Styling Cars - Car design for the real world...

The Monte Carlo, the Epitome of the 70’s Personal Luxury Car.

2010-04-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

Though it started into the luxo-personal car market late in the game, the Monte Carlo went on to become one of the most popular and best selling marques in GM history. With the cars sales success, NASCAR racing history and overwhelmingly popular SS series, the Monte Carlo solidified its place in the personal car market.

General Motors was no newcomer to the personal luxury market, with both strong entries in the market via the Buick Rivera and Pontiac Grand Prix in the early 60’s. While the Rivera (and later Olds’s Tornado and Cadillac’s Eldorado) focused on a definitely more upmarket clientele, Pontiac’s very successful (and affordable) GP was garnering a larger market share, and taking a bite out of Chevy sales, raising eyebrows and concern from its bigger sister division.

By 1965, Chevy had a strong lineup,but was struggling to get its answer to the Ford Mustang pony car, the Camaro, out of development/testing and to market. Chevy was in an uncomfortable spot, with no direct competing car to the Mustang, or to Fords increasingly luxurious (and profitable) Thunderbird or Pontiac’s luxury/sporty Grand Prix. Elliot “Pete” Estes, then general manager of Chevrolet, proposed a personal car of the divisions own.

A personal luxury car for Chevy was no revelation, and not a new idea. Since the late 50’s Chevy dealers were clamoring for a Thunderbird rival of their own, they were bemoaning easy and profitable Thunderbird sales Ford dealers were racking up, watching customers walk out their door to neighboring Ford dealers with no car to fight them. By the time sister divisions Buick and Pontiac (when the Rivera and GP came to market in the early 60’s) introduced their own personal luxury cars, Chevy dealers were demanding that Chevy develop an answer to the Thunderbird too. With strong sales of the larger Impala Sport coupe and Malibu/Chevelle custom as an example, it was hard to ignore the appeal and the sales potential for such personal car.

Pete Estes & John Z. DeLorean

But Chevrolet division sales manager, Lee Mays, was not in agreement. Truth be told, Chevrolet had an abundance of up to 12 different car models at the time, and to his mind, it was a chore to develop distinctive & successful sales strategies for them all in the shrinking market-share environment of the mid 60’s. Blind to the market potential, Mays failed to see the niche for a personal luxury car for Chevy. Mays, a powerful presence in GM and Chevy, successfully nixed many attempts to bring a Chevy personal luxury coupe to production, even after John Z DeLorean’s successful redesign and sales successes of the Pontiac Grand Prix had shown the great profit and sales potential in such a car. Despite Estes attempts to get Chevy dealers the car they wanted, Mays would not let it come to pass.

Fast forward to 1968, John Z. DeLorean was coming in from Pontiac to become general manager at Chevy and shore up the divisions shrinking market share and Estes left Chevy to become head of GM car and truck group. Mays was seen by DeLorean as a hindrance to his and GM’s goals for the division, and after DeLorean protested to upper GM brass on the resistance he was getting from the sales manager, Mays was promoted to Buick general manager and out of DeLorean’s hair.

Two & Four door "Concurs" (Monte Carlo) circa 1968

With Mays out of the way David Holls, Chevy chief designer, was given the project for Chevys new mid sized personal luxury car. One of his newest designers, Terry Henline was responsible for the initial design of the new car. The Monte Carlo, then coded named the Concurs, was to be based upon the slightly lengthened A-body or “G”-body platform as was the Grand Prix. Design cues from the recently completed redesign of Bill Mitchell’s 1967 Cadillac Eldorado was used for the new car in a deliberate attempt to imply luxury, and took direct aim at the market the new car was focused.

1967 Cadillac Eldorado

The now familiar semi coke bottle fender cues of the Monte Carlo was lifted from the then new ’67 Eldorado and used on the Concurs (nee Monte Carlo) to much more subtle (and arguably better) effect. The dual prow of the Eldo nose and the crisp folds of the Cadillac are very well seen in the initial design studies of the Concurs as well. A long hood and short deck from the Cadillac, already popular on both sporty cars like the Mustang and other semi-luxury cars like the GP and Tornado also helped balance out the design. To accomplish this, the new G body, like the Pontiac Grand Prix, had an additional 4 inches of length added to the frame at the firewall for a longer hood and a lower looking, sleeker overall design. Even though it was not an overtly original design, Henline did a great job in bring Cadillac upscale style down to a Chevrolet sensibility.

Bill Mitchell, GM VP of styling and designer of the ’67 Eldorado even commented to Holls that the new Chevy personal car was a “good watered down rendition” of his work, though he was not happy that Chevy had taken so many of his styling cues to make it work on what was essentially a “gussied up Chevelle”.

1970 Chevelle & 1970 Monte Carlo

Mitchell was right; for the most part the Monte Carlo was going to be a Chevelle under the skin and was a “parts bin” car. Engines, drive train, dash and so on were pretty much carried over from the Malibu/Chevelle with slight upgrades in and trim components to justify its higher target pricing.

By 1969, final designs of the car were being completed, but Chevy was still nervous about bringing a mid to large size car without a four door option (as the Chevelle) and hedged its bets with a proposed four door version and a convertible as well.

A convertible Monte never made it to production

By this time sales for the Chevrolet division were steady, but both market share and profits were declining. With millions being spent on a new replacement small car for the Corvair (aka the infamous Vega) and a redesign of the F body (Camaro) coming as well as other Chevy lineup replacements for 1970, the budget for the new personal luxury car was stretched. So both four door and convertible options were dropped and the car was finalized to be a hardtop coupe only.

1970 Monte Carlo "SS"

The final design for the 1970 Monte Carlo was received well, a handsome and completely well rounded design. The car shared the rear C pillars and rear window upper panels with the GP, but the rest, though heavily influenced by the Eldorado, was its own. The overall look was well proportioned, much unlike Ford Thunderbird’s odd beak-nose and then heavy pseudo-Continental design. Though not revolutionary in any way, it definitely fit into an affordable, mid size luxury niche that had not been designed to or catered to before. Car & Driver called it a “composite of Buick, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac”, i.e., a design success and a coup for Chevy. There were complaints in design circles that the look with the slightly pontoon like fenders (a la post war, late 40’s GM cars) was definitely a step back and not forward, but considering its Chevelle origins and its deliberate corporate design as a profit leader, revolutionary forward design wasn’t intended or necessary.

As was the norm from Chevy, a dizzying list of options, luxury trim upgrades, transmissions, engines (350 & 400 V8’s w/2 & 4 barrel carbs, rated at 245, 275 & 300hp) were available. A rare model, the SS, included wider tires, a heavy-duty suspension, and a 454 V8 rated at 360hp-500 ft/lb was offered as well if you really wanted to go fast.

By checking off the right boxes on the order sheet, a Monte customer could customize his own semi-luxury car exactly to his tastes. That, along with an excellent and very affordable price point, made the first generation of the Monte a strong seller (the lowest priced in the personal luxury market at the time) and profits were high due to its sharing of basic components of the Chevelle.

1972 Monte Carlo

Arguably the car looked more expensive than it was, and Chevy did its best not to brand it a Chevy (very few, if any Chevrolet emblems were placed on the car) to help promote its upscale image. Sales were very strong and made it a profit leader for Chevy in 1972.

For 1973, in an effort to more distinguish the car from its Malibu/Chevelle underpinnings, all parts of the previous design (already based upon earlier generation Eldorado) were re-emphasized and a new redesign came about. Not a design of one individual (Henline) as previous, Assistant Chief Designer Dave Clark with a team of others designers concentrated on a distinctly more stylized design. The new look had more punctuated body fender curves, longer hood, more upright A and B pillars and instead of a operational rear quarter panel window, a purposely emphasized and fixed “opera” or landau roof window appeared. The opera window, a strong feature of the new design, was a styling cue of 70’s American cars to come (along with the required vinyl top). It was first introduced on the 1971 Cadillac and imitated GM’s high luxury car once again as the original Monte had. The theme was aimed to be or resemble a smaller mini-Cadillac and the landau windows to imitate a limousine, or suggest a limo-like look.

Headlight “prowls” once subtle before, now ran from the mid hood to the front of the car and grille. The fender curves, previously a suggestion, now protruded as a separate growth of sheet metal and nearly as a separate part of the car itself continuing through the fender contours and through to the doors of the coupe.

Despite some dubious design features, the cars design was wholeheartedly approved by DeLorean at its initial unveiling. Whereas the previous car was handsome and somewhat understated in its presence, the new design was much exaggerated and somewhat heavy handed. GM, strangely enough, called the styling “European” and stated its design focused on the luxury aspects over its predecessor while “strengthening its custom design features”. Car and Driver jokingly described the Monte’s look as Baroque, “Go for Baroque” was David E. Davis’s exact quote, as its styling mimicked the overtly, and somewhat tacky classical styling themes (i.e. buggy and coach) that were present in luxury cars at the time.

