Chevrolet's 1957 Facelift

My 2016 post "Facelifting the 1955 Chevrolet" can be found here.  Today's post features a more detailed comparison of the original 1955 body with the 1957 version.  The 1956 facelift involved fairly minor (for the times) sheetmetal changes, whereas 1957 changes involved part of the body structure -- and non-trivial tooling expenses.

During the 1950s and surrounding decades General Motors dominated the American automobile market and reaped financial rewards accordingly.  Those also were the days when noticeable annual facelifts of existing designs were common and expected by the buying public.  Mid-decade, GM elected to focus its facelifts on cars' front ends, though rear parts of fenders also saw shape changes.  (Side chrome trim and paint color zones were changed yearly because these were cheap to implement.)

But 1957 A-body Chevrolets and Pontiacs received more expensive modifications just for that one model year.  Those brands were given new bodies for 1958 and were rebodied again for 1959 when GM was forced to react to Chrysler's sensational 1957 redesigns.

Why such an expensive facelift intended for just one model year?  GM could certainly afford it, but was there a payoff?  The payoff might have been that GM management was aware that arch-competitor Ford would be redesigned for 1957 (and nicely so), so Chevrolets needed to seem more freshened than normal.  I should add that combined Chevrolet-Pontiac '57 model year sales were 1,848,650, and Chevy sales nearly equaled Ford's.  So high production easily amortized the new tooling, and Chevrolet was not grossly embarrassed in the sales race with Ford (though it did take a moderate public relations hit).

The images below are of Chevrolet's entry-level One-Fifty two-door sedans rather than the usual Bel Air and other more upscale lines.  That's because I want to focus on the bodies rather than the distracting trim: One-Fifties often lacked side trim and two-tone paint schemes.

Gallery

1955 Chevrolet One-Fifty Utility Sedan, Mecum Auctions photo.  The front fender of this car is slightly bent up on one side.

Another Mecum photo, this of a 1957 Chevrolet One-Fifty two-door sedan.  The structural change was flattening the lower edge of the windshield.  This required slightly re-shaped windshield glass.  It also meant some re-tooling of the firewall-cowing structure -- the most expensive part of the body to modify.

The lowered windshield edge was part of the lowering of the hood profile.  Other changes seen here are reshaped wheel openings and body lengthening (by 4.5 inches, 114.3 mm).

As best I can tell from these images, the 1955 trunk was retained while the fender was lengthened and the rear bumper redesigned

A 1955 Chevrolet One-Fifty photo of a for-sale car.

1957 Chevrolet One-Fifty, also a for-sale-car photo.  The redesigned hood (retaining pervious cutlines) along with the reshaped cowling can be seen here.  The grille and front fenders are new, but these were common changes for mid-1950s GM facelifts.

High viewpoint views of rear-end changes.

The Arnolt-MG

A somewhat obscure (then and now) early-1950s multi-national sporting car was the Arnolt-MG.   Information on "Wacky" Arnolt and his Chicago-based car company is here.  According to the link (as of November 2023):

"The Arnolt MG was designed by Giovanni Bertone, his son Nuccio, and Giovanni Michelotti.  Of a planned production of 200 cars, 103 have been documented as built between 1953 and 1954 (67 coupés and 36 convertibles)....  In 1954, MG informed Arnolt that it could no longer supply chassis and engines due to demand for its own complete cars (as well as the replacement of the TD by the TF), so Arnolt began looking for a larger-engined car."  That became the better-known and flashier Arnolt-Bristol that I wrote about here.

Arnolt-MG styling abaft of the front end was typical of classic 1953 vintage Italian coachbuilder design practice.  Frontal design has a slightly old-fashioned look due to the high, somewhat horizontal hoodline capped by a close variation of the MG grille.

In sum, the design is pleasant, yet not memorable (unlike the Arnold-Bristol's).

Gallery

1955 Arnolt-MG Coupe - Hyman Ltd photo
One of the later Arnolt-MGs, having been first registered in 1955. Note the traditional-looking frontal design.

1955 Arnolt-MG Coupe - Bonhams Auctions photos
The grille features a mesh pattern, unlike the vertical strips found on stock MG TDs.

1952 MG TD - car-for-sale photo
This is the configuration Bertone had to work from.

The driver's position seems about the same.  The hood is longer, as is front and (especially) rear overhang.  The fenderline is slightly below the beltline and has a small up-kick to define the rear fender zone.

From this viewpoint, Arnolt-MG styling is much like many other Italian coachbuilt coupes of the day.

