Art & Inspiration Fastbacks and other swoopy roofs

The recent thread on street-driven streamliners (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=695076), the current Petersen exhibit on aerodynamics, and my older thread about swoopy cars (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=543790), have collectively inspired me to write something about this subject.

I am particularly interested in roof profiles, as one of the main components of an auto body design. Some of them look clumsy, others look tidy but conservative, and some just look fast – as if the car wearing that top should really get ‘er done.

I don’t know exactly when car designers first started thinking about airflow over the car and its effects on performance, but I imagine that it was pretty early in the history of the automobile. There are examples of speed record cars built at the turn of the century that show some thought on the designers’ part about sleek shapes and their passage through the air.

This isn’t going to be a whole treatise on aerodynamics, though; I’m just talking about racy looking rooflines here.

Possibly the earliest example I’ve seen of an aero-improved coupe body for a very early car is this wonderfully rustic T. I say “possibly” because this body might have been done years after the Ford itself was built. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that these kids went on to become aeronautical engineers:



The Auburn Cabin Speedster was a show car built in 1928 to see if there was a market for such a radical design. Sadly, it burned up at its second showing:



Europeans were all over this with fastbacks for racing coupes and GTs by the ‘30s. I think that this was pretty much seat-of-the-pants streamlining, rather than wind tunnel tested stuff. I’m not planning to do a Euro-review, but here are a few tasty examples:











Harley Earl kicked off the US fastback sedan with this Cadillac show car in 1933:



Packard slid in with a couple of swooptop cars in between:



…but GM bullied their way in, continuing with a flock of beautiful production fastbacks from 1941 through 1952. It seems that GM mastered this look better than any of the other major manufacturers, and got a lot of mileage from it:

 

(Had to let the server catch its breath there)

To resume our review of speedy-looking roof designs, the fastback shape left the US market for a while after 1952. Riviera, Marlin, Charger, Barracuda and Torino fastbacks showed up for a year or two each, but the style never returned to the mainline status that it enjoyed in the 1940s.

European GT cars continued to favor this shape pretty continuously from around 1960 right up to the present. There are too many to show, but the Aston Martin DB4 is one of my favorites:



In order that this not be just a recycling of the "swoopy"; thread, I want to mention that after the fastbacks disappeared in US product lines, some really sleek hardtop roofs appeared, and all of the Big 3 did some really nice stuff between '55 and '65. Some of these were designed for a little edge in NASCAR competition; most were just meant to LOOK fast. Gotta slip in one of my own cars here:













Customizers have been doing chop-top coupes forever, and it was certainly done in the first place for reduced frontal area on lakes racers. When the likes of the Barrises and Ayalas were doing it, though, it was just intended to look great. There have been thousands of chopped cars done over the years, but here are three that have especially sleek tops:







Occasionally, customizers have swapped a sleek top onto a boxier body. I once saw a plastic model on which the builder had added a Ford Probe top to a shoebox, and it looked great! I don't think this was ever tried for real, though. This T-Bird is probably the best-known (and most effective) top swap:



Finally, I should mention that the sleekest top on a production car in recent years was done by Audi in Germany. It does kinda remind me of a chopped '50 Merc:



...although I confess that I like this top, too:



Sorry for the OT cars, mods; the devil made me do it.

Usually when I put up one of these threads, readers have their own cars they'd like to have recognized. Any particular favorites you'd care to nominate (FAST tops, now; no Mercury Turnpike Cruisers)?

 

Good overview, 50Fraud. Here's a few for your viewing pleasure.

 

I was really thinking more about the later hardtop roofs when I wrote this, and added the earlier fastbacks for background.

As I look back over these, I realize that the tops that really grab me these days are the ones that have a fast, sweeping C-pillar that is generally following the line of the top. There's nothing wrong with the other varieties of window openings, but those "fast" ones really emphasize the sleek shape of the top:





...and that's probably why I get excited in the rare instances that I see a fastback that has been hardtopped!

 

Excellent read Tony.... as always.


Here are a few I like. Custom Cars of course







Not a fastback... but dang!... what a top.




Of course we cannot forget Cadzilla





Sam Barris 1950 Buick.




Kartsa's 1949 Buick

(photo by Janne Kutja)




Wolf's 1951 Mercury... possibly the best ever chopped 1951 Mercury!

(photo by Janne Kutja)

 

"I changed the title of this thread from "Fast roofs" because very few people seem to have read it. Perhaps the subject isn't interesting to everybody, but I'm surprised at the low response. I thought I was a better judge of people's interests than that.<O</O
<O</O

You wrote a quality piece, with very good thoughts and observations. <O</O
<O</O

I never thought these guys would ever be popular........<O</O
<O</O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7-10JylGZ8<O</O
<O</O

I thought I was a better judge of people's interests than that.<O</O

 

I am surprised at the lack of popularity as well. I am biased towards the 1949 Cadillac,...surely one of the greatest cars ever designed! I may be a little biased though.


