Jaguar XK120 Fixed Head Coupé Walkaround

The Jaguar XK120 (Wikipedia entry here) is a classic sports car design.  It first appeared in 1948 as a roadster.  A Fixed Head Coupé (as the British put it) did not appear until the 1951 model year.

The coupé is interesting in that it carried over some of the spirit of the 1938 SS Jaguar 100 prototype coupé and the contemporary postwar Mark IV and Mark V saloons with their tight, even curved-down aft roof profiles.  In other words, a case of visual brand identification. 

The design is less pure than that of the roadster XK120s due to the added passenger greenhouse elements, but is still iconic of the marque and its times.

Featured car photos below are of a silver 1952 Jaguar Fixed Head Coupé are via Broad Arrow Auctions.

Gallery

Establishment view: note all the rounded shapes and profiles.

In contrast to the rounded hood, fender fronts and rears, greenhouse roof, trunk lid, etc., much of the sides are flat, vertical.

Side view: there is a lot of shaping activity where the top, windows, trunk and rear fender are near one another.

For some context, here is a 1951 Jaguar Fixed Head Coupé without the rear wheel opening cover (Gallery Aaldering photos).  That visual activity increases where fender skirts are absent.  Ordinarily, I prefer unskirted wheels, but skirts are better on XK120 FHCs.

The tucked down roof works well here, contrasting with the curves of the rear fender and trunk lid.

The fussiness noted above being exaggerated when rear wheels are exposed is more evident from this perspective.  Lots of visual activity in a small area.  Those flat sides create some contrast, possibly avoiding curvaceous overkill.

The rounder roof and small backlight window create an old-fashioned (1930s) appearance when seen from the rear.

I like the XK120 FHC design, but am curious how the car would look if  the lower window profile was straighter.  The window shape might possibly be a case of one curve too many.

Classic 1930s British front end elements are retained: good.

And the British wooden dashboard is a nice touch on a car that transitions from the 1930s to the 1950s.  But the steering column and steering wheel hub combination looks lethal.

The Slinky Second-Generation Chevrolet Camaro

Searching for Internet images of 1970 second-generation Chevrolet Camaros, I found almost no examples that weren't high-performance-appearing.  That is, nearly all cars up for auction or direct sale featured elaborate wheels, often sporting large tires.  Plus fancy two-tone paint schemes.  Also aft-end aerodynamic spoilers.  Putting this another way, I found almost no conventional Camaros such as a close lady friend of mine bought in 1971.  And from a styling blog standpoint, all those spoilers, paint-jobs and monster wheels obscured the basic design.  The two images above were among the best I could find showing "pure" Camaros (yes, the blue car has big wheels and tires, but no extra trim).

For an overview of early Camaro generations, see my post "Fifth-Series Chevrolet Camaros -- Searching for a Theme."

Today's post presents facelifts of the second-generation Camaro over its 12-year (1970-1981) production run.  The suggestion is offered that the basic design could be seen as a modernized classic 1953 Studebaker Starliner.

Unless noted, photos are of cars listed for sale.

Gallery

1970 Chevrolet Camaro SS
This car has a full-width grille, but a two-segment grille was on some cars.

Minimal chrome trim.  The B/C pillar zone is wide, restricting vision for back-seat passengers.  But it looks good.

No trunk lid spoiler, but the rest of the jazz is here, including a too-glossy paint job.

1975 Chevrolet Camaro - Gallery Aaldering photos
A large, federally mandated front bumper appeared for 1974.  This entailed a redesign of the front end, including the grille and headlight assemblies.

This car has a functional chrome strip along the side that offers some rub protection.  Doesn't improve the car's looks.

The backlight window is now panoramic, echoing General Motors' early hardtop convertible versions.

1979 Chevrolet Camaro Berlinetta
The big bumper is now clothed in urethane and the grille is modified.  This was an important improvement over the 1974-78 frontal design.

This car has a "T" roof.

Also a rear spoiler.

1979 Chevrolet Camaro
Compare this '79 Camaro to the Studebaker below.

1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner
A classic design.  The Camaro strikes me as having the same "feel" even though details are almost entirely different.  