1974 Monte Carlo equipped with swivel front bucket seats.

Laughable press releases and Chevy press spots emphasized the new Monte’s Mercedes-like feel, features and “near Mercedes-like handling” (DeLorean was involved with tweaking the handling somewhat as he was enamored with the 300 Mercedes sedan at the time) and styling. New gee whiz options like (the now infamous) swivel bucket seats that turned 90 degrees on its base to meet the driver were offered and more “European” controls were featured.

Even with the new emphasis on European design, there were fewer options than before. The SS option was gone since ‘72 and most performance minded choices were non existent. The 454 engine (less than 5% of sales when it was available) was not a option usually picked. Chevy saw no reason to offer what the public weren’t buying, so it was eventually dropped. Variations of the 350 & the 400, still a strong motor considering encroaching emissions restrictions, were still available. What was popular was luxury options such as bucket seats, 8-track players, vinyl tops or upscale trim. Despite the decline in drivetrain options, and the lack of solid design or engineering progress, the public was still enamored of the presentation and the sales for Chevy’s niche of personal luxury cars were steady and strong.

Unfortunately, like many American cars of the era, and due to the increasing effect of emissions standards, safety regulations and fuel economy concerns, the Monte Carlo grew to a larger heavier, longer, and underpowered malaise era characture of itself…much like the Thunderbird it was competing against.

1976 Monte Carlo

The 1976 model, much like its rival, the Ford Thunderbird, grew in length and girth. A 400 cid V8 was made optional to move all that weight (as the 454 was gone), though the standard engine was down to a 305 V8 with a paltry 145 hp. The 1976 redesign was mostly a refresher, adding on luxury, along with length, width, weight and some angular touches to the car, a longer hood and dual (stacked) headlights. Again, while the overall styling cues of the Monte were kept, the look was bloated and heavy, compared to the 1^st generation’s clean styling, the ‘76 was anything but “understated”. Considering the time frame it was built and sold it in (the polyester/disco 70’s), it was better than par for the course. Despite the growing malaise of the model, and US models in general, it was one of the best selling Montes for Chevy.

By 1977 Project 77 reared its head, it was a huge investment program for GM, with over $600 million spent towards a 600 lb decrease in weight and 10 inch reduction in length to the generals entire model line and the Monte was not excluded.

1978 Monte Carlo

The new downsized car, a 1978 model, was at best a caricature of its past self. If the 2^nd generation was somewhat excessive in design for its larger frame, the third did its best to try to shrink those same styling cues onto a smaller body/smaller wheelbase with mixed success. The fender curves were very prominent and flowed directly into the hood, and the taillights, previously horizontal on both generations, became vertical. The dual stacked headlights of the previous model reverted to large single units. The rear glass and C pillars were very formal and upright as was the style (i.e. Cadillac Seville) of most GM vehicles at the time. The combination of all these themes results in a cheeky, chunky look about the car overall. Though not unattractive, initial glances of the design can be called awkward. The Project 77 theme and downsizing was more catered to angular shapes (ex. Cutlass Supreme & Buick Regal) and did not lend itself well with the familiar fenders/coke bottle and curvilinear shapes of the Monte Carlo as well. Even so, the styling and new smaller size sold well, at least initially considering Japanese models such as the Celica and previous sporty cars like the 280Z were moving up and into a pseudo luxury market and offering customers more economical choices than they had before. Engine choices, a 125hp V8 (a V6 was offered for the first time) and luxury options, transmission choices were greatly diminished but not really missed. Considering inflationary pricing and odd/even gas rationing at the time, big V8 engines were not the measuring stick to buyers they used to be. Still sales were steady if not flat until the next generation…

1981 Monte Carlo Coupe

1981 and the 4^th generation was easily one of the more balanced of the recent Monte’s, unlike the previous two, the recognized styling cues, the fender curves, grille and landau window were more integrated and less screamingly excessive. The look for the entire car was longer, even though it was actually shorter than the previous generation. The Monte’s styling cues were there, but much more integrated into the body with more angular haunches in the rear and front quarter than before. The car gained a large egg crate grill and dual (vertical) headlights too. Engine choices ranged from non-aspirated 229 V6’s, to a small & rare number of Buick powered turbo-charged 231 V6s, & gasoline 305 V8’s. Even the infamous Olds 350 diesel was available for those that wanted to burn oil on purpose.

1983 bought on the reintroduction of the Monte Carlo Super Sport (SS) with a 305 V8 (standard Monte engines was a V6 rated at 125hp). Although only a small number of SS’s was produced this year, it was wildly popular and was the first introduction of a performance option in the car since the 70-71 Montes.

1983 & 1984 Monte Carlo SSs. SS models were the most popular Monte Carlos in a decade.

For the next years the SS model evolved as the popular choice over the more luxury focused LS and sport coupe editions and sales soared. Changes visually to the overall look were few except for trim and to enhance the SS look. Even so, many parts of the SS trim were incorporated into the base and LS models to enhance the model line up. For the SS power (initially 180hp in 1983) increased and color choices were expanded. In the early 80’s, with a power and performance starved Chevy buying public, its no wonder that the SS became a sales leader for the Monte Carlo. NASCAR’s successful bid with the Monte didn’t hurt sales either as the car racked up wins at and the introduction of the sloped back, and extremely rare/collectible Aerocoupe (produced to qualify for NASCAR eligibility) brought an air of exclusivity and exotic to the car.

Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe

But the writing was on the wall for Chevy’s rear drive coupe, declining sales overall for rear drive personal coupes in the auto industry along with a demand for the car to come in line with the current industry standards of a more compact and streamlined fuel efficient vehicle spelled the end to Chevy’s personal luxury car. Despite a still strong popularity and sales of the SS, in 1987 the last Montes were produced as 1988 models and the Montes run was over.

The Montes replacement, the Lumina coupe (the 2 door companion to the Lumina 4 door sedan) was introduced in 1990. Other than its rather bland styling and front wheel drive there was no noteworthy points to this car, and no carryover elements of the Monte Carlo of the past to this model. The performance model, the Lumina LTZ (the only possible contender to the Monte Carlo SS throne/legacy) was offered with a V6 and 210hp, met lackluster reviews and sales.

1998 Monte Carlo "LS"

In 1995, Chevy, to increase the lackluster image and sales of the Lumina coupe, renamed the 2 door coupe Monte Carlo, reviving the marque once more. Unfortunately, other than the name and a few symbols/logos, not much of the heritage of the Monte Carlo was apparent. Taking the current Lumina’s sleepy design into mind, its not surprising that the Lumina-Carlo had none of the Monte’s styling cues, no flowing pontoon fender curves, no egg crate grill or landau window.

Taking hits from the buying public and past fans of the model about the lack of Monte Carlo-ish-ness of the car, Chevy slowly added traditional styling cues of the original Monte Carlo to the coupe. Frenched/stylized fenders reappeared and knight badging and other Monte Carlos hallmarks showed up on the body and were incorporated. The looks of the car were stronger than ever and especially since the personal luxury market had been abandoned by Ford and Chrysler at this time, the sales of the car and its popularity unfortunately reflected the publics taste for an affordable priced personal luxury coupe from Chevy. Though, the Monte was “back”, and greeted with enthusiasm from Monte fans, sales were not as strong as Chevy would have hoped.

By 2000 a full on SS model with a supercharged V6 w/240 hp was available, a direct nod to the successful NASCAR Monte Carlo campaigns at the time and the popular SS models of the 80’s. Sales of the SS model, though limited initially, were very strong and were supported by upgrades in styling, and upgrades in power.

In 2006 a new small block V8 SS Monte Carlo was introduced, making some 300 hp, an amazing achievement and power increase not met/surpassed since the SS models of the early 70’s and the first time V8 power had been available in a Monte Carlo since the 80’s. Surprisingly, other than the Corvette, and as the Camaro was out of production, this was one of Chevy’s most powerful cars offered to the public in a long time and it was based on a (now) front drive platform car that had gained its heritage from rear drive roots.

2007 Monte Carlo "SS" V8

Ironically the reintroduction of V8 power spelled the end of the Monte Carlo as GM announced that the model would be discontinued in 2007. The model, again, like before, a victim of changing tastes, fuel economy standards, production costs and declining market share. Unfortunately GM has not commented on whether or not there is any replacement for, or revival of the Monte Carlos is due soon. Recent GM plans to not continue with a rear drive W body based platform confirms there are no future plans for a Monte Carlo in the near future, as the new Camaro has taken Chevy’s only two door coupe platform it is offering.

Let’s hope that the success of the Camaro eggs GM on to see fit to bring back rear-drive personal luxury coupes like the Monte Carlo, now that the likes of the Thunderbird, Grand Prix, and Cutlass Supreme have gone to automotive heaven. We hope to see that Knights crest on a Chevy two door soon...

