield with an echoing backlight window.

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan - car-for-sale photo
The wheelbase is 116 inches (2946 mm), 8 inches (204 mm) shorter than the Strato-Streak.  Even so, its length of 212.6 inches (5400 mm) is longer due to greater overhang.  The Strato-Streak had a flow-through fenderline, whereas the Grand Am has subtle front and rear fenderline sculpting.  It's the after part of the fenderline / trunk profile that have the same distinctive character for both cars.

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan - car-for-sale photo
Rear quarter view.  Compare to the similar perspective of the Strato-Streak below; the trunk curve is less extreme on the production car.

Tail lights are round, a Pontiac feature starting in 1948 and continuing into the late '50s.  The backlight window theme reached production on some 1957 Buicks and Oldsmobiles.

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan - General Motors photo
Note that the trunk lid is slightly higher than the rear fenderline.  The Strato-Streak also had this detail.

Peugeot's "Fuseau Sochaux" 402, 302, 202 and 402 Légère by Henri Thomas Compared

Readers of this blog are probably aware of corporate head designers such as Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell of General Motors, and Virgil Exner of Chrysler.  But you and I almost surely hadn't heard of Henri Thomas, who was in charge of Peugeot design 1932-1960.

Some background on Thomas and his work can be found in the article "Designers : Henri Thomas, le père des Peugeot Fuseaux" (here) and the article "Henri Thomas – von 1932 bis 1960 Designchef von Peugeot" (here).

The latter mentions Thomas' background before joining Peugeot:

"Bevor er zu Peugeot kam, gehörte Thomas zu einem kleinen Kreis von Designern, die für Binder, Million-Guiet, Kellner und einigen andere bekannte Carossieres Karosserien entwarfen, mit denen dann Fahrgestelle von Bugatti-, Delage-, Delahaye-, Rolls-Royce- und Hispano-Suiza eingekleidet wurden.  Ihm wird u.a. das Design der Karosserie des vierten Bugatti Royale (Chassis 41100) von 1929 zugeschrieben, der leider bei einem Unfall zerstört wurde, den Ettore Bugatti 1931 verursachte, als er zwischen Paris und Straßburg am Steuer einschlief."

Thomas' first complete designs for Peugeot were what the French called the "Fuseau Sochaux" (fuseau = "spindle" and Sochaux is where Peugeot was headquartered).  These were the streamlined 202, 302 and 402 models -- the latter being the first to enter production in 1935 for the 1936 model year.  Wikipedia links to the respective models are Peugeot 202, Peugeot 302 and Peugeot 402.

The latter (as of April 2025) notes:

"There were three different standard wheelbases of 2,880 mm (113 in) (short), 3,150 mm (124 in) (“normal”) and 3,300 mm (130 in) (long).  When the 402 was launched in 1935 there were just two chassis lengths, but for 1937 the manufacturer added a third “short” chassis, inherited from the short-lived Peugeot 302.  The short chassis was used from 1937 for the Peugeot 402 Légère ('light-bodied')."

Gallery

Henri Thomas (at left).

1938 Peugeot 402 conduite intérieure - Toyota Automobile Museum photo
The 402 was the basic Peugeot model 1936-1940.

1938 Peugeot 302 berline - car-for-sale photo
The 302 had a short production run 1936-1937.

1938 Peugeot 202 berline - Swiss Auction Company photo
202s first appeared for model year 1938, production continuing for a few years following World war 2.

1938 Peugeot 402 Légère berline - photo via classicargarage.fr
This model had the regular 402 chassis, but the body abaft of the firewall was that of the 202.  The frontal zone is regular 402.

Oldsmobile's Attractive Delta 88 Royale Hardtop Coupe: 1969-1973

Bill Mitchell (Wikipedia entry here) was in charge of design at General Motors 1958-1977.   That was from the tailfin era to when government regulations were resulting in smaller cars, but not yet having wind tunnel tested body shapes.

I consider 1963-1973 the peak years for good styling under Mitchell's command.  First in his term, tail fins and wraparound windshields had to be abandoned.  While towards the end, regulations began forcing reductions in designer creativity.  So '63-'73 was his sweet spot.

Todays' featured design was in production during the later years of that era, though its conception probably took place around 1965-66.  The car is an Oldsmobile 88 -- Oldsmobiles tended to have designs that were more pure, less cluttered, than those often seen on other GM brands.  And being a "hardtop" coupe, its shaping had the potential to be more graceful than that of a four-door sedan.

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

Gallery

1968 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Holiday Coupe - car-for-sale photo
The previous equivalent Olds.  Voluptuous rear fender and passenger compartment beltline.  Sleek, almost fastback profile.  Chrome trim is reduced to the margins, leaving largely uncluttered sides.

