History What did people think of tail fins back when they were new?

Like a lot of us I liked some of them and disliked others.I have always liked 59 Chevys and have owned several.For me the greatest thing about any of those cars is not ONE of them had a computer in it.

 

Chryslers had a "anolog" keyboard for a shifter

 

Here is the 1962 Ferarri GTO, first car to have a spoiler across the back. This was meant to be functional, and its function was basically the same as tail fins, to stabilize the car with aerodynamics.

The spoiler came at the same problem, stability, by different means. It was meant to kill lift that made the tail of the car light at speeds over 100MPH.

I don't know why they thought a spoiler was better than redesigning the back for less lift and adding tailfins. The spoiler must have caused a lot more drag than fins. But, it was the sixties and fins were p***e.

 

Aka "Typewriter Torqueflite"........the terms '****og' and 'keyboard' were not so commonly used in those days unless you were talking about a piano keyboard.

Ray

 

I bought this thing in '62. Didn't really care for the overdone fins, but when I opened the hood and saw that intake manifold stretching from fender to fender, I had to have it.

 

My father bought a used 65 Mercedes in about '70. I remember him saying he thought Mercedes sold out when they put the fins on that model.

 

I grew up as a kid reading nothing but car magazines and things like Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and so on. My dad had big boxes of them back to 1948.

So I got to see the history behind the post WWII era car evolution. The P51 and B29 were out, Saber Jets and the B52 were in. The look spilled over into the car industry. Everyone was starved for a new look after 4 years with no new cars at all. People had $$, the post-war economy was good, the cold war was kicked off. The space race was started in 1957.

Everyone could easily relate to rockets, jets and new airliners. Sleek was in, bulky was out. Fins started out small and hit their peak in 1959 or so. I think the Mopars held the record with the most offered throughout their product lines. The '59 Chevy, hate it or love it, was an extreme, so were the Desotos and Cadillacs. I liked the look myself.

The bigger car market was tanking towards 1959 and 1960, people were hungry for more efficient cars that anyone could afford. Fins were on the way out, Cadillac was a hold out through 1964. Auto racing was part of how the cars evolved past the wing era, win on Sunday, sell on Monday was the buzz phrase back then.

 

I kinda see the current trend in exaggerated "boomerang" and "zig-zag" taillights as the modern version of tailfins. They seem to be getting more flamboyant with each new model year.

 

I am from the late 50s and remember the cars with the fins. The first car I ever sat in someones lap and drove was my grandmothers '58 Desoto. Sure the styles were exaggerated, but you sure remember what they were and when they were made. Try that with the jelly beans we have now.
I'd love to have an old car with big fins now.

 

Love them right up until about 1958 or so when they started to get really big. Recession was kind of in swing, the 59's especially Caddy's were a step to far. Allegedly people stated turning down a 59 and kept there 58's for another year which was unheard of for Caddy buyers.


I like sedate fin's 55 Thunderbird and the 57 Cadillac are the apex of the design for me. Which is why I own them.

 

Ancient Chinese Proverb... "An American car of the late 50's without fins is no car at all....."

 

Behold Raymond Loewy's customized 1959 Cadillac.

The most flattering photo I could find of it...

 

Ramblers had them, Caddy's had them, even the import sedans joined the parade.
I didn't mind them and I think the rest of the world liked 'em too.

 

All us car nut teenagers in '57 thought tail fins were "the ***s"!
I was 13 at the time.

 

Almost looks like a vair. I am obviously a huge fan of fins but i do think the 59 caddy was too much, this is very nice though


What'cha got in there, kid?

 

The Stude Avanti influence is strong on the rear styling.

 

That was definitely the case. I remember at all family gatherings everyone looked at the latest cars and there was definite compe***ion to have the newest car. Same thing in the neighborhoods. The designs had to change so everyone could recognize the newest cars.

I met a man that worked in GMs design studios on the Chevrolet line in the 50s and 60s. I asked him why the designs changed so drastically from 1960 to 1961. He said that when Bill Mitchell took over from Harley Earl they were told to tone down their designs. Mitchell was getting pressure from the bean counters in management.

This guy though they probably pressured Earl to do the same and that's why he retired. The fins were difficult to stamp out so it took more development and production time. The sides were to be as flat as possible, the same with the windows. Mitchell also wanted them to stop using chrome and use polished aluminum and stainless steel instead. The bumpers were to be as straight as possible. The changes were to save money not because people didn't want the cars. They were already tooling up for the 59s and they modified it slightly for 1960 to use some of the same tooling.