Next time, we’ll take a look at one of the most famous personal luxury coupes of the 70’s…the Chrysler Cordoba! -gumbypiz

Style for The Average Joe, Personal Luxury Cars

2009-04-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

The Personal Luxury Car, Part I - The Ford Thunderbird

For the average Joe, the Monte Carlo, the Cordoba, or Thunderbird was an attainable and affordable prize for his hard earned money. Unlike more expensive and exclusive luxury cars, they were cheap to operate, and since they were built using tried and true parts, simple to repair. The auto industry couldn’t have wished for a more lucrative market. A car built with off the shelf parts, on the chassis of the average sedan, all for a hungry market wanting something “special”. The personal luxury car was a profit goldmine. Ford usually gets the credit for creating the niche with the introduction of the Thunderbird in 1955.

Origins
The origins of the Thunderbird are not as clear as some would have you believe. There are stories of Ford executives wanting a sports car after a trip to Europe.

Many assume that Ford was responding to Chevrolet’s Corvette.

It’s known that stylist Frank Hershey was already studying possibilities for a special car on a shortened Ford chassis, with heavy input from Joe Oros and Bill Boyer contributing. Each one a noted Ford designer under chief Ford stylist George Walker at the time. Each one claims to have penned the car entirely on their own. It’s difficult to say, as even Fords archives are not clear. Even the origins of the name of the car are in question, supposedly Thunderbird was chosen from a contest with over 5000 suggestions, the winning name chosen by a Ford employee whose prize was a pair of pants (?). Native American folklore, in contrast, does note a mythical bird, the Thunderbird, born of thunder from the dark night sky that rescued a native tribe from doom.

Concept drawings of the Thunderbird '52-'54, side view proposals

Early conception sketches and drawings show an egg crate grille influenced by Ferrari, identical headlights/tail lights from the ‘55 Ford sedan and twin exhausts inset at the bumper. It was low and sleek, without the usual gaudy chrome that adorned many cars of the time. The car was never planned as a direct rival to the Corvette, it had modern conveniences like roll up windows, A/C, a hardtop and other options the ‘Vette couldn’t offer.

1955 Thunderbirds

It was presented as a sporty personal car, a cruiser, not a sports car. And at under $3000 it beat the fiberglass Corvette soundly in sales. Not to mention the 292 cu in V8 with 198 hp on tap certainly had the power edge over the standard wimpy stove bolt six of the Chevy.

2nd Generation Thunderbird sketch, a two seat concept, not four as the actual model

1958 introduced a bolder restyle and the inclusion of two more seats. Ford market studies revealed an appeal for a four seat T-Bird, as the current configuration couldn’t be considered as a single family car, i.e., Average Joe wanted a sporty ride, but needed a back seat to carry the kids. So the ‘58 T-Bird grew longer and very low, incorporated dual headlights, a larger, lower placed grille surrounded by a massive chrome bumper, (un)inspired body side moldings and larger more pronounced tail fins.

“If you really analyze the 1958 Thunderbird, it had enough design on its side, back and front, for five automobiles.”

The overall look was definitely in step with 1958 styling cues, but the added bits of 50’s styling excess is not as easy on the eye as the ‘55-‘57. Designer Gene Bordinat noted, "If you really analyze the '58 Thunderbird, it had enough design on its side, back and front for five automobiles."

In ‘59 Ford offered a bigger 430 cid V8 borrowed from upscale Lincoln to help motivate the larger car, but even with the jump in power, now nearly 350hp, a 1000 lbs increase in weight and size over the two seater made it no sprinter. Nonetheless, Fords market study was dead on, the sales of the fourseat “Squarebirds” at nearly 38,000 units, was more than double the previous model.

Third Generation, "bullet birds"

'61 T-Bird concept (not a Lincoln). Ford Quicksilver concept.

The ‘61 model had some hurdles to clear before it came to be, as surprisingly, the ‘61 Lincoln Continental was originally supposed to be the ‘61 Thunderbird. In 1958, the development for the next generation T-Bird was not going smoothly and two competing proposals were commissioned. One by Elwood Engel, based on the recent Continental MkII. And the other by Joe Oros, Ford studio head, proposed a sportier car based on the directive of new Ford division chief, Jim Wright, and the Ford Quicksilver concept. Behind the scenes the two opposing concepts were really a result of a power struggle between the design studio and the Ford chief. To save face, the decision was left to Ford's Product Planning Committee. Engle’s proposal was deemed “too pretty to be a T-Bird” and became the ‘61 Continental. Oro’s car (ironically, with heavy development from Engle and his staffs input), became the 1961 T-Bird.

The bullet nosed birds, were much cleaner in the design than the previous model. Body moldings and fenders with a high bright bladed “beltline” were incorporated as a theme for the entire car, starting at the front cowl, and flowed down the body, ending in slightly canted fins at the rear over two pod-like, turbine-shaped taillights. The ‘61 introduced many innovations like a swing away steering wheel and the ’62 Sports Roadster version (credited to designer Bud Kaufman ) incorporating a racing style tonneau top covering the rear two seats to create, in effect, a “two-seater” again. Of the early 1960’s the bullet birds are probably the most attractive and most representative of car design of the era.

For 1964 the T-Bird was redesigned again, this time the theme retreated to a more purposeful design. Now the T-Bird had a longer rear with much larger taillights (sequential ones in ’65) the body tapering off to a flat tail and a more formal hood and body side styling. The look was not as flowing, but had a stronger looking front “face”.
Obviously Ford had the right idea as this model sold nearly 93,000 units, a record and up nearly half over the 1963 ‘bird. ’65 offered the famed sequential taillights and a 429 V8 w/345 hp. Finally after years of changing engines to keep up with the weight gain of the car, the new T-Bird was capable of some quick motivation and speeds over 120mph. But even with these welcome additions, sales dropped off to just over 70,000 units for ’65.

Why? Mustang.
Ford’s own, much cheaper, and in many ways, more attractively styled new four seat youthmobile was taking a big bite out of the T-Birds signature market. A moderately optioned Thunderbird cost nearly twice as much as a fully optioned Mustang. The market savvy decision to make the T-Bird a four seater back in ’58 was coming back to haunt Ford with the introduction of the pony car. The T-Bird was at a cross roads, Ford debated relinquishing the car completely to the luxury market as a 4 door sedan. By 1965 with the Mustang assuming the young sporty image the T-Bird once had, Ford believed the T-Bird no longer needed to portray a sporting image and could be focused directly at the personal luxury market.

1967 Ford Thunderbird Landau 4-door sedan.

Following that marketing concept, in 1967 Ford introduced a completely redesigned Thunderbird, as a large luxury coupe, and an equally large four door luxury sedan incorporating suicide type doors, a large open mouth grill and heavily styled fenders. As the 3rd & 4th generation convertible had fallen to less than 10% of T-Bird sales, for the first time in its history, no convertible model was offered. The ‘67 T-Bird was a major change in focus for the model, abandoning the Thunderbirds original concept completely. Sadly for the next ten years the Thunderbird grew into an overweight, gas guzzling (8 mpg!), bland, ugly joke...

The Big and even Bigger 'birds.
In 1970 the T-Bird changed into a huge luxury barge (albeit with a large, almost humorous “beak” front end grille treatment) and the four door sedan was dropped. In 1972 the ‘bird expanded again to the largest size of its history gaining nearly 1500 lbs over the already huge ‘71. The Thunderbird was now, basically a re-skinned, lower cost Lincoln Continental, riding on the Continentals chassis and mechanicals. The gargantuan bird went on for 4 years with minor trim changes. The only major changes were the constant increase in engine size (up to 460 ci, 7.5 liters!) to help motivate the behemoth. Even with one of the largest engines on the market, EPA standards strangled the output to just over 200hp, not enough to get out of its own way.
Ironically Ford had hit on something, or the public just didn’t care as the sales for the supersized bird was up to almost 87,000 units in ‘73. A very neat feat considering Ford was asking almost $8,000 for a 5,000 lb, gas guzzling, mediocre looking, underpowered clone of a Lincoln Mark IV.

Still the writing was on the wall, the Arab Oil embargo, inflation and rising gas prices ate away at sales and demanded the T-Bird go on a diet and refocus its market identity. Luckily for Ford, the Elite, which had taken over the T-Birds former market, was selling nearly three times as much as the current bird. It was an easy plan to have the next Elite redesigned as the new, downsized Thunderbird.

1977 Thunderbird

So in 1977, like both GM and Chrysler were implementing, a new downsized version of the car was planned, and a smaller, redesigned Thunderbird was released. The new ‘bird had a sharper, more defined look with razor edged fender tops, split opera/landau windows and hidden headlights. Many of the T-Bird cues from the late 60’s returned including a egg crate grille and full length wall to wall tail lights, a basket handle split top was also featured. Realistically, the new ‘bird was not much more than a re-skinned Elite, which was built on a Torino/LTD II chassis, under the skin there wasn’t any innovation mechanically. Its laughable to call the ’77 T-Bird a mid sized car today, its huge by today’s standards, but with almost a half ton reduction in weight and 11 inches in length over the previous ‘bird and a $3000 price cut, the new T-Bird was taking a step (down-market) in the right direction. Sales surged to over 300,000 units, the highest figure in the history of the Thunderbird, and triple its previous sales record. The public snapped them up in large numbers, with little styling changes for the next three years.

