I have a quick question for the older crowd (no disrespect intended). I wasn't born till 64. What was the driving force/mindset of car design in the late 50's and early 60's? I never really thought about it till I got my 60 Belair. Every time I look at it it blows me away with the hard lines, the fins and the way the tops of the fenders and doors are flared. Not just my car either. When you look at most cars from this era they have alot of the same basic styling ques. The Buick Invicta, Plymouths ect. Was it our new found fascination with space? The jet age? Like I said it was before my time so I cannot appreciate the feel of the times. Would you be kind enough to share some insights. Thaks, Todd
Todd, I was pretty young but I still got 10 years on ya. From what I understand it was a jet age thing. My personal opinion is that the designers just wanted to do something with flair. Face it designers are artists, who wants to design something ugly when you can get away and blame it on whatever the big bosses want to hear.
...I think you pretty much hit on it there. It was a time of excess and great expectations. New models every year. Chrome and fins everywhere you looked. We were a nation moving forward. The middle class was expanding rapidly and optimism reigned supreme.
the way i see it car engineers changed their mind set over the years from style and performance to functionality and fuel economy. Some say a change for the worse but if all the current cars were the same as they were 50 years ago we wouldnt appreciate the old ones as much.
It's way before my time, but I've always understood that cars were influenced by America's new found obsession with the rocket age. You had to think about the fact that the entire world was obsessed with space travel, and if I remember correctly the "space race" between the soviet union and the USA was in its height beginning around 57. It was the biggest thing going in the 50's and 60's, what everyone talked about. It's only natural cars would somewhat mimick rocket ships in some way, to play of of what was popular at the time.
but if they were maybe id buy a new car. i hate what they have done to the cars.they havent made a car i really like since 1969.my wife drives a 07 chrysler 300 with the hemi. fast ass car but dog ugly.i only drive it to the little store down the road. i can get there real quick but im hoping no one sees me in it. as far as the cars from the late 50 and early 60s ,seems i read that the spaceage did influnce the designers of the day.
Planned Obsolesence. Just my thought. The models followed a 3 year subtle change then a major face-lift then 3 more etc. You had to buy a new model because your neighbors could tell how old your car was. The technology did not progress much until the gas crisis, then the gov't stepped in, and now we know it as CAFE. Cookie cutter cars with no personality, pizazz or class. Just gotta get fuel mileage.
If you can get a copy of On A clear Day, You can See General Motors by John Delorian , you'll see where Chuck Jordan , designer of thr 55-59 Chevrolet trucks and the 61-4 Cadillacs toned down his predissesor , Harley Earl's "Bombideer designs " . Both men enjoyed aircraft and of course fast cars . It was ingraned in most of us as President Kennedy had promised us a trip to the moon . Too bad we have lost htat dream and the cars that came with them .................... scrubba
I think Harley Earl was one if not the main person that could be considered a driving force .... I think his last design at Chevrolet was the 59 (Wings) ... and then the big wigs tone3d it down for the 1960 model but note that the 60 did have a an airplane on the side trim .... and the Fords were doing the "afterburner look" on alot of their model's taillights.... sorta like the 62 T bird.
And then they got cheap and turned out crap in the 70s as we all know. They quit trying to make nice cars and made us choose shit or shit. Junk especialy in the lack of styling chrome and so on. Remember when you could look down the street and name every car and year without any trouble at all.
Story I heard was that Harley Earl especially liked the P-38 Lockheed Lightning, the bullet front bumpers on Cadillacs came from them, inspired by the twin propeller spinners, and the upswept tailights on same, from the twin tails...others who know more may correct me...
I think Earl and Duntov locked horns alot on corvette designs. Harly was pretty wild and Zora always wanted to keep the design toned down.
This goes all the way back as early as 1950 with my "Jet". Muntz Jet paint color choices consisted of Rocket Green, Mars Red, Stratosphere Blue, etc. at that time.... The "jet-age" was being marketed to us as evidenced by the design of our homes, furnishings, appliances, and in our cars. It was a time filled with tremendous forward thinking, and a great deal of optimism.
Gm really started the move forward in styling in the late 40s the fins started on the Cadillac and were by all reports to remind of the tail sections of fighter planes. Every manufacturer followed to some degree. Some think the 59 Cadillac was the most exagerated fin design but I vote for the 60 Plymouth they just seemed almost like a cartoon. Fins started being scaled down after that. I would say the theme for the 50s was motion the cars looked like they were moving forward while sitting still. Starting in the late fifties and on into the late 60s performance sold almost every make had performance options. Even luxury barges like Buick wildcats and Pontiac Bonnevilles had big power available. At least thats how I saw the 50s and 60s.
Heck Ed, I grew up right there in Allied Gardens and the rumbling of the rocket engines were a constant thing as they were testing them in the "rural" area of Kearney Mesa! LOL
Interchange was a contributing factor in design..A 59 Chevy and a 59 Cad. using the same glass, roof ,etc.freed up tons of money for the design studios ...
I think most of the designers followed Harley Earls lead. Chrysler finally got rid of the older president that said the cars must seat a man with his hat on in the back seat. Thats why early fifties Chryslers were so stodgy. By 57, Chrysler took off with the fins also.
The Jalopy Journal
