General Motors' 1961 Y-Body Coupes

The title above refers to 1961 model year cars, but most 1962 versions had essentially the same styling as the '61s.  So I'll include 1962 examples in the Gallery below.

I compared styling of 1961 generation "compact" (Y-platform) 4-door sedans here.  Today's post deals with coupes.

This platform was noticeably smaller than the "standard" size cars produced by Detroit's three largest automobile makers. For example, Oldsmobile's compact F-85 had a wheelbase of 112 inches (2845 mm) compared to 123 inches (3124 mm) for its standard size 88 models.

This was in response to American Motors Corporation's Rambler compact car line that was rapidly increasing its market share in the late 1950s, while Studebaker introduced its compact Lark model for 1959.

Chrysler Corporation introduced its compact Valiant for the 1960 model year, and Ford Motor Company launches its Ford Falcon and Mercury Comet compact cars for 1961.

As was the case for brands and models sharing the same basic platform, Y-body cars shared many features in the interest of development/production economy as well as brand-specific differences needed for marketing purposes.

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

Gallery

1961 Pontiac Tempest - BaT Auctions photo
Model year 1961 saw the return of Pontiac's two-segment grille that was introduced for 1959, but abandoned for '60.  Thereafter, two-segment was a visual brand identifier for Pontiac.  The grille design seen here differs from two-segment grilles on 1961 standard size Pontiacs.

1962 Pontiac Tempest LeMans
For some reason, Tempests lost the two-segment theme for 1962, yet returned to it for '63.  An odd repeat of the 1959-1960-1961 pattern of the standard size line.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass
"Cutlass" was used to denote F-85 coupes.  Later, it was applied across much of Oldsmobile's line.  The car pictured here has fancier trim than the Pontiacs shown above.  That would be expected becuase Oldsmobile was one notch ahead of Pontiac in General Motors' brand portfolio.

1962 Buick Special
Buick Specials featured the same projecting, tapered leading fender profile as standard size '61 Buicks had.  All 1961 Y-body coupes were just that -- Buick added a hardtop (pillarless) version for '62, as did Olds.  There were no compact Pontiac hardtop coupes until the 1964 redesign.

1962 Pontiac Tempest
Fronts and rears differed for reasons of brand identity.  Sides were more uniform.  The bold, near-beltline character sculpting is found on all 1961 Y-body coupes.  Tempests had a faux air exhaust vent abaft of the front wheel opening with an attached character line extending back over the rear wheel opening.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass
No faux air vent, but the lower character line is the same as Pontiac's.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire - Jay Leno Collection
The Jetfire hardtop coupe was added to the F-85 line for 1962.

1962 Buick Special - BaT Auctions
1962 Specials looked nearly the same as '61s from the side.  The lower character line and side sculpting differs from Tempest's and F-85's.  The line does touch the tops of the wheel openings, however.

1961 Buick Skylark
Buick's '62 hardtop coupe.

1962 Pontiac Tempest LeMans
Rear quarter views.  This car lacks vinyl roof covering, revealing the crisp metal sculpting.

1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass
Similar to the Tempest.

1962 Buick Special - BaT Auctions
Buicks ranked above Oldsmobiles in GM's hierarchy.  So side sculpting takes a scooped-out form.  The backlight window is wider than on the other cars.

Looking Down on a 1971 Pontiac Grand Prix

An automobile's styling is an aspect of marketing.  Its function is to help sell the vehicle.

Car buyers typically view prospects at dealerships -- inside showrooms or outside on dealer lots.  Their interest might well have been primed by seeing examples of a given model out in nature: streets, highways, parking lots, garages and such.

Most of this viewing takes place at normal eye-level.  The images I use to illustrate this blog often come from auction houses or used car dealers, sometimes from the manufacturer's publicity operations.  Many such images were photographed from perspectives at or fairly near eye-level.

All this suggests that proposed automobile designs are usually approved or rejected for production based on how they appear as seen at eye-level.

Yet cars are three-dimensional objects, subject to being viewed from above eye-level.  Plus, design models at less than 1:1 scale are usually seen from above eye-level perspective.  Which suggests that stylists can be tempted to pay more attention to how a car is seen from a high level than is strictly necessary.

I happen to enjoy finding images of cars taken from higher viewpoints, and use many of them in this blog.  Often the designs aren't especially interesting.  Sometimes they are.  One such case is that of a set of photos of a 1971 Pontiac Grand Prix found on a car-for-sale website and an auction one.  Examples are shown below.

Gallery

1971 Pontiac Grand Prix - car-for-sale photos
The design as normally seen.  It stems from the era when Bill Mitchell was at the peak of his powers as styling vice-president at General Motors.  I don't include it with Mitchell's best efforts such as the 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix or the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado.  But it's still pretty nice.

Even viewed from eye-level, there is plenty of hood and trunk lid sculpting that can be appreciated.  Now let's jump higher.

1971 Pontiac Grand Prix - BaT Auctions photos
From here, the roof- C-pillar combination seems rather heavy.

The lighting dramatizes the sharp angles of the trunk lid's sculpted planes along with the central character line.  Ditto the narrow aft sections of the rear fenders.