1980 Ford Thunderbird

Under veteran stylist Gene Bordinat 1980 brought the emergence of the “Box” ‘birds. The car was based on the Fox chassis (shared with the plain-Jane Ford Fairmont and new Mustang). Transferring the bigger T-Bird styling cues to this smaller platform proved unsuccessful if not outright boring. It’s obvious the design was a cost cutting measure, to eliminate size, weight and production costs, as their seems to be have been no design inspiration at all. Ford did reduce weight by 900 lbs, but the combination of uninspired styling, a weak standard V6, and a brief recession kept the buying public away in droves, and sales tanked. At the end of the box bird model run in ’82, sales had fallen to just 47,000 units, less than 16% of the previous model run.

Ford Probe Concepts I & II

The Thunderbird was in trouble, but even before the disastrous box-‘bird was released Ford had considered new directions for their prestige car to follow. Jack Telnack, Fords new VP of Design and his studio team, had the answer. Fords designers for years prior had championed more aerodynamic shapes in the form of their series of concept “Probe” cars of the ‘70’s. And now was the time to put their design ideas into practice.

1983 Thunderbird

1983 and the new, aero-Thunderbird was as smooth and slick as the previous ‘bird was boxy and boring. The new design was a complete departure from all Thunderbirds and for modern cars as well. European in looks, it was aerodynamically smooth and clean, a confident design without a right angle or straight line to be found. The car featured limousine type doors and flush drip wells. In the rear a small notchback with a slight lipped trunk and full with tail lights. It’s difficult to state the impact of this car in the mid 80’s, and fully take into effect it had on changing the look of both the Thunderbird and the car industry as a whole. The success of this new Thunderbird paved the way for more aerodynamic cars, like the Taurus that would revolutionize car appearance and styling forever. In addition to the Aero-birds new slick lines, a new model, the TuboCoupe with a turbocharged 2.3 L 4 cyl engine w/5sp manual was introduced. For the first time in many years a sporting image and style was brought back to the nameplate. Sales were strong and the car added a V8 and trim options, a slight tweaking of the shape was updated in ’87, but few other changes.

1989 (MN12) Thunderbird

The 10th generation, code named MN12 (Mid-Size North American Project 12), Thunderbird was redesigned in 1989 on a longer wheelbase (but shorter overall length). It was lower, shorter and distinctively more European in its flavor. It’s easy to see reflections of BMW in its shape. The new design and look was a result of new program to reduce weight and focus the car towards a younger performance oriented buyer. In that respect the Turbo Coupe was dropped in favor of the Super Coupe with a supercharged, 210hp V6 engine. Unfortunately the car, while a confident looking design and much more efficient in fuel usage wasn’t exactly what Ford had hoped for, and the car missed specific design targets in its development. Most prominent was the cars heavy 3500 lb weight and cost overruns which greatly exceeded program and budget forecasts. To add insult to injury the public’s interest in rear drive personal coupes was waning in the atmosphere of minivans, luxury sedans and SUV’s, sales for the car started a steep decline. The MN12 cars continued on with minor changes, mostly cost cutting measures eliminating options and removing features to help keep costs down on the expensive to produce car. Finally in 1997, with sales in the basement, and costs in the sky, Ford pulled the plug and after 42 years of production, the Thunderbird was over.

2000 & The Retro-'bird
But not so fast, no sooner than the last MN12 T-Bird rolled off the plant floor was Jay Mays, Fords new VP of design, speculating and putting together a studio team for a new Thunderbird. The next T-Bird would be a low sleek two seat personal luxury car, a “retro” design. Bringing back the Thunderbird to its origins. J Mays and his design staff made sure the new retro T-Bird was true to the cars legacy. The new car would have all the classic cues of a Thunderbird, including the egg crate grille, porthole windows and a V8, all built on the Lincoln LS chassis. The car was introduced in 2002 to strong interest and 1000 pre-orders. Styling wise, Ford had hit the mark, the car had all the goods the original had plus a bit more. Initial sales were strong, but leveled off after the first year. Quickly though it came to be seen that a $40,000 two seater with only a 280hp V8, and sloppy handling had a limited appeal, and was not hugely popular with the 21st century buyer, despite its good looks. It had been suggested, jokingly that a second row of seats added to the car would help make it more attractive, much like the ’58 did. But Ford wasn’t laughing. So, one again, in 2005 with marginal sales, and only three years of production, sadly, the retro-‘bird too was discontinued. So far, there has been no word or future plans to raise the mark again.

1955 & 2002 Thunderbirds

In all, over a 50 year span, some 4.5 million Thunderbirds were produced.

Next time, part II, and GM and Chrysler’s personal luxury cars.
-gumbypiz

The Rise & Fall of the American Station Wagon

2009-04-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

The Station Wagon

The dependable, homely wagon with kitschy wood on the side. Always in the background of every suburban neighborhood, until now, due to minivans and SUV’s, are gone. Sadly, there are currently no American model station wagons in production. The last one, the Dodge Magnum wagon was discontinued in 2008.

In the US the term “Station Wagon” is from the railroad era. Passengers and luggage/freight were hauled in horse-drawn wooden framed buggies from hotel/home to the railway station.

1929 Ford Model A Station Wagon
The “Woody”

As the automobile came to rise, ash, oak and maple wood was used to fashion bodies for station wagons and gave rise to the term “woody”. Wooden frames for station wagons were made by many different carriage makers until Fords 1929 Model A became the first mass produced station wagon. Before then, most station wagons were strictly utility vehicles owned by railroads or taxi companies, now with the marriage to steel chassis, woody station wagons quickly became popular with the public.

1950 Ford "Woody" Country Squire

With the design of Fords chief stylist E.T."Bob" Gregorie (father of the 1940 Lincoln Continental), and the encouragement of Edsel Ford, Ford woodies became the best looking of their kind. Gregorie was the first to work the woody theme with new postwar designs. Before then, woodies were strictly left to the functional aspect. Utilitarian, straight & linear with little room for style. The woody design melded well with the blended fenders and lower, sleeker shape of the 49 Ford. Despite their good looks however, woodies were noisy, drafty and costly to produce. By the early 50’s, costs exceeded profits & automakers ended the wood on steel chassis process. Station wagons continued but as all steel with fiberglass or laminated imitation wood on the sides that we’re familiar with today. Woodies are very popular among collectors today due to the low production numbers. But the wood bodies deteriorate quickly and replacement wood is costly and difficult to find.

Country Squire

Despite the demise of the woody, Ford had great success with its successor, the Country Squire. In production from 1950 to 1991, this supersized family wagon satisfied the needs of millions of families with 8-9 passenger seating, a multitude of powerful V8’s and some interesting innovations to add to their value.

1969 Country Squire concept w/club seating

1962, 1978, 1990 Country Squires

The Squire was produced for 5 generations growing in size and girth in the mid 70’s (National Lampoon’s Vacation spoofing it as the Family Truckster) but trimming down by the early 90’s. The popularity of Fords own minivans and SUVs spelled the end for the squire, and ended production in ’91.

1970 Vista Cruiser W30

Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser

The Vista Cruiser was a high line version of Oldsmobile’s family mover with a higher raised rear roofline incorporating 4 smaller “vista” viewing windows on top front and sides. This unique design feature increased overall roominess of the car as well giving the car a very modern and sleek look that other slab sided steel and fake wood sided cars were lacking. In addition to the roofline, these midsize chassis wagons had a 5” longer wheelbase than other GM intermediates, offering more room and a better ride.

Wozena Cadillac rear "fin" sketch - Wozena '58 Impala rear sketch

Peter Wozena, a GM stylist famous for his offbeat designs and wild Cadillac fin treatments, is known and credited for the famous “bubble top” of Vista (Buick Sportwagon as well). Though there is some dispute on his ideas leading to it. Looking back, its not difficult to remember the famous Raymond Lowey designed Greyhound Scenicruiser buses and see strong hints of the Vista’s bubble top inspiration. These famous aluminum sided buses had a high split level “Vista Dome" roof covering the last ¾ of the vehicle, gave excellent elevated views for riders and were popular icons of 50’s era bus travel.
Its difficult to imagine Bill Mitchell, head of GM design at the time, who had disparaged Lowey’s design philosophy, to allow one of his stylists to “borrow” so obviously from one of his most successful designs…

1953 Greyhound Scenicruiser - inspiration for the Vista Cruisers "bubble" top?

In either case, the Vista Cruiser is one of GM’s best looking station wagons of the mid 60’s to early 70’s. Over 400,000 were sold due to its styling, versatility and wide choice of power. There were even a small number of W30 Vista Cruisers made available from Hurst, essentially 4-4-2 station wagons. But by 1973, due to cost and tooling concerns, the bubble top had vanished on GM’s new redesigned mid size intermediates.

