Rogues Gallery of Busy Grilles and Front Ends

I've been hammering away for a while now about the current fashion for overly decorated designs.  I think an important reason for this fad or fashion is government fuel efficiency regulations that have driven engineers and stylists to wind tunnels in the pursuit of high aerodynamic efficiency.  The result is car bodies with nearly identical basic shapes, and this has led to the use of excessive ornamentation and aerodynamically irrelevant body surface sculpting as means to establish brand and model identification.

Another -- probably lesser -- reason is the normal pendulum swing from one extreme to another that is common where fashion is concerned.

This post presents examples of overly-busy looking grilles and front end ensembles on American cars of the 1950s, an era noted for extravagant styling themes.  Then recent and current examples are shown, illustrating that we now seem to be in a period even more extreme than the '50s.

The 1950s images are of cars for sale.  The others are manufacturers' publicity photos.

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1950s American Examples

1950 Buick
Classic overstatement that was toned down for the next model year.

1952 Packard 400 Patrician
This is a modernized version of the traditional Packard grille intended to better blend with post- World War 2 styling trends.  The sculpting is rather Rococo, but the overly decorated part is the "teeth" that thankfully disappeared on the 1953 facelift.

1958 Buick
If the decorations on the face of the hood were eliminated, the design would be a lot more coherent.

1959 DeSoto
A three-level grille-bumper ensemble, each level having a separate theme.

1959 Dodge
This design approaches the confusion seen in some of the recent images below.


Current and Recent Examples

2015 Nissan Juke
A small car with intentionally funky styling.

2016 Nassan Maxima
The Nissan badge and its chrome nest serve as brand-wide identification.

2017 Lexus IS
Variously termed as "hourglass," "spindle," and (by me) "back-to-back Lexus Ls, this has been a Lexus theme for several years now.  And, as seen farther below, Toyota seems to be adding it to its mass-market brand.

2017 Renault Mégane sedan
That enduring, yet somewhat inexplicable Moebius-diamond symbol reinforces an already somewhat cluttered design.

2018 Audi A8
Audi pioneered the theme of draping the grille over the front bumper.

2018 Genesis
Count the textures on the face of this Genesis by Hyundai.

2018 Honda Accord
This car has some interesting sculpting, but it gets carried a little too far on the front end.  The sweeping element atop the grille and its details do not relate well to what is below.

2018 Hyundai Sonata
This design is cleaner than most shown here.  But the faddish fake air intakes flanking the grille add to the clutter.

2018 Infiniti Q50
An odd, droopy look to the front.

2018 Toyota Camry
As mentioned above, Toyota's mainline American sedan is now getting a Lexus-like frontal design.  The hood face, the faux air intakes flanking the actual grille and the dark, two-level apparent grille segment do not work well together.

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Comparing 1951 Packard 200s and 300s

The Packard Motor Car Company created its final redesign for the 1951 model year.  (Late-1950s Packards based on Studebaker bodies were basically a form of facelift.)

Using the same basic body, Packard introduced three models.  At the top of the price-prestige ladder was the Patrician or 400.  The next rung down was the 300, and the entry-level Packard was called the 200.

This post compares styling for the 200 and 300 lines.

The 200 was smaller than the other '51 Packards, having a wheelbase of 122 inches (3099 mm) as opposed to 127 inches (3226 mm).  It has a less-powerful inline eight cylinder motor.  There also were some noticeable styling cues that set 200s apart, and these are dealt with below.

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1951 Packards were handsome cars in an brassy American 1950s sort of way.  The grille of this 200 is simpler than those of 300s and 400s.  This car and others shown below feature rear wheel spats covering part of the wheel openings, but Packards could be ordered without this detail.

Side view.  Uncluttered styling, though abaft of the B-pillar it seems a bit heavy and lumpy -- some other cars of that vintage also suffered the same problem.  Deleting the rear wheel spats would lighten the appearance a little.

Some 200s were two-door models such as this Club Sedan.

Rear three-quarter view from a "for sale" photo.  The most distinguishing feature of the 200 was its conventional backlight (rear window) and the thick C-pillars.  Tail light assemblies are simpler than those on larger Packards.

Now for images of Packard 300s.  The grille includes "teeth" not found on 200s.