1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Holiday Coupe
Voluptuousness is considerably dialed back.  The fenderline/beltline still flows, but much more subtly.  Wheel opening are no longer classically rounded, but are more rectangular and framed by flared sculpting.  That detail add some interest to the otherwise nearly-clean sides.  The vertical strips abaft of the front wheel opening designate that this is a "Royale" and not an ordinary Delta 88.

1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale - BaT Auctions photo
Delta 88 hardtops were facelifted for the 1971 model year.  Fenderline flow was essentially eliminated, the only relief being the slight hitch above the flow at the leading edge of the C-pillar.  Besides those vertical strips on the front fender, Royales received the long, horizontal chrome strip.  While a mild form of clutter, it ties front and rear while making the car seem longer than otherwise. 

1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale
The succeeding design.  Retained are the wheel opening concepts, the vertical strips and the horizontal strip.  Also the small hitch mentioned above.  The main side-view difference is the window treatment.  The heavy C-pillar becomes something of a "Targa" bar as hardtop convertible elements are in the process of disappearing: an American car industry trend at the time.  I find the backlight window plus quarter window treatment unfortunate.

1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Holiday Coupe
Original frontal design.  Like BMW and Pontiac, Oldsmobiles featured segmental grilles for many years.

1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale
The revised grille design is simpler, more attractive than the '69 version.  Those awful quad headlights are neatly packaged, at least.

1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale
Rear design also is attractive.  Basically simple, but the two-segment taillight assemblies echo the grille theme and add just enough interest.

Chrysler's Other 1950 Concept Car from Italy

Chrysler Corporation's first postwar "concept car" was the Plymouth XX-500 of 1950 that wasn't actually a true Concept Car.  I wrote about it here in 2015.

I put the term "concept car" in quotation marks because the design was never an attempt to test styling features for future production consideration.  Instead, its main purpose was the evaluation of the assembly skill of its Italian coachbuilder -- Carrozzieria Ghia.

Also evaluated at the same time was Pinin Farina, whose work was judged marginally less excellent than Ghia's.  As David Holls and Michael Lamm explain in their essential book "A Century of Automotive Style," page 192:

"Both coachbuilders received chassis through Chrysler's overseas branch, and both fabricated sample bodies on them.  [Chrysler chairman] Keller didn't care what the designs looked like, but he wanted [Virgil] Exner to compare Ghia's and Pinin Farina's craftsmanship and standards of quality."

Here is where things become complicated.  Some sources I've come across say that Chrysler supplied a design that both firms were to actualize, but that Ghia ignored that and built a car they designed.  Other sources claim that there was no directive from Chrysler, each coachbuilder doing its own thing.  Perhaps documentation exists in old Chrysler Corporation archives that would clear up this matter from 75+ years ago.  Absent that, all I can do is speculate.  I do that below in captions for images of Pinin Farina's design.

Gallery

Here is the Pinin Farina car seen parked on a street, probably in the Detroit area.

It's occupied by what appears to be a family doing weekend shopping or some other ordinary activity.  I'll speculate that Chrysler was going to have the car trashed -- a fairly common fate of concept cars in those days, and the driver might have been a worker at the trashing facility, taking it out for one last spin.  Another speculation is that he works for Chrysler in some capacity and was able to borrow the car from a corporate motor pool for the day.

A Pinin Farina rendering of the design done in the exaggerated style used in Italy in those days.  Might this mean that the design is Farina's, and not Chrysler's?  Note the two-piece windshield here, and that the actual car's windshield is one-piece.

Now for some photos taken in Turin by the coachbuilder.

Here is where the design gets interesting in terms of its source.  The image below is of the grille design on 1951 and 1952 Dodge cars.  Note the segment above the main, bold horizontal chrome bar.  It includes five vertical "teeth."  The Pinin Farina grille also features a bold horizontal bar with an above-segment with three such "teeth."  Does this mean that the design was Chrysler's, where the Dodge grille design  was already slated for production and included in the package sent to Italy?  Or was Farina informed of that future Dodge design detail?  The Plymouth XX-500 by Ghia was first shown to the public on 17 March 1951 at the opening of the Chicago Auto Show.  This was a month or so after 1951 Dodges were announced to the public.  The two Italian cars were probably completed at least half a year or so before that.  So it is unlikely that Pinin Farina came up with the Dodge grille concept in time to influence the production design.  Therefore, it's almost certain that the grille design concept came from Chrysler one way or another.  But the source of the overall design Pinin Farina built remains unclear, as best I can tell.

A 1952 Dodge Cranbrook hardtop coupe.