A small vista front window reappeared on the restyled wagon B bodies of 1991, but was discontinued by the mid 90’s. Due to their unique style and features the '64-'72 models are becoming more collectible as station wagons disappear from US roadways.

Chevy Nomad

The Nomad was a Motorama styling exercise lead by GM head stylist Harley Earl. With new head of Chevrolet design Clare MacKichan on board, he and Earl were instructed to liven up the stodgy Chevy line. With the Corvette already OK’d, they set out to make a station wagon (Nomad) and the fastback model (oddly named the “Corvair”) out of the new sports car, they set out to show GM management and Ford what could be done, partly as a prank. To their surprise the Nomad was a hit with Motorama crowds, and was OK’d for production. Much like the other Motorama show car, the Impala, the Nomad concept was moved to a regular car line as GM brass believed it would be more popular on a mainstream car.

1954 (Corvette) Nomad Motorama show car - Nomad show car alongside 1954 Chevy wagon

From this, the Bel Air Nomad wagon gained car features such as a stylish angled B pillar and rear pillars. Matching the theme, the side windows too canted forward with the B pillar, also a veined roof with matching rails on the rear tailgate. The ’55 Chevy was already redesigned for that year, but with the Nomads additional styling tweaks and a new V8, the new car was a show stopper. Even recognized as one of the best designed cars of the decade, the Nomad in original form, was only produced for two years, and was discontinued due to low sales. The name Nomad lived on for years on other wagon models but not with the same style or presence as the original.

One-Offs That Didn’t Make It

Camaro Kammback wagon - Firebird Type "K" wagon

GM made concepts of the Camaro/Firebird as station wagons. Both Henry Haga and Chuck Jordan in the Chevy/Pontiac studios tinkered with the idea of a kammback Camaro and Type K Firebird for the second generation cars. GM commissioned Pininfarina in the late ‘70’s to produce two prototypes. But the production cost and selling price proved too high for their target market. Deco International Corp. did offer Type K Firebird conversion kits for the car.

Mustang station wagon concept

The Mustang went through many concept models before being finalized to the shape we recognize. The Mustang station wagon however was NOT one of them. This was a concept that was contracted to Italian coachworks, Intermeccanica, but never considered as a viable direction for the new pony car. Only two (not confirmed) were created.
There are supposedly still kits to reconfigure 1965 Mustangs to this setup in the aftermarket.
-gumbypiz

The AMC Gremlin and the Wonderfully Odd Legacy of AMC, and Designer Richard Teague.

2009-04-03T00:31:00.000-07:00

The AMC Gremlin

With the exclusion of the Vega, the Gremlin is a car that unfairly comes to mind when descriptions of “bad cars” of the 70’s are mentioned. In reality the Gremlins unusual design is actually a success story of an innovative and resourceful small company using great design to bring a original car to production. To understand how the Gremlin came to be, and why it came to look like it did, it’s important to understand a bit of history of AMC and its most prolific chief designer, Richard Teague.

Famed AMC designer, Richard Teague

AMC came about from the last vestiges of heavily in debt, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and the Hudson Motor Car Company. Formed in 1954, the hope was a merger would put them in a more competitive position with Chrysler, Ford and GM.

AMC president George W. Romney focused the company’s line up on compact cars like the Rambler & Nash Metropolitan; this in the mid-50’s when the big three were cranking out ever larger behemoths. American Motors planned on a future of smaller, fuel efficient vehicles long before most Americans saw the need. By refusing to follow the big three in the model year restyling game, and reaping the savings by avoiding retooling costs, AMC raised themselves out of the basement and became profitable. And although the Rambler took most of its styling cues from bits and pieces of the worst the Big Three had to offer, and never changing them (it won no awards in the beauty department), the company built a reputation of reliable, efficient automobiles in era of styling excess.

1958 Rambler/1955 Nash Ambassador

Problem was, reliable as the Rambler had established itself to be, boring & staid styling doesn’t always create brand loyalty or attract new buyers...

And while AMC offerings were great for a more mature buyer looking for solid no-nonsense machinery, the growing youth market of the 60’s, younger buyers of the baby boom era, had no plans to put a Rambler /AMC product in their future purchase schedule.

Enter in Richard Teague, a talented designer who had previously worked for Harley Earl/GM in the Cadillac design studio, on the Olds Rocket 88 in the 40’s and for Packard in the 50’s. His style was flamboyant and direct, and innovative stylist and problem solver. After working briefly as chief designer with Chrysler, Teague began work for American Motors in 1959 with then chief designer Edmund Anderson's team.

Teague’s job, an unfinished legacy began by Anderson, was to freshen up the look of their cars, rid them of their “granny” 1950’s image but keeping smaller cars a focus for American Motors and their market. But their progress and development on following through was always on a strictly reigned budget. AMC never had a large budget for styling or tooling, an important factor and major influence to how their cars were styled and looked the way they did.

1963 Rambler Classic

The ’63 Rambler Classic and Ambassador were the first cars to be redesigned by Teague and were the first newly styled cars for AMC in 7 years. Both cars benefitting from similar early 60’s post-fin designs that were neat, clean and spare compared to the tired, busy Ramblers of the past. A great example of simple minimalist style, nothing on the car is extraneous or unneeded. A no frills modern honest look, that holds up well today. Many parts under the skin were carryovers from the past model (to save tooling costs), but the overall design was a great improvement over the ancient look of the previous cars.

1963 Rambler Classic

The cars were popular, and sold very well to those looking for a modern looking reliable car. AMC moved many of the new Classics and larger Ambassadors to a slightly younger buyer, despite not having a V8 offered until late of the model year, an important missing option, as this was the time of the dawning of the pony car.

Early sketches/drawings of the Tarpon/Marlin concept

Teague had already set sights on the youth market with a concept car called the Rambler Tarpon. This car set the stage for pony car designs some two years before the introduction of the Mustang with a long hood and short deck fastback. A design successfully mimicked by GM, Ford and Chrysler later on larger cars like the Challenger, fastback Mustang and Galaxie models. The Tarpon would show Teague’s flair for wildly original concepts. His bold designs were very much ahead of their time, incorporating shapes and sheetmetal fairings that hadn’t been attempted before for production cars. Unfortunately his fresh styling was often curtailed by an ever tightening budget for development. These small budgets, unlike the large funding for design the big three had, put a strain on successful execution of his studios projects.

Tarpon show car/1966 Marlin production coupe

The Tarpon was a hit on the show circuit, and prodded management to OK the car for production. The Tarpon became the production Marlin, but due to budget restraints, the Tarpons dimensions had to be metered down by Teague to a Rambler size chassis as a pillarless fastback, and proportions on the final car suffered, especially when AMC finally realized the production car, to compete in the pony market, needed a V8. But all the budget tinkering to the cars proportions left it out of the pony car running. Generally the Marlin was generally considered a flop in sales and in execution. When it was realized that American Motors had lost a great opportunity to trump Ford and others with a pony car of their own, Teague temporarily received more leeway with a proposed new pony/muscle car to compete with the Camaro and Mustang. That car, the Javelin, was a more direct and focused attempt for AMC to take their fair share of the muscle car market. With a bold and sleek design Teague hit his stride in styling. The car had all the elements of beauty that most AMC products never possessed. And with an choice of V8 power, AMC made sure it didn’t duplicate the mistakes of the Marlin.

AMX concept model

The Javelin was a qualified design, image booster and sales success for AMC, and sold well giving the cluttered muscle car market of the late 60’ssomething fresh and new with affordable muscle and strong muscular looks to match.

1968 Javelin and AMX

But despite the success of the Javelin/AMX and growing sales overall, AMC, couldn’t make enough profits on their current offerings and looked ahead for what it saw to be a change in the future car market. Ever the economy car focused manufacturer, they could see that the muscle car era wasn’t going to last forever, and couldn’t deny the erosion of their bread and butter economy/Rambler car sales from the increasing popularity of smaller foreign cars like the VW and Japanese imports.

But the Ramblers design was aging and wasn’t planned to continue into the next decade. GM and Ford were gearing up for an introduction of new small subcompacts for the 70’s and, AMC, seeing an opportunity, wanted to beat them to market with their own.

So it was given to Teague set out a new design in place for production, ahead of the others scheduled release of 1971. But here again Teague, and Bob Nixon his studio lead was faced with severe hurdles to cross. By 1967, American Motors had very little funds for new car development, much like it had always been, and any new model would have to borrow heavily from a sister models tooling (the new Hornet, replacing the Rambler) and be based on a similar platform. The new subcompact had to have a youthful design to appeal to the market the foreign cars were having success with, it had to be small enough in length to qualify as a subcompact (on the Hornet chassis), but more importantly to its design as AMC had no money for any new engine development (and no 4cyl) this new subcompact car had to have a hood/front end long enough to accept the traditional AMC inline six. Considering this, the time constraints and the usual bare bones styling and tooling budget to work with, the Gremlin as it was proposed to be, would’ve been quite a challenge for any group of skilled & talented engineers, much less a design studio.