This 300 features the Packard cormorant hood mascot -- 200s had a simpler mascot.

Besides being longer, Packard 300s has slightly different sheet metal at the aft ends of the rear fenders along with a chrome strip not seen on 200s.  Rear fenders also lacked the sculpting found on 200s.

Here are two publicity photos from the same shoot: note the background and the model in both.

This high rear three-quarter view shows the differing tail light assembly.  But the most important difference is the three-piece wraparound backlight, a design found on many circa-1950 hardtops and on some sedans.  I wrote about this feature here and here.  Its effect on the styling of 300 and 400 series Packards was to give the cars a noticeably lighter appearance than that shown above for the 200 model.

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When Clipper was a Car Brand

The Clipper name was associated with the Packard brand off and on from the 1942 model year through the 1956 year, after which Packards became glorified Studebakers.  For most of those years there was a Clipper nameplate.  But for 1956 only, Clipper became an actual brand, and not just the name of a Packard model.

This had to do with James Nance's mid-1950s strategy of re-establishing Packard as a true luxury brand, as it was during most of the first 40 years of its existence.  The brand got watered down when a mid-price line was introduced in a successful survival effort during the Great Depression.  Post- World War 2, Packard was in a position similar to that of Chrysler, being largely an upper-middle brand with a few luxury models on the side.

The captions for the images below continue the story.

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This is the first Packard Clipper, a radical break from the marque's previous, rather old-fashioned designs.  It appeared during the 1941 model year, but is considered a 1942 model.

The Packard Clipper name continued after the war for the 1946 and 1947 model years.  For 1948, Packards were given a major facelift and the Clipper name was dropped.  Pictured here is a 1947 Packard Clipper Touring Sedan in a for-sale photo.

The Clipper model name was revived for 1953.  Above is a Packard Clipper Touring Sedan.  Its side trim differs from that of higher-priced Packards.

For 1954, Packard Clippers became even more visually distinctive.

The grille was almost the same as those of senior Packards, but Packard Clippers were given a different rear fender and tail light treatment.  Pictured here and in the previous photo is a Packard Clipper Panama hardtop.

Facelifted 1955 Packard Clippers received a distinctive set of thin, vertical bars on its grille as well as chrome trim providing two-tone paint schemes that differed from other Packards.  The rear fender style was carried over from 1954.

Clipper became a separate brand for the 1956 model year only.  The promotional material above compares Packard and Clipper grilles.  Both retain the traditional Packard upper frame theme, but the Clipper again has bars instead of a grid pattern.  The Packard crest was dropped for 1955 and the ship's wheel substituted.

Two views of a for-sale 1956 Clipper Super Panama showing the Clipper side two-tone scheme.  The taillights and rear fenders are restyled.

Packard extended its 1956 line with the Packard Executive model slotted between Clippers and regular Packards.  The Executive had the Packard grille, the Clipper's rear fender design, and its own two-tone paint scheme.

An example of a standard 1956 Packard is this 400 hardtop.  Hyman auctions photo.

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Packard Grille Changes 1951-1954

Packard was America's leading luxury brand in the 1920s and into the 30s.  The company survived the Great Depression in part because it added less expensive models to its lineup.  Many writers blame this watering down of the Packard image for the eventual failure of the marque.  I am more inclined to believe that all of the smaller automobile firms were doomed because they lacked resources to compete with Detroit's "Big Three" during the 1950s and beyond.

In any case, it is true that Packard fell behind its rival, Cadillac, in sales.  This trend was not helped by Packard's unfortunate 1948 facelift that I touched on here.

A total redesign marked the 1951 model year.  As I note in my ebook "How Cars Faced the Market," Packard was one of those companies that favored strong, consistent styling cues that visually proclaimed the brand.  Packard used red hexagons on its hubcaps, a pen-nib spear side trim, and what many observers term a "yoke" grille.  The latter feature worked well when cars were tall and hoods were narrow.  But the '51 Packards followed industry design trends and were comparatively low and wide.  Plus, American styling fashions in the late 1940s and early 50s called for large, chromed grille elements.  So Packard stylists had to come up with grille designs that were low, wide and bold, yet carried on shape elements from previous Packards.

