Text by Patrick Bell.
The fin fad and the post WWII economic boom grew in parallel from the late 1940’s until the late 1950’s when they also crashed about the same time. An economic recession hit in 1958, and the next year marked the height (pun intended) of the fin craze. Today we have a great gallery of some of the common fin styles, the ones you would see nearly every day.
We open at the Circle S Motel in an unknown location. We are viewing a parking area which was next to the swimming pool.
In the parking area was an all General Motors line up of fins beginning on the left with a 1958 Buick Special sedan, 1958 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door sedan, 1954 Oldsmobile Super 88 2 door sedan, 1957 Pontiac Star Chief 4 door sedan, and on the end a 1956 Pontiac 860 2 door sedan.
And a gentleman with a 1952 Cadillac Series Sixty-Two Coupe de Ville on a steep residential street. This was Cadillac’s Golden Anniversary year, and a new item on the option list was Power Steering. Cadillac was a fin pioneer in the automotive world.
San Francisco would be a logical guess for location, but I am sure there are other cities with hills.
It looked like a dry winter day when this 1955 Buick Special 2 door Riviera hardtop was cleaned up and posing with its windows down. This was by far Buick’s most popular model for the year, and it held that title for the next two years. Its fins were very conservative.
The car shown had some aftermarket additions; the wheel covers, and dual exhaust system and tailpipe extensions.
Here was another typical motel of the period shown in the late spring or early summer. The parking area shown was full with a GM/Chrysler Corporation product blend.
From the right was a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe St. Regis hardtop with possibly a New Jersey license plate. Facing out was a 1957 DeSoto FireSweep 2 door Sportsman hardtop. The next two were a 1950 Oldsmobile Futuramic 88 4 door sedan, and a 1949 or 1950 Chevrolet Fleetline De Luxe 4 door sedan.
A sun tanned man was on his way somewhere with a camera in the parking lot of a roadside pull off. A body of water was to the right, and a billboard in the distance was advertising a restaurant and other amenities.
Green and yellow seemed to be the colors of the hour at this scene with the first one in the foreground a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Town Sedan. Next were two Plymouths; a green 1957 Belvedere 4 door sedan facing out, and a yellow 1954 possibly a Belvedere Sport Coupe. And in the background was a green 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Town Sedan.
Ford was one of the most conservative in the fin department. If you wanted a finny Ford product, you had to step up to another division.
A couple of young men were stashing some soda pop bottles in a case, likely to be redeemed when they got home. Their car appeared to be the grey 1957 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88 2 door sedan, the entry level Oldsmobile. Its license plate was not showing well enough to read. To the left was a 1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan with possibly a Wisconsin license plate. More conservative fins.
A lone V8 powered 1957 Plymouth Belvedere 4 door sedan was taking advantage of a photo opportunity in the melting snow. The backdrop was a short rock wall and a mountain range.
The new “Flight-Sweep Styling” gave the fins a little boost in size in this, the second round of the Forward Look.
The 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe is one of America’s favorite example’s of the fin era, and here was a decked out example from California. From what we can see in this vintage image it was a V8 model with two tone paint, and had a left side outside mirror, tinted glass, dual rear mounted antennas, deck lid lower moldings, bumper guards, and backup lamps. It had a 1960 renewal tab on the license plate, and a Colliau Chevrolet frame, a South Pasadena dealer from 1945-1986.
Parked to the right, and mostly obscured by the mailbox, were two examples of where the fin craze began. They were both 1948 or 1949 Cadillacs, a 2 door Club Coupe (fastback) in the foreground, and the other was a 4 door Touring Sedan.
We are now in a nice residential neighborhood probably somewhere in California. The mountains were close by and it looked like a rain shower had just passed through.
At the curb was a 1957 Chrysler New Yorker Sedan that was showing its version of the new “Flight-Sweep Styling”. It was at least six years old, had a missing right taillight lens, and a California license plate. In the driveway was a 1963 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe.
A 1960 Buick LeSabre 4 door hardtop was taking a rest on a rural highway. This is a good view of Buick’s canted fins they used for two years. They echoed the canted look on the front end and fenders. The 1960 reskin was a softened version of the 1959 models, which had canted headlights as well.