AMX-GT, early Gremlin concept?

Teague had previously presented ideas of a “kammback” rear onto very attractive concept renditions of the AMX, so it wasn’t too far a jump in his design philosophy to lop off a large part of the Hornet rear after the rear wheels, and viola, the birth of the Gremlin. It was a natural design move; there was really no other place for size to be removed to meet specifications of a subcompact and still fit the inline six in front. The car had some very serious development work on acceptable passenger space, and as the rear was going to be severely truncated (the first models did have some issues with rear passenger space), how it was to incorporate a door or glass rear hatch to facilitate access to the rear storage area, as there would be no trunk.

The overall design was clean, if not abrupt, and there was no denying it was original and had a playful and youthful sense of style few others cars had at the time. The front and middle of the vehicle being fairly average, Hornet styled fare, but the rear quarterlight glass playing opposite to the severely canted rear end was quite unique.

More importantly the car met the specifications it needed for AMC to meet tooling, engine and size concerns, and also beat the other car makers subcompacts to market with uniquely designed product. Introduced in 1970 (on April Fools Day!), the Gremlin was months ahead of the Vega and Pinto for ’71. And despite jabs at its odd looks, it sold well for AMC, and as the car was running with tried and true AMC parts from years past. it had no major issues in reliability. The car went on for 8 years with only minor changes and updates in front fascia and rear end.

1973 Gremlin in Plum

**As an interesting note, the Cowboy, a pickup truck concept version of the Gremlin/ Hornet was proposed along the lines of Chevy’s El Camino & Ford’s Ranchero but wasn’t considered for production.

Standout models included the X performance offering a quick and punchy V8 and the Levi (denim jeans interior with orange stitching) optioned interior models. Unlike many “economy” cars of the era, Gremlins are still seen scurrying about. They are rare, but seen. Plenty of fans swear by them and there are plenty of clubs and owner association groups that love the uniqueness and fun style of this car.

Modern concept Gremlin drawing by Steve Stanford of Hot Rod magazine

For all of you AMC lovers, don’t despair, a history of the funky Pacer & Matador are forthcoming…

-gumbypiz

Everymans car. The Chevy Impala/Caprice.

2009-03-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

The Chevrolet Impala/Caprice.

The workhorse of the everyman, the city, state, Federal government and every cab driver for a span of 50 years and a car most of the public are surely familiar with...

Either you’ve ridden in one as a Taxicab or you’ve been pulled over by one (or if you’re really unlucky) a ride in a police cruiser, its one of the most successful US models finding its way to 13 Million Dads, Moms and Mr. Average Joes driving them to work, school, or grocery store.

The Chevy Impala/Caprice is the longest running & still in production, model of any US passenger car.

Only the Corvette sports car (introduced in 1953), and Ford F-series truck (1948), can claim a longer continuous production history.

Surprisingly, the first introduction of the nameplate “Impala” was heavily related to the Corvette. The Impala, a GM Motorama show car, based on a Corvette chassis was shown to the public in 1956.

1956 Impala Motorama Show Car

Essentially a four seat Corvette from the futuristic design studios of Harley Earl. Perhaps a nod to Ford and the upcoming four-seat Thunderbird, giving notice that Chevy could play that game too…but the design would never see the light of day.

1958 Bel Air Impala Bel Air vs Impala tail light treatment

Jump to 1958, the restyled big Chevy and the Impala was offered as a sporty, luxury trim option on the Bel Air. Though the Impala was very similar in shape/style to the Bel Air, the three pod/placed taillights that would soon become the trademark for Chevy and Impala/Caprice appeared here.

By 1959, the upscale trim options became so popular, the Impala evolved to its own model line. A new daring shape was needed for the new model. And so Harley Earl, his reign at GM waning, the 1959 Impala/Caprice became his last personal project.

Studio ideation sketches of the '59 Chevy/'59 Chevy clay mock ups

And what a design it was. Under Earl, tail fins had already grown to an outlandish extent, yet the '59 went in a different way. The ‘58 had already started a Chevy trend of slightly canted tailfins, but the ‘59, it stretched them to a flowing seagull-like appendage. The three pod taillights gone, replaced with almond shaped, “cat-eye” taillights following the contour of the gull shaped fins.

There were big changes here, the Impala models having a panoramic rear window mimicking the front wraparound windshield. Two-pod headlights, introduced high and above the bumper in ‘58, were now much lower and integrated with the grille. And the grille, departing from convention, was split in two. A conventional grill spread side to side with headlights at each end, and above, two separate "nostrils" with turn signals at each side.

'59 Chevy Impala front end

Even with the radical gull-wing fins, the overall appearance, compared to ‘58 (or many cars of the day) was lower, cleaner and leaner than before. It was obvious that Bill Mitchell, groomed by Earl to be the next chief of GM design, influences was showing through.

'59 Impala sedan & sport coupe

What might seem like nothing to a modern day observer, the ‘59 was quite a radical departure for what was supposed to be a conservative company selling cars to the “everyman” market. It was popular however, and modern looking, though maybe too much so for some.

It was the butt of jokes, and complaints of high interior heat, due to the great new expanse of glass introduced on this car, were raised.

Rumors persist to this day of rear end lift caused by the "gull" wings at highways speeds.

The wings, cats-eye lights, and overall appearance were off putting to some, but still, it sold well. Even so, GM/Chevy management didn’t like controversy (the bad smell of Ford’s very expensive flop, the Edsel, was still blowing in the wind), they weren’t happy, and wanted a change.

1960 Bel Air

So, the 1960 Impala was a fairly major conservative redo, the gull wings were flattened, and the three pod rear tail lights re-appeared and replaced the cat eyes. As the fins were less emphasized, a large jet emblem was placed on the rear quarter panel to compensate and strengthen the last gasp of the “jet-forward” theme that had been the hallmark for all of Harley Earl’s designs dating back to the late 40’s.

1961 clay mock up/1962 Impala SS

1961 further brought the space age/jet theme down to the earth and saw the roof line conform to a more formal, square cornered look. The Impala “B-body” re-style now was more in line with the trim and neatly pressed style of now chief of design, Bill Mitchell.

Mitchell’s comments on Earl and their difference in design philosophy…

“He had a tendency to make fat, rounded heavy things. I think it was because he was a big man. I like sharp, razor edges in contrast to his rounded deals. When they threw the reins over to me, it didn't take me long to get back into a sheer look.”

Creased lines replaced the past bulbous shapes and the fins or gull wings had become just vestiges of their former glory. A “bubble-back” roof line and rear glass was featured as the “floating top” disappeared and a “B” pillar-less convertible-like hardtop roof became standard in the 2 door/sport coupe and few four door models.

Despite the many drastic design changes the Impala had gone through, a model only 3 years old, sales remained strong and steadily increased throughout the 60’s. Chevrolet made sure the car was popular with an abundant amount of options and engine choices, the Impala stayed popular because it could be customized to the individual buyers’ needs or wants. Along with traditional good looks, it was a combination that kept the car in the top of US sales for more than a decade.

1964 Impala convertible

It’s important to understand the challenge of having to design a fresh look for the countries most popular car and ensure that look fits with the “everyman”, average Joe image Chevy claimed its cars to be. The Impala had to meet the needs of the public, fleet/rental/taxi markets, law enforcement requirements and not cross an imaginary line of non-conformity. The difficulty of styling a car that needs to be everything to everyone, be basic and simple, yet overall new, good looking and customizable for those who want or demand something more, is incredibly ominous. Yet the Chevrolet styling staff managed to do that, and even hit home runs doing so, three times in ’63, 65 & ‘67.

1965 Impala SS

With the now classic styling of the ‘63 & ‘65 Impala and the introduction of the hi-performance 427 and the Super Sport (the legendary SS, previously offered in 1962), the Impala solidified its place in the American car industry as a leader in value, comfort and performance, and the public was buying. 1965 marked the year that the Caprice (an upscale luxury option with a formal non-fastback roofline only) was introduced on the Impala, and one million Impalas rolled off the line and into the hands of the buying public and fleet that year, a record unsurpassed by an American car model to this day.

1967 Impala fastback coupe

1967 marked an obvious and successful effort in transplanting the “coke bottle” shape on to the Impala with great results.

By 1971 another fresh look was due, and the B-body was once again reborn, this time it was to be the largest full size car ever produced by Chevrolet.

Impala/Caprices sales continued strong, but now the Impala was now the downmarket entry level car, and the Caprice the top of the line. For 1972 a new handsome split bumper/gaping grille was introduced, partly due to increasing federal standards, requiring larger body protection.