1953 Arnolt-MG Cabriolet - RM Sotheby's Auctions photo
Now for some views of the convertible version.

1954 Arnolt-MG Cabriolet - Mecum Auctions photo

1953 Arnolt-MG Cabriolet - via RM Sotheby's

Siata 208 CS - Updated and Semi-Walkaround

Siata 208 CS Berlinetta - factory photo
I wrote about the Siata 208 CS here, and more information is here.  Rather than repeating myself, I suggest you read that previous post before continuing here.

In the years since, more images have appeared on the Internet, so I decided it was time to revisit that interesting design.

There were two sporty Siata 208 versions, the 208 S Barchetta (roadster) of which 35 were built, and the 208 CS Berlinetta (coupé), only 18 or so having been made.  Of the latter, seven were built by Stabilimenti Farina, the design's originator.  Remaining 208 CS Berlinettas were made by Boano's short-lived coachbuilding firm.

The 208 CS's designer is unknown, so far as I can tell.  Michelotti is credited with the 208 S styling, and might well have had a hand in the 208 CS.  But the CS does not seem to be credited to him if the Wikipedia link to him above is any guide.

Gallery

1952 Siata 208 "S" Coupé - factory publicity
Pictured is the original berlinetta, referred to as an "S" rather than a "CS."

1952 Siata 208 CS - factory photo
The same car with modified details or perhaps the second car.  Farina 208 CSs had a Studebaker-like air vent door on the front fender.  The chrome strip atop the rear wheel opening is found on some Farina and Boano cars, but not all.

1954 Siata 208 CS Berlinetta, Stabilimenti Farina design, body by Balbo - images via Classic Motor Action web site
This Boano version has an open vent on the fender and no chrome strip.  (The car in the leading image above has both kinds of vent.)  It does have that fascinating DeSoto-like grille found on Stabilimenti Farina cars.  Most Boano cars had different grille bars.

Italian styling was at its best from the late 1940s into the late 1950s.   The only awkward detail seen here is the door window framing.

Siata 208 CS's lacked normal bumpers or any at all, as on this car.   Practicality aside, it made for a cleaner, more pure design.

1952 Siata 208 CS Berlinetta Mille Miglia car - Bonhams auction photo
The early racing version, perhaps shown in the upper photos with a few detail changes.

1953 Siata 208 CS Berlinetta, body by Balbo - Gooding Auctions photo
This shows the Boano grille bar design.  More conventional, but not nearly as striking as the Farina version.  Gooding has this a 1953 car, but Boano's coachbuilding firm was not established until 1954, according to two of my sources -- so the frame and motor might be from '53, the completed car in '54.

Chrysler Airflow Coupe Walkaround

The styling of Chrysler Airflows was wind tunnel based -- streamlined -- something unusual for mass-produced American cars in 1934 when production was launched.  Engineering features were also advanced for that era, but their virtues did not outweigh the styling, which the buying public found unacceptable.

Chrysler Corporation soon realized that sales were not up to expectations, so then facelifted Airflows in later model years to make them seem more conventional.  For example, I discussed DeSoto Airflow facelifts here.

Airflows came in a variety of sizes and body types.  I wrote about 1934 types here.

With the passage of time, Airflow styling does not seem as ugly as first perceived.  That said, Airflows were never beautiful.  In this post I said that the 1935 Chrysler C1 Airflow Coupe was the best-looking of the lot (though another came close).

That best-looking Airflow, in my judgment, is the featured car in today's post.  The photos are from Mecum Auctions.

Gallery

Airflow sedans were boxy-looking: coupes were not.

Hood length varied due to the types of motors used.  All DeSoto Airflows were powered by inline six-cylinder engines, all Chryslers by longer inline eights.  DeSoto Airflows with their short hoods and comparatively short 115.5 inch (2934 mm) wheelbases looked stubby.  This Chrysler Airflow Coupe does not, due to its longer, facelifted (from 1934) hood and longer 123 inch (3124 mm) wheelbase.

The fastback profile required a two-segment backlight window because flat glass had to be used due to the glass-forming technology of the time.

At least that allowed a fairly large rear window area for the mid-1930s.

1934-1935 Airflow coupes had trunk lids, sedans did not.  Sedans had their spare tires mounted on their aft ends, coupes stored theirs in their trunks.

Attractive, but not beautiful.

The 1935 grill is a wider version of the grille design used on 1935 Airstreams, Chrysler's new conventional alternative to Airflows.

Airflows were wide for their time.

Dashboards in those days tended to place instruments in the center instead of in front of the driver.