The almost too-shiny paint job minimizes the hood-fender sculpting that echoes that seen in the previous image.

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.

Pontiac Aztek and Buick Rendezvous Revisited

The Pontiac Aztek SUV is often the butt of criticism regarding its styling.   Back in 2013, I posted "Aztek Rendezvous" about the Aztek and the Buick Rendezvous that shared its basic body.

Now that more, and often better, images are available on the Internet, I thought we should revisit those designs.  What is interesting is that the Rendezvous' styling suffered less criticism, even though its design also had some quirky features.  Plus, its sales were much better than Aztek's: 198,000+ (data seem to be incomplete) versus 119,000.  This was despite that its base price (around $25,500) was greater than Aztek's (around $22,000).

Those designs were developed while Wayne Cherry was Design Vice President at General Motors.

Gallery

2001 Pontiac Aztek - BaT Auctions photos
Aztek's grille was a split-level version of Pontiac's signature vertically split grille theme.

2002 Buick Rendezvous - factory photo
Rendezvous's grille was similar to those on other recent Buick models -- ovaloid with vertical bars.

The gray side scheme adds visual bulk due to its shaping.  The horizontal character folds are an echo of Pontiac's Silver Streak theme of the mid 1930s to mid-'50s.

2003 Pontiac Aztek - car-for-sale photo
It is not found on this later Aztek.  Sales probably weren't helped much, because the memory of the earlier theme might have lingered in the minds of potential buyers.  The rear quarter window's shape is logical, but it seems too large.  Chrome trim linking window tops and bottoms across the C-pillar might have reduced the effect by creating a unified window profile.

2003 Buick Rendezvous - car-for-sale photos
The C-pillar zone differs here, though the swath from the roof through the tail light assemblies with the dark window overlay is as quirky as some of the Aztek's details.  Side sculpting is fussy, but less so than the original Aztek's.

Not beautiful, but logical.  The relationship to the unfortunate quarter window and the "D" post degrades the theme.

The scoop cutline and how it ties to the rear is interesting, but not attractive.  Too large, too bold on this relatively small vehicle.

1952 Dodge Hardtop: Its Competition and a Walkaround

Chrysler Corporation's postwar designs were announced during the 1949 model year and the basic bodies remained in production through 1952 -- a four-year run.

In those days, a three-year run probably would have been considered more ideal, but material shortages in the USA due to the Korean War seem to have disrupted normal Detroit practices.  Besides Chrysler, General Motors' high-production A-body Chevrolets and Pontiacs remained unchanged for model year 1949-52.  And its B and C bodies had four-year runs 1950-1953.  Studebaker's new 1947 body set continued through 1952.  Hudson kept its 1948 body in production through 1954.  Kaiser was redesigned for 1951, and Nash for 1952.  But Ford Motor Company's 1949 designs were all replaced for the 1952 model year.

So there was some new-design competition for Chrysler's 1952 offerings, but not a lot.  That said, how did the Corporation's styling stack up against its 1952 rivals?  Today's post features the '52 Dodge hardtop and competing hardtops in its general price range.

Let's pretend we're in 1952 and shopping for a lower-medium price range hardtop.  A possible set of choices follows:

Gallery

1952 Dodge Coronet Diplomat - car-for-sale photo set
First, a brief walkaround of a Dodge hardtop.

The basic shape is not sleek.  But the intent of the 1949 Chrysler Corporation packaging was a car smaller on the outside, larger on the inside, presumably tall enough for a passenger to wear a hat while traveling.

Rear fender could be detached if repairs were needed.

The window design is essentially that first found on 1949 Oldsmobiles, Buick and Cadillacs.

Windshields are two-pane, flat glass.  Outdated.

Grille design is distinctive, but those segment above the main chrome bar seem odd.  Well, they seemed odd to me back in those days.

1952 Pontiac Chieftain 8 Catalina - car-for-sale photo
Passenger compartment greenhouse follows the '49 Olds-Buick-Cadillac theme that the Dodge borrowed.  The windshield is two-piece, but the glass is curved.  Lower body is not boxy, like Dodge's.

1952 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday - Barrett-Jackson Auctions photo
GM's B-body hardtop design.  The rear fender is not distinct, only indicated by the flowing fenderline.

1952 Buick Special Riviera - car-for-sale photo
Another B-body GM hardtop.  Much more rounded than the Dodge.  Also more side chrome in the form of Buick's trademark Sweepspear.  Plus the "portholes."

1952 Mercury Monterey - car-for-sale photo
A new design for 1952.  Boxy, but not as boxy as the Dodge.  Enlivened by fake air intakes on the hood and flanks.  Windshield is curved, one-piece glass.  Altogether a more modern design in early 1950s American context.

1952 Studebaker Champion Starliner - car-for-sale photo
The lower body is a facelifted version of a 1947 design.  But that design was advanced for its time.  The greenhouse is new for 1952.
The Dodge's styling is less attractive, less interesting than its competition.   A little old-fashioned compared to the rivals shown here.  However, Dodges had a reputation for reliability, which was important for many potential buyers.  Plus, a V-8 motor was available, unlike the Pontiacs and Buicks.

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.