Giving the 1940-1941 Graham Hollywood New Respect

1941 Graham Hollywood, Mt. Baker Washington - unknown photo source

1937 Cord 812 Westchester - for-sale-car photo
An interesting sidelight to the 1930s American automobile production/marketing/design situation was the use of basic car bodies from other carmakers.  Some of this happened previous to the Great Depression, but the best-known (in reality known mostly by folks seriously interested in automobile history) happened late in the decade.   For example, I posted "Failing Brands, Shared Body: Graham and Reo" here.  Today's post deals with the case of "Hupmobiles and Grahams with Cord Bodies" that I wrote about here.

Specifically, I'm featuring the Graham version of the facelifted, re-engineered Cord design marketed by that firm and Hupmobile.  The Hupp version sold in significantly lower numbers than the Graham Hollywood.

A Cord and Graham Hollywood are compared in the images above.  Below are images dealing with some aspects of the revised design.  In a sense, it's a mini-walkaround.  But a Walkaround post will appear later.

I need to add that, for most of my adult life, I held the Hupp/Graham design in contempt.  The Cord design was breathtaking to junior-highschool aged me when I saw a yellow sedan like the one at the top of this post cruising along Bothell Way in Seattle's Lake City Neighborhood.  The Hollywood? -- a disgrace!

Now I have mellowed.  I finally can set aside the Cord comparison and to some degree consider the Hollywood in its own right.  As this post's title states, I give it new respect.

Gallery

1941 Graham Hollywood - RM Sotheby's photos
Scattered Internet sources credit the Graham/Hupp facelift to John Tjaarda.  The grille design features a somewhat vertical element on the front of the hood and horizontal openings at the front of the catwalks.

Those freestanding headlight assemblies add visual clutter.  Worse, they were archaic style-fashion-wise in the early 1940s -- a potential marketing problem.  Otherwise, the facelift of the Cord design was largely successful.

Unlike Cord, the hood projects ahead of the fender.  And front fenders are more stubby than Cord's.  Other than a side-view such as this, there's no real aesthetic problem.

Like Cord, attractive from this perspective.

1941 Graham Hollywood - Driehaus Collection photos
The Driehaus Collection has a number of seriously fine styling examples, so having a Hollywood in the mix adds credibility to its design.

Nice view of frontal sculpting.  Essentially everything forward of the passenger compartment is the facelift.  Absent those headlights, this would be a near-classic design.

Edsel's Only Facelift

It's ancient history for most folks these days, but Ford Motor Company's 1958-1960  Edsel brand fiasco was famous.  Nevertheless, car buffs and business schools still find it of interest.

I posted "Edsel's Three Model Years" here, and "Making 1958 Edsels from 1957 Fords and Mercurys" here.  The present post builds on those, focusing on 1959 Edsel design, the brand's only facelift.  (The few 1960 Edsels were new designs, based on the redesigned 1960 Fords.)

Model year 1958 Edsels came in two body platforms.  Entry-level Edsels used Ford bodies and came in two ranges: Ranger and Pacer.  Upscale Edsels were Mercury-based: Corsairs and Citations.  But for 1959, all Edsels were Ford-based, the model line reduced to Ranger and Corsair.

For detailed coverage of the Edsel saga, read "Disaster in Dearborn: The Story of the Edsel" by Thomas E. Bonsall (Amazon link here).

It seems that Ford management was starting to sour on the project even before the 1958 models were introduced to the public in early September of 1957.  By late 1957, sales data revealed that the cars were not selling as well as anticipated.  Given the lead-time to the introduction of 1959 models, it's likely that the decision to drop Mercury-based Edsels was made some time in 1957, not 1958. 

In the Gallery below, 1958 and 1959 Edsel styling themes are compared.  Some 1959 Ford images are included to indicate changes made to create Edsels.

Gallery

1958 Edsel Corsair hardtop coupe - car-for-sale photo
A Mercury-based Edsel with the then-controversial grille design.

1959 Edsel Ranger hardtop coupe - car-for-sale photo
Frontal design was simplified.  Headlights were moved from the fender fronts to the grille zone.  The vertical grille element was somewhat integrated with the rest of the grille by adding horizontal bars.  My opinion is that this resulted in a bland Edsel-look.  I'd be tempted to put sone vertical bars in the vertical element.  That would have toned-down the original grille's visual shock while still being proudly (enough) Edsel.

