I’ve seen a few of these type of renderings from the UK in this era, with frumpy cars that look to be relics from the 1930s posed in front of some sleek new airplane, in this case the superb DH Comet, that pioneering jet transport. What were they thinking?
Ok, if we are playing the Tarmac-Side Clue game, Paul (and I am quite sure the rest of the aviation geeks here) already knew the de Havilland Comet.
In the air: Lockheed Constellation
On the Tarmac to the right: I’m going to guess Douglass DC-7
The car I never would’ve guessed. To me an MG is a little roadster. 😉
Rick – It is a DC-6 or a DC-4; ’52 was pre-DC-7.
Quick way to tell: DC-7 – always 4 bladed props. DC-6 always 3 bladed props and rectangular windows. DC-4 always 3 bladed props and round windows.
On the windows topic once I saw a USAF C-118, but it looked odd. Something not right.
It turned out to be a C-54 with the round windows having been squared off visually with black paint.
Fooled me until I got close.
I figured with your screen name that you’d chime in. Thanks for the tip!
I thought about it after I posted, that it was more likely a DC-6, year of the picture notwithstanding, Occam’s Razor states that the DC-6 was more likely, as Douglas built more of them. (704 vs 338 according to Wikipedia)
I initially ruled out the DC-4 when I zoomed in, it appears that the No. 2 engine has an intake on the top of the nacelle cowl. Well, zooming in on a DC-4 shows an intake too, it just looks smaller.
The Connie goes without saying, but I’ll bet with that screen name, you can probably pin it down to exactly which L-XX49 variant. 😉
Rick – Engines are different on all three. P&W R-2000 on DC-4. P&W R- 2800 on DC-6 and Wright R-3350 on DC-7. So different nacelles on each. Connie also used the 3350.
And Dave, below – I’ve seen photos of airliner DC-4s with those squared up painted on windows. Why not make your old C-54 look like a new (and pressurized) DC-6?
Rectangular windows were the Achilles heal of the Comet. Fatigue of aluminum was not fully understood at that time and the stress riser of the corner, albeit radiused, was too much. The pressurization required for high altitude flying made for extreme stress cycles and they started to come apart in the air.
That was the cause, though officially it was cut outs for antennae not the actual windows. Same law of physics and metallurgy though
thank you
There was a very good article on the Comet in Aviation Week 40 years ago and now you have prompted a memory. The thing was that these airframes had only received very few cycles of stress before catastrophically failing, so they were not very far down the Miner’s curve. The fix required stresses to be much lower everywhere to get closer to millions of cycles of stress and much farther to the right of the Miner’s curve. The windows had to get re-done.
“I say, let’s look out the starboard side, so we don’t have to see the Comet’s rectangular windows. Good job the chaps at the Morris Garage knew to put a good radius on our corners.”
For some reason this reminds me of the Ford Aerostar ads comparing the shape of the van’s front end to the Space Shuttle … until January 28, 1986, then these Aerostar ads were gone forever.
I wonder if this MG ad lasted much after the Comet, which entered service in 1952, lost three aircraft in the first 12 months of operation.
The rendering of the MG is odd in that it looks to have great leg room in the rear but not so much in the front. Where were Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman when they were so badly needed here?
Suddenly it’s 1939? Looking back to the glory days of the Empire before the war?
As a kid I could never understand why British cars always seemed to look so old-fashioned. It wasn’t just MG. What I didn’t realize was how badly Britain had suffered during the war, and the difficulties of trying to rebuild the economy while implementing some fairly massive social changes. They never taught us this in school, this was the sort of thing you had to find out for yourself. We had a lot of British migrants to Australia post-war, but those that had lived there usually didn’t want to talk about it, and who could blame them?
So the MG? Sedans would have been a very low priority, while they were flat out building all the TCs and TDs they could get materials for, for us lucky export customers who had escaped the ravages of war. By 1952 you’d think that could have had a more modern design than this, but Gerald Palmer’s beautiful ZA was waiting in the wings. Much more fitting to display in this setting.
Peter’s explanation is good. I always wondered why the British cars were so frumpy. We have to give the Brits credit for getting back on the road, so to speak.
Given that the couple in the back seat are sitting over the rear axle, they must have incredibly short torsos. Contrasted with the couple in front, who are sitting so far forward that they must have incredibly short legs.
A bit of pop culture trivia involving the Comet: Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, founder of the de Havilland Aircraft Company, was first cousin to Academy Award winning actresses (and sisters) Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine.
And Olivia de Havilland and her sister Joan lived in California as kids, and they attended Los Gatos High School near where Paul Niedermeyer lived in the years Before Curbside Classic.
So it comes full circle, dman!
Those wheels certainly fill out the wheelwells, don’t they? Reality, or artistic license?
As far as the car looking dated compared to the aircraft, yes, they might instead have shown it next to a Sopwith Snipe biplane or something similar.
Here’s the reality. It is only a 1250cc sedan, after all.
Lovely photo. Style was not-so-much old fashioned as traditional. Many high-end cars were styled this way (RR included) and many buyers preferred it this way as it was easier to tell the front from the back. This sort of long hood/short tail styling made a comeback with the Mustang and Capri in the 60s.
Out of date, my cart axle rear end! The Y Type is one of the Immortals.
The French did it a little bit better I guess……..
Thing is the British cars were old fashioned even before the war. Compare with French, Italian, and German cars in the later 1930s.
I feel the dislike for this MG Saloon but I think it looks just fine .
Cool comments and history on the air craft .
-Nate
It’s the more things change… the more they remain the same. For a country always looking back whilst going forward, it makes complete sense!