The process date on this slide was 1967, so this car could have been up to seven years old in the photo. There was clothing hanging in the back seat, so they were traveling or perhaps going to a special occasion.
This is the Des Moines (Iowa) Municipal (now International) Airport, with the Des Moines Flying Service in the left background. That company is still there and is still the Piper dealer.
By 1961 fins were out of style and gone from many cars, which is about the time of this image. In the foreground was a 1960 Chevrolet Impala 4 door sedan with the “batwing” style fins. To the left was a 1960 Dodge Dart Seneca 4 door sedan with fairly conservative fins. Further back was a dark colored 1961 Plymouth Fury 4 door hardtop with no fins, contrasting with the 1960 Fury on the very end where you can see the fins and taillights sticking out to the left. On the right was a 1960-1962 Ford Falcon 4 door sedan which was born finless, and a 1957 or 1958 Plymouth Suburban wagon with the fins hidden from sight.
This was the Elk Rexall Drug Store and Western Museum on Main Street in Tucumcari, New Mexico, with an old buggy on the roof and various cattle brands painted on the building. All of this old downtown area has greatly changed and is no longer recognizable.
Parked out front were a 1960 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 or Super 88 Holiday SportSedan on the left, and to the right a 1964 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door. The 88’s fins had been flattened out, with a hint sticking out to the side. It also had at least one white wall snow tire on the rear.
Let’s jump over to the Netherlands for a quick view of this 1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix 4 door hardtop with a twisted rear bumper. This was a different view of the comparatively muted fins for 1960.
I would guess the gas pump was privately owned, and used by whatever company occupied the building. I do not recognize the taxi van to the left, but in front of it was a Volkswagen T1.
The backdrop here was a boat yard of some sort, in a warm looking climate. The car was a 1960 Chrysler Windsor 4 door sedan with a full load. It was their entry level and most popular model that year.
Chrysler and Imperial were some of the last ones to accept that fins had gone out of style.
Here were a pair, a 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Club Victoria showing it’s new reskin and conservative fin style. This was the first year of the Galaxie nameplate, and it appeared to have some rust on the rocker panel.
Across the street was the newly redesigned 1961 Chevrolet Impala convertible with no fins. It was a cleaner style after many years of excess that kept on growing.
A well dressed gentleman was posing with a 1960 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday SportSedan with a lake in the background. It looked close to new and had a Massachusetts license plate.
Although a hint of sideways fins remained, in this case the flat deck lid complimented the flat top.
The snow was about gone, so it was time to fire up those old cars in the backyard and get them road ready. The two visible license plates were Utah issue that were used from 1968-1972, so these were just old cars at that point. And this person was definitely a GM fan.
The white wagon was a 6 cylinder powered 1958 Chevrolet Yeoman 4 door with perhaps some rust repair on the lower edges. On the other side of it was a 1958 Buick Special 4 door sedan. This view shows its “tail towers”, Buickese for tail fins. The green truck was a V8 powered 1955-1957 GMC “Blue Chip” pickup with a cabover camper. The blue car was a 1970 Chevrolet Kingswood wagon, and back in the shadows looked like a 1973-1980 Chevrolet Blazer or GMC Jimmy.
Thanks for joining us and have a great day!
OK, I’m biased, but the 57-58 Studebaker Golden Hawk too me was the epitome of tasteful but extravagant finned wonders of the 50s!
100%
Fantastic photos as always.. Is there a photo missing between the white ’60 Chrysler & the white ’60 Oldsmobile?
I was just about to post on the missing photo!
Indeed, a picture wasn’t showing up. The image has been updated.
Rich–I caught a detail on the blue/white `55 Buick Special…….it has factory AC! Rather unusual I think for a base model coupe if you ask me! Just wanted to toss that in!
Good catch, Will!
Thanks!
I have never seen that rear trim on the 57 Chevy anywhere else or seen it as a reproduction trim kit offered. Was that a BelAir option or a JC Whitney item?
That trim on the ’57 Chevy was a factory or dealer installed option. I was in third grade when they were new and always liked them. I started noticing that trim on a few Bel Aires in the early ’60’s and started looking for it on cars I encountered. I actually owned a ’57 in the 1980s that my uncle gave me when he quit driving. I rode in it a lot when I was a kid. It was a 150.
