History Pre-Streamline Art Deco coachwork

Well said Virgil

 

I love that if you look at say, a chair from 1890, it looks like it's planted there. But once speed sunk in as a styling motif, a chair or whatever had motion to it. It made everybody look to a speeding train for design inspiration instead of a flower, or a forest, or a rock formation.

 

that Ruxton already has the chop marked out

 

^Isn't that last one a Delahaye??? gorgeous automobile...stunning

 

Then you need to include the Graham Hollywood and Huppmobile Skylark.

Barry

 

Yes shoebox1950, thats the Saoutchik Delahaye - very interesting history,..astronomical value!

Wow thanks barryvanhook for the lesson,..I had not seen the Graham or Huppmobile before,..amazing and very similar to the Cord. Were they designed by Gordon Beuring as well,...if not heavily influenced by.

 

1934 Bendix, housed at Studebaker Museum in South Bend, I've seen it up close and its stunning.

 

Does a "re-bodied" 1930 Henderson count?

By weslake at 2011-08-09[/IMG]

 

These are possibly more Streamline, now I think of it.

Autobahn Adler...





Bugatti...





Dannenhauer und Stauss bodied VW. Lovely pic!

 

LOL! I guess thats post streamline, but I see where you´re coming from!

 

Art Deco was basically popularized Modernism, i.e. Modernism with a very unmodernistic formalism, ornament, and complexity.

Arts and Crafts is what stands to Art Nouveau as Modernism stands to Art Deco. But in both cases there's a grey area around the transition, e.g. Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose stuff has qualities of all four of the above. Arts and Crafts, being all about design arising out of the techniques of craftsmanship, often approached an Art Deco geometric character, when the materials and techniques involved wanted that sort of geometry. I think many pre-1930 designs, especially where production volumes were small and a lot of skilled labour was involved, had something of that.

Guys, thanks for all the Saoutchik/Figoni et Falaschi teardrops, Delahayes and diverse Grands Routiers, but there are already threads devoted to that. I'm looking for pre-c.1933 stuff, square-rigged, geometric, but a bit off the wall. Some had aerodynamic aspirations, but the mind-set was biplane rather than teardrop. Much of it was built for the salons, or for specific promotions; I know there's a lot more out there.

 

Here's a 32 REO Royale. This car parked along side of it's peers is amazing. One of the 1st designs that was influenced by wind tunnel testing, the features and results ended up being something that's fitting to your reply above Ned.

 

Thanks Ned, what interests me about Art Deco is that in my understanding it started out as high end, low production number art and craftsmanship for the top end of town yet ended up over time as mass produced products for the general population. It lost some of what made it unique and interesting and its style changed over this period. Early influences from Carter's recent Egyptian discoveries to the Inca's and Myan culture.

As a furniture maker, Mackintosh is someone who has always interested me. To me, way above his time in terms of design yet firmly planted in the Arts & Crafts ideals. His Willow furniture has that deco geometry but the A&C human craftsmanship.

Sorry for going o/t,...and thanks - time to get back looking at car's

gallery

 

Some of you have missed the mark and point of the O/P's intentions and as for the goofball who fucked up a serious thread by posting that 1990s abortion on wheels - well there's no helping some guys....

Getting back to the original point of this thread, Gabrielle Voisin really hits the mark on pure Art Deco - as opposed to Streamline Moderne cars. Here are a few more and there are several Voisins in the magnificent Mullin Automotive Museum. Here are a few pix from the web and that factory chop is wicked....

1931 Voisin C20 Demi Berline:

 

1925 Voisin C25 Berline

 

Voisin C 28 coupe from 1936 - maybe a little to Streamline Moderne for this thread?

 

C 25 Aerodyne....

 

1923 C23 Berline slap bang in the real Art deco roots....

 

The C6 Laboratoire race car is something else - currently in the Mullin Museum where I drooled comprehensively over it for ages....

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Here's a period shot of it....

 

The office....

 

Then keeping on the French manufacturers of the 1920s Art Deco period there were the Salmsons - another aeroplane manufacturer....

 

By 1932 Salmson had become British owned - here a 1932 S4C....

 

And then there is the Amilcar. Geo. Ham produced what is my all time favorite Art Deco poster - of an Amilcar....

 

The real thing - a CGSS Sport....

 

Period photo of an Amilcar sedan....

 

1932 Amilcar Berline....

 

1924 Amilcar C GS....

 

Im finding a bunch of good ones but Im on my gf's mac and I cant cut and paste the pics!
Daimler Double Six 40 50 Walter Sport Saloon

Chrysler GG Imperial Victoria Waterhouse Convertible

Bentley Speed Six Blue Train Special

scroll down this link! Lots of good examples if you can paste em up here!

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/07/online-concours-de-elegance-is-best.html

 

The earlier Talbot-Lago's are good examples as well, they went streamlined quite early though as most of the British cars did. The French seemed to hang on to the look for a while.