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Here is an example of a traditional grille.  The car is a 1934 Packard Super Eight Coupe Roadster (RM Sotheby's auction photo).  The key theme continuity elements are at the top of the grille ensemble.

Shown here are 1951 Packards.  From front to rear are 400, 300 and 200 models (the higher the number, the more luxurious).  The upper parts of their grilles carry on the theme seen in the pervious image.  Grille interiors were made up of bold, chromed shapes in line with the current styling fashion.  I think the "teeth" in the 400's and 300's grilles are unnecessary and awkward.

The only change for 1952 grilles is the addition of a Packard crest at the top center (Gooding auction photo).

Those teeth were deleted on 1953 models, and the interior bar design was simplified, with some ribbing added: nice improvement.  Gone is the pen-nib chrome spear.

Grilles were unchanged for 1954.  Side trims were replaced and little wedges were added atop the headlight bezels.  This car's bumper is out of vertical alignment (Barrett-Jackson auction photo).  Packards were given a major facelift and new motors for 1955.

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American Business Coupes

Wikipedia deals at some length here with the coupé (in America: coupe) body type.  A few lines of the link deal with the business coupe: "A coupé with no rear seat or a removable rear seat intended for traveling salespeople and other vendors who would be carrying their wares with them."

The American business coupe was part of the product mix for many brands from the late 1920s into the early 1950s.  Most were advertised as business coupes, but some coupes had more general names, yet could be used for business purposes.

The logic of using a coupe for traveling salesmen, consulting engineers and many other business activities requiring road travel was that coupes were: (1) usually inexpensive to buy; (2) had a usefully minimal seating capacity; and (3) had small cabins but also the long wheelbases of large-cabin cars so that there was room for a larger than normal trunk for carrying stuff.

Below are examples of this long-departed type of automobile body in chronological order.

Gallery

1929 Buick Master-Six Business Coupe
An early example.  The trunk is fairly small, so this body might also have had a rumble seat version.

1934 Hupmobile Aerodynamic Coupe
This is probably a rumble seat coupe.  I show it because of its very small cabin that seats two (or perhaps three in a pinch) and its long trunk area.  The rear-mounted spare tire would have made this an inconvenient business coupe because it would have interfered with loading.  A business coupe version would have been possible if the spare tire was repositioned.

1936 Oldsmobile Eight Business Coupe

1936 Buick Special Business Coupe
Two General Motors business coupes from mid-range marques.  I suppose these were offered for salesmen or business representatives requiring a more substantial image than that offered by entry-level brands.  The cars shown here used the same basic body.

1936 Packard One-Twenty Business Coupe
Another example of a mid-range business coupe.  Surprising, given that it was from the maker of luxury cars, but Packard had to enter a lesser market range in order to survive the Great Depression.

1937 Graham Cavalier Series 95 Business Coupe
A business coupe from a minor brand.  Note the illustration showing how the spare tire was stored, providing more convenient trunk space.

1939 Plymouth Business Coupe
A business coupe from Chrysler Corporation.  Like the Graham, it is a four-window coupe, something becoming common for business coupes by the late 1930s.

1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Business Coupe
This publicity photo shows a business coupe being loaded.

1939 Graham Combination Coupe
The text (click on the image to enlarge) mentions that a business version of this coupe was available.

1940 Chevrolet Master 85 Business Coupe
I include this brochure page image because it shows storage variations.

1941 Dodge Luxury Liner Deluxe Business Coupe
A nice example of a small cabin on a long-wheelbase car with the resulting large trunk.

1941 Oldsmobile Special Business Coupe
Yet another view of business coupe storage.

1949 Dodge Wayfarer Business Coupe
Business coupe production continued post- World War 2.  This one has Chrysler Corporation's redesigned postwar body style.

1951 Studebaker Champion Business Coupe - Mecum Auctions photo
Perhaps the flashiest business coupe of the lot, though that 1939 Graham comes close.  These small-cabin Studebakers have always fascinated me.

1950 Chevrolet Styline Business Coupe
Even General Motors continued business coupes into the early 1950s.

UPDATE: Further research shows that Chrysler Corporation's Plymouth brand offered business coupes as late as 1957.

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