Looks like the opening image was at a place called the Western Hills Motor Hotel in Colorado Springs. The “Circle S Motel” sign in the background actually belonged to a motel that’s two properties down. Western Hills was built in 1954 on the site of an older motor court motel.
Both properties are still in motel use now. The Western Hills name is long gone – it had been an EconoLodge for quite a while and a Rodeway Inn, and now it’s called the Nevada Inn. Below is a then-and-now comparison – as close a match as I can find to the vintage shot, but we can see that the building architecture matches (though the pass-through has been filled in), as well as the angle parking and the pool location.
Address is 1623 S. Nevada Ave. in Colorado Springs. Google StreetView link here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ttCngCiTkgUpP7xb9
Love em.
“FinTastic”.
The gas pump in the Netherlands looks to be a not uncommon sight back then in Europe’s older cities. These were public gas pumps, as there wasn’t really any space to build new gas stations. Plus not that many people in inner cities had cars. Looks like there was a garage/service station inside the open door.
The unknown taxi van in the Netherlands is a German Ford FK 1000/1250 (later called Ford Taunus Transit).
The Dodge is parked in front of the building at the Korenbrugstraat 14, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (or simply Den Bosch).
Another Dodge picture and the current situation right here:
https://rijksmonumenten.nl/monument/21684/de-drie-kronen/den-bosch/
Looks like a Caltex pump?
Caltex was a joint venture between Texaco and Standard Oil of California (Chevron) that still operates in some countries. They used the Texaco star in their branding.
It is. Here’s a classic Caltex gas station, situated in the south of the Netherlands (built in 1953).
I’ve seen the chrome trim there on just the bottom of the trunk lid, but not the whole wrap around between the tailfins.
From 1959/1960 onwards, both the Plymouth Valiant and the Dodge Dart were assembled in the Netherlands (in the former Kaiser Frazer plant in Rotterdam, taken over by Chrysler in the late fifties).
Maybe the chrome trim difference is a local twist?
You beat me to it. I was guessing a Mercedes-Hanomag, at first, judging by the taillights which look identical from here. The main visual difference being the Hanomag’s ventlation louvers at the E or rear-most roof pillar of which the Ford evidently never had
My second car was a 1960 Oldsmobile 98, in white and with the flat top, just like in the photos above. My uncle told me when I acquired it (in about 1978) that 1960 was “the year fins got tired and laid down.” Well stated and I’m amazed I still remember it.
The scene in Holland looks unrecognizable today. The building is still there.
It was a warehouse for centuries, so the coin-operated pump made sense.
Korenbrugstraat 11, Den Bosch, NL
Ha, perfect! Number 14, says the link I posted above. But the Greek restaurant (now closed) was at 16…
Thank you both for finding that location! And I’m impressed that the De Drie Kronen plaque is still on the building!
That ’59 Galaxie is a dead-ringer for my Dad’s. I so remember the drive home from Ray McKay Ford in Indianapolis sitting behind my Dad and brother with the partially removed protective plastic flapping in the wind from the open windows. Dad was as happy and giddy than I’d ever seen. I spent thousands of miles in that backseat traveling all over the east coast on family vacations. It was a great car and he traded in 1967 for a beautiful Bonneville -but that’s another story.
All I see is a bunch of Blurs sitting down. It seems, the Netherlands now even has privacy laws of this kind
Isn’t that just an image from a Google streetview car that drove by? When looking up a location or road, I only see blurred faces. From the postman, for example, sitting on his bike. And who always rings twice.
When I read a newspaper here, the only Blurs photographed are all criminals. Photos of honest people aren’t granted this privilege, for some odd reason. I was therefore contemplating on visiting a cosmetic surgeon for having my face surgically blured. That way, I can keep my personal privacy, when walking past public surveillance cameras. If i ever end up in prison, I would then simply look like all the others there, fully integrating into my new environment
Your favorite rock band must be Blur.
Either that or Altered Images.
Sunbeam Alpine! My favorite fin-mobile!
The cars of Fin-land.
Wonderful images, every one and THANK YOU to those who are able to chase down the locations and current images .
I know I am very lucky to have grown up back then =8-) .
-Nate
That photo of the Oldsmobile in front of the lake……I think I was in the Army with that guy in the photo. Looks like John Mercurio. And he was from Mass.
Joe Crea