Hot Rods GM rear windshields

Does anybody else find it absolutely incredible that GM had 4 different and distinct rear windshields in the exact same year of production on separate models?? …notice the subtle differences on these 1956 Buicks - the 4 door hardtop Special/Century is my personal favourite, but i’ll let You be the judge:



Manufacturers don’t put in the styling effort these days

 

I didn't know they made any windshields for the rear. I always thought windshields went on the front.

 

i guess it would depend whether You were going ahead, or backing up?

 

They were commonly referred to as a "backlight", at least in many older catalogs and shop manuals.

 

In the vernacular...a "windshield" covers the big front opening of the body, a "backlite" covers the big rear opening of the body.

That's like...front head lights, or a front grill (except for Corvairs and rear engine cars) ??????

Mike

 

If you really want to be blown away, count how many different trunklids Buick used in 1958. It's in the teens.

 

And........I'm assuming, they still made money! There will never be that kind of variety in the automotive world ever again, unless it's created by individuals.

 

The heck with the glass, how I would love to get turned loose on these cars!
And taht looks like some real God forsaken country...

 

That upholstery guy named Jack that was on full custom garage said it best, cars had soul back then, you could look at a car coming down the street and know what year and make it was. Now they're like jelly beans, all the same, just a different color.

 

"And........I'm assuming, they still made money!"

Probably all of them crossed make "sisters" between the five makes of Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac. I'd bet that each of them would be a higher total than what most of the independents were doing.

 

probably shared them with other gm cars? my '56 olds 98.

 

Yeah silver, white or beige/gold.

 

Its a little snow ....

 

Back winder we call em here.

 

Buick sold 572,000 cars in 1956…Chevy sold 1.5 million cars, then you got Pontiac, Olds, Caddy, Chevy trucks,GMC and busses…That’s a fuck load of vehicles…

 

It ain’t easy on the Canadian plains

 

Tooling has a limited life, which varies with the options for die materials, etc. If you anticipate going through several sets of dies in a season, they might as well all be different.

It's similar to Japanese manufacturers in the '80s and '90s: output volume was high enough that they were going to be using several sets of tooling at the same time anyway, so several largely-similar variants of the same design were viable. They'd spend money on expensive, durable tooling for some components, e.g. those common to all the variants, like floorpans, and had cheaper, less durable tooling for others.

Sometimes design changes are a way to disguise repairs to tooling. My DD has a J-shaped reveal on the C-pillar or sail panel, which I believe came out of making 20-year-old pressing dies good for another 20 years.

 

Much has changed in stamping since the 50's. Design the car and panels so it will run down press lines with less press travel required. Japanese figured that out about 20 years before US.
The car can still have shape, but reduce the amount of deep draw panels required.
Many of the feature lines in new cars are a balance of styling and manufacturing needs

 

…as well as Oldsmobile

 

It really limits the months for retrieving old tin from out-back … i took this photo of the first car i’d ever bought a week ago:
Incidentally, the rear quarter glass on these coupes of 1960 are longer than the quarter glass of Chevs, and Pontiacs

 

Totally agreed!! The differing body styles/trim, two-tone (sometimes three-tone) paint, and incredible options of interior upholstery… This attention to detail was really something else!!

 

The snow also limits the amount of time others can get into these field of dreams to haul them to the crusher. What part of Manitoba are these cars in?
A little snow? I can now see the top half of my 27 T touring body poking out from the melting snow drift - it was completely buried this winter.
I wish I could buy some of those beauties - gotta finish the other 3 on the go projects first...so I've been told

 

Unfortunately, i don’t have anything for sale. Good luck with your projects!

 

Luck is when you find the part you know you have 'somewhere' - time and money are what's needed to finish projects - but it's so exciting to start a new one.

 

Be that, as it may, this has absolutely nothing to do with the distinct styles of GM’s 1955-56 line up

 

The comment was, how could GM afford to tool for so many different styles for two years? That's my reply.

 

Lot think tri five Chevys have the same windshield. Don't ask how I know they don't.