1972 Caprice

But there was trouble brewing, the coming of the fuel embargo of 1973, increasing safety requirements, rising fuel costs and growing emissions concerns. The heyday of large American cars with large fuel gulping V8's was coming to an end. The writing was on the wall, the B-body Impala/Caprice had to be downsized to meet the growing need for a more efficient smaller full size car.

In 1973 Project 77 was implemented at GM, targeting the economizing of the entire full size car line. B-body’s from Chevy to Cadillac were going under the knife for major reductions in size and weight.

At this time Bill Mitchell, his reign as VP of design at GM coming to an end, took an unusual step from behind his committee design chair, and assumed a large part of the 1977 re-design personally.

Project 77 was a huge investment program for GM, with over $600 million spent towards an 600 lb decrease in weight and 10 inch reduction in length. Mitchell, the most capable of achieving the goals of Project 77, showed he was still able to apply themes of sharp creased edges and balanced proportions to the redesign.

Considering the parameters, Mitchell paired down the car to bare essentials in shape, yet managed to bring out a strong, basic look of refinement and style that normally would've been found on upper-class, more expensive cars. With squared off ends, near slab sided body and slight folded edges, the Chevy long before considered a “commoner” car, achieved an almost stately look. Mitchell, known for his battles over the rear window treatment of the ’63 Stingray, and the infamous boatail Rivera, managed to push through a unique three paned and frameless window treatment for the two door coupe Impala/Caprice as a final statement.

1977 Impala/'77 Caprice coupe three window coupe

Immediately sales rose to near 1960’s figures. It was named car of the year by Motor Trend and factory shifts went into overtime to keep up with demand. Even with a reduction in power and choices in engines/drivetrains, it was seen as a major step forward for GM and Chevy, and the public responded.

The redesigned B-body Caprice/Impala sold very well and essentially went on for another 13 years without major changes, excepting minor front and rear end updates.

The platform was extensively redesigned in 1991 and returned to a more organic and rounded design reminiscent of some of Harley Earl’s designs of the ‘50’s.

Unfortunately, the design was not a welcome one and landed with a resounding thud with the public. The car was quickly accepted by rental fleets, taxicab owners, and law enforcement, but the public was left cold and a sales slump reflected that.

1992 Caprice/1996 Impala SS

Fortunately, Jon Moss of GM skunkworks, managed to resurrect the Impala SS nameplate, and with some creative and needed design tweaks, plus a Corvette engine, gave the car a much needed boost in both performance and style. Easily one of the fastest and most sought after cars of the last decade, the Impala SS lived up to its SS moniker and heritage.

But the fun was only short lived, and by 1996 the Impala SS (at least in RWD form) bowed out of the GM line up.

In 2000 the Impala name was resurrected, but as a FWD sedan. Many of the past styling cues of the Impala were used, but in a much more subdued effect. Styling here was less than inspired, the nameplate being resurrected to supplement the less than loyal following of the Chevy Lumina.

2002 Impala

Yet luckily, and most likely due to the legacy of the Impala/Caprice, a genuine small block V8 and SS version was added back to the lineup in 2006.

2008 Impala

The Impala is still on sale today, and despite the many accolades of its new modern mid-size sister, the Malibu has gained recently, Chevrolet still, very quietly, sells three Impalas, for every two Malibus they move. A testament to the model lines history and tradition.

A new Caprice is in the works, and is guaranteed a great future due to this nameplates legacy.

The Impala/Caprice, a favorite of movie directors/stunt drivers, police departments, taxi drivers and the American public for its simple but reliable tradition.

When people talk about a real American classic car, this is it.

-gumbypiz

Nice Design, Shame about the car...

2009-03-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

We've all had one of these at some time. Sharp sporty cars for their time, that for whatever reasons, bad engineering, poor management, or just bad luck in the stars didn't turn out to be what we thought they would be. Attractive cars that were plentiful and common to see just a few years ago, and now have virtually vanished from our roadways. Automobiles that were once modern and stylish to us then, but wouldn't necessarily want to be driving today.

The Dodge Intrepid

The Intrepid started out as a genuine gee whiz prototype built on a Lamborghini chassis. In the late 80's Chrysler designer, Kevin Verduyn, begin work on the Najao, as a replacement for the aging K-car based Dynasty. Initially the concept wasn't seen as feasible. The design had many elements of the "cab forward" design that would be the hallmark of the LH platform (Intrepid, Chrysler Concorde, & Eagle Vision). Extending of the windshield/A-pillars out & over the drive front wheels and the stretching of the rear (providing more interior room) was evident, but the feasibility and mechanics were not working out, smaller engine compartment size issues (required for the cab forward design)were proving to be engineering headaches.

Along comes the fortunate bankruptcy of Lamborghini for Chrysler, who bought up the famous Italian supercar maker. With that the Najao design was revived and with a stretched chassis of a Jalpa, the Portofino, a Lamborghini running prototype developed by Chryslers Pacifica studios, became the spark of life to the Intrepid.

Chrysler's Lamborghini Portofino was the Intrepids inspiration.
Built on a stretched Jalapa chassis.

The Portofino was a stunning show car, and a great platform for working out the engineering issues of the cab forward design. From there Tom Gale, Chrysler vice president of Product Design, and John Herlitz, Chrysler's director of Exterior Passenger Car Design, ran the design right to the production studios.

Intrepid styling buck Intrepid ESX show car

The Intrepid was a smart looking car, borrowing many cues from the prototype (but not the flip up doors) and all the integral bits of the cab forward philosophy. Initially the LH cab forward platform cars sold very well, the design being a genuine step forward from the tired K-car based designs of the past.

ESX concept

Unfortunately, quality and build issues, excessive sludge build up and other engine problems with the standard 2.7 V6, requiring costly repairs, and in some cases engine replacement, killed most of the momentum the cars had with buyers. Even with a fresh, quite skillful and attractive restyle in 1998 the cars never attained the sales forecast Mopar wanted. Today its a sketchy used buy, and already starting to disappear from the roadways due to disrepair. The car was discontinued to make way for the hugely popular new LH rear drive cars like the 300C.

The Isuzu Impulse

What could have been the 2nd generation Scirocco for VW became the Isuzu Impulse (Piazza outside the US). The legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro and his design company Italdesign had penned the original Golf and Scirocco and was expected to be contracted for the follow up. After a exhaustive design study, VW went with their own in-house design with Karmann, and Isuzu was more than thrilled to have the fifth Giugiaro "Copernican revolution", the Asso di Fiori (Ace of Clubs prototype) as their own. Elements of car design we now take for granted, flush glass, complete absence of drip/rain gutters and door/shut lines extending to and into the roofline (in the style of limousine doors) were all introduced on a sporty, crisply designed 2+2 coupe in Geneva 1979.

Giugiaro's Asso di Fiori (Ace of Clubs) Piazza show car

Crowds gathered around the display stand in awe, Giugiaro's common themes of tight crisp lines melding with rounded end shapes were very prominent and very popular. Rumors were abound that this was going to be the next 2+2 introductory Lotus. The car and design certainly looked the part.

Mouths dropped when it was revealed that this was going to be a common production car for little known Isuzu. Jaws dropped further when it was known that the car was designed to meet the specifications of the Gemini 1800 (Japanese version of the Chevy Chevette chassis). Thoughts of such a great looking breakthrough design running on what was essentially a mild rehash of the failed Vega platform left many in the industry scratching their heads.

Despite the chassis, the Impulse initially sold well, assuredly due to its stunning good looks and design. Most of the industry magazines gave it great marks, and the Impulse won awards for the its design, but only so-so praise for the anemic 4 cyl. The handling of course left much to be desired working from Chevette underpinnings. By the time the ruse was reveled, that the Impulse was a very attractive paperweight without the power or footing to get out of its own way, sales for its enthusiast target market virtually disappeared. By the time Isuzu realized the problem and returned with a decent car, a turbo version with chassis tuning by Lotus, it was too late to save it.
It’s a shame to see the few cars of these on the road beaten up and abused; it was once a show stopping, award winning design.

The Pontiac Fiero

Pontiac Fiero SE & GT V6

GM’s second only 2 seat production car, and its only mid engine one has a history dating back to the 50’s with the Motorama show car two-seat Bonneville Special, the Club de Mer, heavily based on the new Corvette.

1956 Pontiac Club de Mer

By the mid 60’s Pontiac’s chief John Z. DeLorean (father of the GTO) campaigned heavily for a Pontiac two seat sports car, the Banshee. The Banshee, was a two seat hardtop, resembling much of the soon to be 68 Stingray in both shape and style. Though the design was very attractive, GM execs, understandably, killed the idea for fear of it competing with the Corvette. A second show only car, a mild rendition of the Banshee, appropriately named the Fiero, with a daring open targa style top proved popular but was never planned to make the public roadways.