I think some of the greatest achievements of this body style was the ability to make a large two door car look fast, less bulky, more "sporty" and flow.


My o/t daily driver car is a new VW transporter, it looks like an ice box on wheels. My '49 Caddy Club Coupe is actually longer and as wide yet side by side compared with the icebox on wheels my Caddy looks perfectly proportioned, it looks sleek, fast, not bulky, balanced and that is an achievement in design.

 

This is a great thread topic! I have long been a fan of hardtop styling. Not only for the clean looks, but also for the open-air feeling while driving. The 2 hardtop cars I owned previously were a 1963 Cadillac Sedan Deville and a 1959 Ford Galaxie 500 2-door.

We currently have a 1963 Mercury Comet S22 which is also a very nicely styled hardtop car. The S22 was very different in roof design than the standard Comet models in that FoMoCo went with more of a thin sail panelled bubble-top look similar to an Impala of similar year. Here is a picture of our S22.

 

Cam,
i don't think i can go passed my 49 buick sedanette.........................
Ha Ha Ha
Cheers Darren

 

One thing I have always wondered is why Ford didn't make a Fastback Shoebox model? General Motors was very successful in designing a great looking car with their Chevy Fleetline and Oldsmobile Fastback models. Why didn't Ford come up with a Fastback design of their own during the 49' to 51' production years? The 51' Ford Victoria is such a beautiful car in my opinion. It would have been great to see Ford combine the looks of the Vicky into a Fastback model, wouldn't it?

Well, I have a 51' Shoebox that I am currently wrenching on. I decided to try and combine both of these elements into my build. I know the top is a bit more extreme than most would prefer, but I am happy with the results so far. It is a work in progress.

 

I am partial to the '64 Merc Marauder, especially since I recently acquired another one after thirty years of searching.

 

Ha ha ha Darren,... it's like Muhammad Ali V Joe Frazer,....I love them both,...I honestly think a 1949 Roadmaster would complimeny my Caddy perfectly in my driveway!!

 

Bloody good question!!

 

Greedy bugger Cam

 

Didn't Ford have slopers

 

My favourite is the Embiricos Bentley;

 

How about the Big John Mazmanian "Football" Austin? Has a pretty swoopy chop to it...

 

any pix of the '49 (or '50 ?) Lincoln 4-dr fastbacks ?

 

I love the 49-51 Chevy fastbacks and 1946-47 Cadillac

 

few more beauties.

 

Feast your eyes on a few more...

 

The original E-Type coupe is absolutely one of the best looking and most graceful GT cars ever designed. There are lots of cool designs in Porsche's history; I think I'd choose the 911 for its shape over the 356, though.

Thanks, Rik. Isn't it amazing how many customs were influenced by Barris' top on the Matranga Merc? All four of your choices above have the curved B-pillar first seen on Matranga, yet I don't think I've ever seen it used on a production design. Probably because of the "dangerous" corner at the top of the quarter window.

I think Ford did a great job on the "fastback hardtop" that they introduced on the '63 1/2 Galaxie and Falcon Sprint. It had the character of the earlier '56 Fairlane and '60 Starliner tops, but with a crease above the rear window for a slightly more formal look. They used it to good effect in two or three different sizes over the next few years.

I wrote earlier that I had seen a shoebox model kit that a guy customized with a Probe top, the kind with the huge wraparound glass. This one:


It would no doubt be a daunting job to build one in the real world, but the model looked great! Be sure to show us your car when it's done.

Sure did. I kinda blow hot and cold on slopers; I think I prefer the more upright US model Tudor. I'm eager to see the chopped sloper finished that Tony Moore (X38) is building, though; I think he really got the top line right.

Neat car. The Brits seemed to be a little timid about fastbacks for a long time, but of the few they did, many were great looking.

'49 Lincoln Cosmopolitan, rare car!


I doubt that many people here on the HAMB have ever seen one; Lincoln only built it for one year. Designing a good looking, fast top over a full-size four door is a challenge; look at the Porsche Panamera for proof that it hasn't gotten any easier.

The Harold Olsen Chevy, the first car in your post, just makes me crazy! One of the most beautiful tops I have EVER seen:

 

250 Lusso




MG Airline Coupe



Shelby Daytona Coupe




From a visual standpoint the belt and glass lines make or break much of the fastback roof design and are the primary line of visual reference .The roof placement on the body and the height of the roof in relation to the belt to rocker height also has a significant influence on the overall design .

Great topic Tony . I always look forward to your threads .

 

Interesting thread!

A favourite of mine:


-Dave

 

1950 buick special 2dr sedanette

 

my swoopy roof

41 lac

 

XK120 has to be one of the most fluid cars you could actually pull up beside at a stoplight.

Damn, thats a beautiful car!