They designed the 1961 model and were only allowed slight changes in 62, 63 and 64, mainly grill and tail panels. Sales growth slowed in 63 so they were allowed to design a new model in 1965 but were limited to that body style with only slight modifications through 1968 when he retired.

 

Great info. I've read a lot about GM and Earl but hadn't heard things described quite this way. Makes sense, they went from emulating jet planes to emulating cardboard boxes more for the bottom line $ than the consumers' changing tastes, it's usually framed the other way. Thanks for that post, engine man.

Long ago, far far away when I was 19, I loved old cars but was ignorant of the details of automobile history. I went to buy a nice, running '64 cadillac for $500. Guy also had a non-running, beat '60 caddy for sale at $2500 parked right next to it. I could not afford the '60, but I sure could tell the difference and thought how much better the design and beauty of the '60 was, and for the next 20 years waited patiently until I could get one myself.

 

Thanks, gotgas.
Marcus...

 

You are correct the space race and the aerospace industry in general played a big role in car design in the late '50s and early '60s.

LOL Looks mysteriously like Studebaker.

 

Raymond Loewy designed 4 or 5 cars for his personal use, all meant to showcase his taste and personal style, all dogs. The beautiful and successful designs his company made for Studebaker, Rootes and others were all done by hired stylists, but he hogged all the credit.

 

Though Loewy frequently gets mentioned as the father of the remarkable '53-'54 Studebaker coupe/hardtop design, it was actually designed by Robert Bourke.

Now you can impress your friends with that knowledge at the next cruise night!

 

I've heard the Chrysler push ****on transmissions called a few different things but never ****og.....

Webster's definition of "****og",
Simple Definition of ****og

• : of or relating to a device or process in which data is represented by physical quan***ies that change continuously
  
  
• of a clock or watch : having hour and minute hands.
  

You kids and thoughts about old cars.....
Someone who refers to the coolest shifter produced in the late 50's and early 60's as ****og surely must drive a new Prius, which any hotrodder worth their salt knows is nothing more than a tampon on wheels.

As for the fins..... Fins in the late 50's and early 60's defines an era that unfortunately we will never see in this world again.

Virgil Exner, Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell all had their **** together. Today's cars all look like oversize computer mouses and electric razors

 

Younger people can look at these cars and either think they were cool or ugly, but it was more than just style. You had to be there and live in that era to appreciate the total experience. I can remember the genuine excitement of going to the autorama to get a glimpse of next years NEW cars. They were works of art rather than today's toasters on wheels.

 

No fins but the 58-60 Lincoln Continentals sure had adva nt guarde styling.No car on the road looked like it at the time.Even Perry Mason drove a white 58 coupe!

 

I remember my old man joking at the time that he "had to learn to type to drive the damned thing!"

 

Note that the Italian's experimented with tail fins in the early '50s ... the wildest example being the Alfa Romeo "Berlinetta Aerodynamica Technicas" (BATs) designed by Giuseppe "Nuccio" Bertone:

left to right: 1953 BAT 5, 1954 BAT 7, & 1955 BAT 9​

 

58 - 60 Lincolns had fins. Not very tall compared to Cadillac or Imperial but they were there.

 

There is surprisingly little increase in drag. The 250GTO , Ford GT40, C3 Corvette etc have a Kamm Tail [Kamm back]
The perfect aerodynamic shape was thought to be a teardrop but the length of the tail was impractical.. The German Aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm proved that if the tail that is abruptly cut off. This shape reduces the drag of the vehicle. The Majority of the drag was actually the long tail in a teardrop.
The inherant shape of air speeding up as is flows over the roof causes lift, by extending the Kamm tail upwards into this low pressure area reduces lift by creating a high pressure area at the BASE of the spoiler. and a low pressure area at the tip of the spoiler.
A Gurney flap works on the same principles.

Rear fins would only create lateral stability [not vertical stability] similar to side blades preventing spill on a wing

Fins[and excessive chrome] represent American flamboyance during a time when the rest of the world were driving "petrol rationed ****boxes"

Fins are still cooler than a freezer full of liquid nitrogen

 

I was a kid in the late 50s. Dad had a new 57 Chevy, Then he traded it for a new 60 dodge. I could lay under the rear window on the package tray, It had a large rear gl*** that went up over the rear seat. I wish I had a photo of one. If anyone does ,please post it. As for the op I love fins, the bigger the better! I also love bubble tops too. I couldn't wait until the year 2000. I thought we would be driving cars with cool big fins with bubble tops, that would fly. See[ keith Wessner's Art.] So to answer your question, yes I love FINS!!! Ron...