1959 Ford Galaxie Club Victoria - BaT Auctions photo
The basis for 1959 Edsels, in this case a two-door hardtop.

1959 Ford Galaxie 4-door sedan - Barrett-Jackson Auctions photo
Galaxie was Ford's most expensive line.  For 1959, it and mid-range Fairlane 500s were given wide C-pillars in Thunderbird fashion.

1959 Ford Custom 300 4-door sedan - car-for-sale photo
Ford's entry-level Custom 300 line received thinner C-pillars with panoramic backlight windows.  This version was used on '59 Edsels.

1959 Edsel Ranger 4-door sedan - BaT
The Ford fenderline was retained.  Wheel openings were slightly different, along with the rear door's aft cutline.  Edsel sides received new sculpting below the fenderline and, of course, new side trim.

1959 Edsel Corsair 4-door sedan - BaT
Entry-level Ranger side trim differed from that of the senior-level Corsair shown here -- though the upper chrome pieces seem similarly placed.

1958 Edsel Pacer 4-door sedan - BaT
Original Edsel rear end design on a Ford-based body.

1959 Edsel Ranger 4-door sedan - BaT
For '59, trunk lid shaping was little changed, but not the rest of the rear.  Ford invested in some new tooling here as well as on the sides and front end.

1959 Ford Custom 300 4-door sedan - car-for-sale photo
Ford rear ends were clearly unlike Edsels despite having the same basic body structure.

Grille "Whiskers" on 1937-1938 Hoods

While there is no doubt that automobile styling has a considerable fad/fashion component, often styling fashions are influenced by what is technically available at the time.

Consider the late 1930s American situation.  The Great Depression of the '30s stimulated visual innovation as a means of attracting buyers.  Then there was the concept of "streamlining" -- actual or simulated improved aerodynamic efficiency of body shapes.  This interacted with improvements in sheet metal stamping technology so that rounded body surfaces could be mass-produced.  So American cars of that era tended to have rounded, sometimes lumpy appearances.

Once a production body shape was established, stylists then had to come up with largely decorative items such as grille shapes and details.  Often, such details were similar for competing brands (as is true today).

Today's post deals with what I consider a curious trim similarity found on cars from five different companies for the 1937 model year.  Then for 1938, two more companies' cars used the same idea.

Especially interesting, there was no 1936 American car with that feature.  A quick look at '36 French designs revealed the same thing, though I can't rule out an example from another country or a custom body that might have inspired it.  

From what I've read about the American car industry, a source of that similarity might have been stylists changing jobs and passing along information.  Or it might have been information leaked by parts suppliers.

And it's quite possible that the idea occurred because the 1936 fad for "fencer's mask grilles" led some stylists to the idea that such grilles could be closely linked to the nearby hood sides.

Let's take a look.

Gallery

1937 Studebaker President - Hyman, Ltd photo
Here the chrome strips along the side of the hood overlap the top of the grille itself.  Visually, this is the sort of thing I was discussing above, even though the streaks are not strictly grille bar extensions.

1937 Chrysler Royal - car-for-sale photo
Again, the grille itself isn't quite involved, though the visual concept is there.

1937 DeSoto - car-for-sale photo
DeSoto's hood streaks do seem to be grille bar extensions.  However, the top of the actual grille opening is probably around the "O" of the "DESOTO" on the vertical grille divider.

1938 DeSoto - Barrett-Jackson Auctions photo
DeSoto the following model year.

1937 Pontiac DeLuxe - Barrett-Jackson
A bit hard to see in this photo, but streaks extend from the grille bar zone.

1937 Willys - publicity photo
A small car with small grille-hood streaks.

1937 Nash Ambassador Eight - car-for-sale photo
A borderline case.  The upper grille framing is extended along the hood, but not as chrome strips.

1938 Graham 96 - Shannon's Melbourne Auctions photo
For 1938, we see those streaks on the redesigned Graham.

1938 Ford Standard Tudor - Mecum Auctions photo
Also on the entry-level Fords.  Though no chrome here for that low-priced car.