Fins!!
Some of today's designers are in fact looking at a type of
fin-like look for the future. The difference will be that
the surfaces of the body shapes will be more crisp and the
edges of meeting surfaces will be sharp.
When a rear quarter surface meets a deck surface with a
sharp edge - and if it is at a higher level then say the
belt line or hood, it will approximate the look of a "fin".
The DM designer that commented about the costs today was
right since hand assembly of bodies and lead filling of
joints is long gone in today's mfg. plants. But automated
assembly of body panels with the new look will be great and
the quality will be much better than we're used to with our
50's Exner cars.
An example of the look I am describing can be seen on the
Cadillac Evoc show car and on certain new Fords and of
course the new 300 with its high deck line! The days of the
"jelly bean" look-alike cars is drawing to a close - thank
Goodness!
Brian
57 Dodge D500s
Bruce Smith wrote:
>
> Hello List,
>
> This discussion of fins possibly reappearing on future new models is too
> interesting for me not to jump in with a couple of things that might be
> of interest.
>
> Several years ago I recall reading a statement made by a Japanese
> designer at Mazda. When asked what kind of project he would most like to
> work on if given a choice, he relied a modern tailfin car.
>
> Here in northeastern Oklahoma, famed customizer Dale Starbird has a
> museum. One of his creations is a Mark VIII Continential with big fins
> that curve slightly outward. The front was entirely redone and strongly
> reminds me of the mid-1950s Dart showcar from Chrysler that was later
> turned into the convertible Diablo. I have photos of the Starbird
> creation and will e-mail them to Dave Stragand so he can post them on
> the club site if he thinks they're of interest. My opinion is the car is
> surprisingly successful and proves that fins could be incorporated into
> aero designs.
>
> On the down side, during a visit to the Chrysler Tech Center with the
> WPC in 1996, a Chrysler engineer commented that manufacturing cars with
> fins today is too impractical. I never understood his reasoning. Since
> Chrysler did such a good job with the Chronos of revisiting early
> Exner/Ghia showcars, maybe the next homage will be to the Forward Look.
> We can dream.
>
> Bruce in Tulsa
> 1960 DeSoto Fireflite
> 1967 Imperial Crown Coupe
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