1964 Pontiac Banshee & 1969 Pontiac Fiero
Come the late 1970’s, Pontiac, still committed to make a two seat sports car, set up plans to present GM with a proposal. A prototype, the “P”-car, was rushed to the Advanced Three design studio. Under designers heads Ron Hill w/John Cafaro, the car was designed to use plastic body panels above and below the center body line. This strong body line, giving a strong forward leaning wedge shape, became the major design theme running the length of the vehicle, rising slowly towards the rear end. Along with purposely large wheel openings, retracting headlights (but no front grille) the mid engine design was a strong and exciting prospect.

A running prototype was built and the final exterior design was moved to John Schinella in Pontiac studios where more specific Pontiac design identity cues, split bumper pads in the traditional Pontiac theme was added and the theme body line was made a rub strip running the entire length of the car.

The P-cars wedge-shaped, mid-engine design was a hit with GM executives, but at the time of rising gas prices, inflation and fuel shortages, the 14th floor at GM could only be convinced to commit to budget for a 2-seat “commuter car”, not a full on sports car. A large part of the Fieros future fate and problems were sealed from that change of focus.

A change to commuters car from sports car meant that to make budget and design specifications the Fiero turned into a GM shelf parts car. To save costs, development for engineering was farmed out to Entech , and to meet a greatly reduced budget and streamline the tooling process, parts were raided from GM parts bin, the front suspension modified from a Chevette, the noisy and rough Iron Duke motor and a rear engine setup modified from a front drive X car platform was used.

The debut was praised by the industry, and sold well, but the legacy of the shelf parts used, along with initial teething problems for a new model (engine fires, cooling and electrical problems) soon changed sales figures. The Fiero was great to look at, but was underpowered and disappointed those expecting a sportier ride to go along with its fresh looks. Slowly GM corrected problems, adding a stronger more powerful V-6 , reworking the rear suspension for proper sports car handling and in 1986 restyling it with a much more coherent and flowing “flying buttress” fastback design. But as it always seems for the General, and revisiting the fate of the Corvair, by the time they got the Fiero “right” GM killed it, just before the Fiero really got its chance to spread its wings and fly. Fieros are seen less and less on the road today and will probably become tomorrows collector’s items.
-gumbypiz.

Lipstick On a Pig: The Chevy Vega

2009-03-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

The Chevy Vega.

The Vega conjurers up memories of noisy motors, warped blocks, high oil consumption, engine fires, early rust/rust prone panel, poor build quality, production plant sabotage & strikes, the list goes on…Who of us didn’t either own or know someone that owned one back then, they were all over the place. Even my Dad bought a LEMON yellow ’74 that year . Nowadays it’s more common to see a Bentley or Ferrari on the road than a Vega.

A quick Google search will find the car in many Top or 10 worst car lists, and maybe rightfully so given its inception and background. But it wasn’t because it was a bad looking car.

Code named XP-887, the Vega started as then GM President, Ed Cole’s pet project. The XP-887 or Vega 2300 was to be Chevys next modern small compact car, a fresh slate after the missteps of the Corvair.

The Vega was GM first attempt at a small car after the Corvair

The first ideas for the car was as a rear engine rotary, but the bad taste of a rear engine Corvair still in its mouth and serious issues with rotary development (NSU’s nightmares with the Ro 80 as an example) nixed those ideas.

Ed Cole Father of the Vega

Ed Cole championed a new all aluminum block impregnated with silicone in the cylinders instead of iron cylinder sleeves (as was standard practice). And as both Chief engineer and company president, no one could, or was going to convince him (the father of the small block Chevy V-8) of this inherent flawed engine design. So Cole was going to get his way, no matter what.

This was the beginning of “committee design” at the General, and Cole quickly set up committees for both engineering and styling as well. As John Z. DeLorean (of the infamous DMC/stainless-steel car fame and head of Chevy at the time) described, it was a car that was "14^th floor engineered " (from the GM building), committee engineered by groups of big-wig executives out of touch with the reality of building a durable car. A project with an engine none of GM engineers supported, and a car Chevrolet didn’t want either, it was forced upon them.

As far back as 1969, two years before its introduction, at its introduction to GM executives, it’s said that the front end of the prototype literally fell off. So the Vega already had some bad karma working for it from the start, all manners of GM executives were walking away from it and its future did not look bright.

So, what do you do with the redheaded child that no one wants, but still have to sell to the public?

You put your best lipstick on a pig, that’s what you do, and that’s what GM did.

A lot of pressure was going on the looks of this car, and the design committee for the styling of the new car was made of legendary names in auto design. Bill Mitchell, Chuck Jordan, Irv Rybicki and Dave Holls were all on board. So they had the talent to hold the pig down, so to speak. The first proposals for the car were contemporary enough, clean pressed “suit” lines that were typical of the Mitchell era, but its front/nose and back were bland. Initially the car had been thought of short wheelbase one, as more of a Nova no frills utilitarian-type and got some uninspired styling to go with that theme.

The XP883 & XP887

But the first of problems for John DeLorean to tackle when he came to Chevy was to revitalize and generate some genuine enthusiasm within his division for the project. By motivating Fisher Body to work with Chevy chief designer Hank Haga, they worked a miracle in modifying the fresh face of the new Haga designed 2^nd generation Camaro F body design cues onto the Vega.

The Camaro’s long smooth nose wide Ferrari egg crate grille and slightly protruding fender headlights influenced from the Facel Vega, are very must present in the Vega. Chevy’s traditional rear pod taillights treatment, typical for the Camaro and the Corvette were stylized an added to the slightly contoured rear of the Vega as well.

Strong hints of Ferrari are seen in both the Camaro & Vega

The Vega was a one of GM’s first of the new vent windowless design, and adding to the more sporting style DeLorean was looking for Haga added functional vents, placed on the deck and at the rear quarter posts.

Styling wise, this little car from Chevy was a good looker, magazines and press all gave the cars overall slightly Italian influenced design thumbs up. Now, no one is going to ever call the Vega a stunningly beautiful automobile, but considering the offerings at the time, the clownish Gremlin, the staid, almost homely Maverick styled Pinto, the Vega was the most handsome of the bunch, hands down.

Vega GT's rolling off the Lordstown, OH plant

Particularly the Vega GT (about 30% of all Vegas sold) and the rare Cosworth Vega looked pretty good for their day, keeping in mind that blow out afros, dashikis, tie-die shirts, Tab, and leisure suits were also popular….

Though the overall result of the Vega was a public relations disaster for GM, and legions of customers probably never returning to a Chevy lot, overall, Chevy sold nearly 2.2 million of these cars, not too bad for a 6.5 year span. By the time the writing was on the wall about the cars troubles, Chevy still moved over 460,000 Vegas in 1974! It was a popular choice, and Chevy kept in pace with the updating of the Camaro, the Vega too incorporating much of the new updates of Camaro too throughout its lifespan.

It’s a tribute to John DeLorean's management skills, Bill Mitchell’s design influence, and the styling genius of Mr. Haga, that the Vega made its way as far and as long as it did. One of the few reasons for the continued strong sales of this car until its last two years.

The Vega is a great example of excellent exterior styling propping up poor or lazy engineering and development. It’s not the first time this has been the case, and certainly won’t be the last.

Lipstick on a pig indeed.

An Introduction.

2009-02-23T05:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Styling Cars. There are a lot of sites out there, devoted to cars of all types, classic muscle cars, exotics, million dollar supercars…well this one ain’t one of them.

Nope this is the design site that’s devoted to the design of cars we average folk drive or have owned.

Don’t misunderstand we’ll do a thorough once over of many great, famous and swoopy high priced cars, just not the usual ones you see repeatedly covered and written about on line.

So just what will we cover? Our focus will be the design of the average and not so average car, not so much on engines and mechanics. We won’t gloss over the nuts and bolts but it won’t be what this site is about. What then is this about and what cars will we review and investigate? Well, that might be your ’84 Fiero, it may be you old ’78 Cordoba. If you remember the AMC Gremlin and ever wondered just who designed that funny looking thing and what drug he was on when he did? We’ll find out here. Want to know the real reasons why the ’70 Rivera got that weird boat tail rear end? We’ll dredge up original design sketches and photos of everyday cars that most have forgotten. Interview and talk to those who put pen to paper, and what the influences for cars like that came to be.

We’ll be taking stock of at the oddball ones, great failures (yes we will cover the design and conception of the Vega & Pinto too). Great everyday machines that looked good, got us back and forth to work/school every day, back in the day, that never got their due.

Once we get up to speed, we’ll be open to taking requests from readers to cover their car or a car they’d like to see reviewed.

Next post we’ll start from the bottom so to speak, one of the biggest known failures of the last 30 years from the General (not including the possible impending bankruptcy failure they may become) the Vega!

Say what you will about it, it wasn’t a bad looking car, and the design influences that shaped it are quite unique.

Till next time.