Gallery of English "Airline" Designs

Around the mid-1930s there was a British styling fad known as the "Airline" body.  Typically, these cars were two-door coupés or saloons (sedans) with rounded rear profiles that suggested streamlining.   Given that front ends were normally strictly stock and aerodynamically messy, those rear ends did little or nothing to improve aerodynamic efficiency.  That said, they are interesting to look at, and serve as counterbalances to normal, conservative British car design examples from before, say, the 1950s.

I discussed Airline design using a particularly nicely-styled example here.

The cars shown in profile below are arranged in ascending price-prestige order.  Exceptions are the final two, which are of special interest.

Gallery

c.1933 Hillman Aero Minx 2-3 Seat Saloon - unknown photo source
A tiny car based on a popular model.  Besides the rounded profile, there are no running boards.

1935 Hillman Aero Minx Cresta Saloon - car-for-sale photo
This four-passenger version has a "pillarless" window arrangement that resembles post- World War 2 "hardtop convertible" styling.  Except the after side window does not roll down, being in effect part of the body structure.

1936 MG PB Airline Coupé - Sussex Sports Cars photo
A two-passenger Airline.

1937 Talbot 10 "Airline" Sport Saloon - Anglia Car Auctions photo
Another "pilarless" Airline.

1935 SS1 20HP Airline Coupé - Bonhams Auctions photo
SS was the predecessor of the Jaguar, whose brand-name appeared on what had been SS cars during 1935, but apparently after this one was built.  A four-passenger car, but with a normal B-pillar.

1935 Rolls-Royce 2-Door Airline Coupé by Barker - Jonathan Wood Restorations photo
A very attractive Airline design.  Note the fashionable drooping beltline also seen on the Minx Cresta and SS1 above.  In each instance, the beltline curve is abaft of the door, as is the roof curve..

Triumph Gloria Flow-free - at 1934 motor show
This is the design I featured in the post linked above.

1935 Talbot 105 Airline 4-Door Saloon - car-for-sale photo
A dramatic design with four doors, not the usual Airline two-doors.

Hupmobiles and Grahams with Cord Bodies

The 1936 810 and 1937 812 Cords are considered by many, including me, as being among the very greatest automobile body designs.

So amongst many Cord fans, -- besides lamenting that there never were Cords after 1937 -- there was the feeling that the design had been desecrated when the body dies were used a few years later for the Hupmobile Skylark and Graham Hollywood.

All three links deal with that matter.  Hupp was a failing automobile company and Graham-Paige was in nearly as bad a shape.  Cord body dies (not well suited for mass-production) were purchased and then adapted to a chassis that was ten inches (254 mm) shorter than Cord's.  Skylarks were powered by Hupp motors and Hollywoods by Graham's.   The cars, including motors, were assembled by Graham.

Sources mention that there was some initial demand for these cars, but production delays diminished this to the point that fewer than 2000 were built 1940-1941.

The Graham-Paige link above credits John Tjaarda with the restyled front end.  The front could be shorter than Cord's because the Skylark and Hollywood powertrains were conventional front-motor-rear-drive as opposed to Cord's front-wheel-drive layout with the differential placed forward of the V-8 motor.

Gallery

1941 Hupmobile Skylark - RM Sotheby's photo
From the outside, Skylarks and Hollywoods are nearly identical.  One difference (based on Internet images) seems to be the lack of chrome trim on many Skylark cars' upper grille segments.

1941 Graham Hollywood - Hyman, Ltd. photo
Grahams seem to have more chrome trim.  Frontal features compared to Cord include a rounded-nose, the lower grille incorporated into a catwalk, and freestanding headlight assemblies.

1937 Cord 812 Westchester - Hyman photo
Cords had their famous "coffin-nose" hoodline wrapped in a horizontal louver motif.  Fenders and FWD drivetrain extend the front a ways ahead of the hood.  Headlights are hidden behind rotating doors.

1941 Graham Hollywood - Driehaus Collection photo
Abaft of the cowling/firewall, Cords, Skylarks and Hollywoods were nearly identical.  Compare this car's frontal zone with that of the Cord's in the image below.

1936 Cord 810 Westchester - Hyman photo
Cord's front fenders seem more separated from the hood than those of Skylarks and Hollywoods, but this might be an illusion.

1936 Cord 810 Beverly - car-for-sale photo
The main differences are most obvious in side-view.  Ignoring the Beverly's trunk, we see the longer front section of the Cord.

1941 Graham Hollywood - Driehaus photo
The Hollywood's hood is about the same length of the Cord's due to the need to house inline six-cylinder motors.  But the front axle is positioned closer to the cowling/firewall.  The front of the hood and lower grille are slightly forward of the fender's front edge -- the reverse of Cord's layout.  Note that whereas rear fenders of both cars are the same, the Hollywood's front fender is stubbier than the Cord's abaft of the wheel opening.