Today’s gallery pays homage to that very 1950s automotive fixation: the fins. Do they need an introduction? Probably not. It’s, after all, one item forever associated with mid-century American car styling, clearly derived from the then recently dawned Jet Age. Flamboyant and eye-grabbing, the fad came and went as if passing by in rocket boosters. But like a long-lasting jet plume, their memory just lingers on.
The technically inclined can claim that beyond the extroverted styling, there wasn’t much truly rocket age about the cars themselves. And they would be right. But in hindsight, such an affectation seems almost inevitable. With love for aeronautics being an influence on the automotive world since its early days, plane themes were bound to reach the mainstream at some point. And they truly did so in the 1950s.
So this gallery focuses on shots with fins. Not always the best images, but all with at least some fins starring. From the demure to the flamboyant, some with ‘rockets’, some oddly shaped; this short gallery should speak to fans of the Space Age.
The images date from the 1950s to the early 1960s, though all included fins are (mostly) 1950s vintage. Finally, the ’59 Caddy in Hawaii is making a repeat appearance, but doesn’t it just deserve to be featured here?
The shot of the ’57 DeSoto at the presumed ski-lodge looks post-card-worthy.
The photo with the Cadillac, Mercedes, and ?Ford wagon? makes me kind of sad. Mercedes made such a well-engineered and built car. I wish they hadn’t felt compelled to follow the fin trend.
Mercedes-Benz claimed their Heckflosse (tail-fins), introduced in 1959, weren’t following the fin trend but were peilstege (parking aids or sight-lines (literally “bearing bars”)), the construct being peil-, from peilen (take a bearing; find the direction) + Steg (bar) which marked the extent of the bodywork, this to assist while reversing. Not all were convinced.
Makes more sense than Chrysler’s claim that the fins were aerodynamic stabilizers!
1958 Plymouth Belvedere and 1971 Porsche 917K. Chrysler probably was right in that the fins on things like the Belvedere, above a certain speed, would have exerted some aerodynamic effect, hopefully enhancing straight-line stability. Whether the Chryslers could have achieved the required speed and whether that effect would have been good or bad would have required testing. Porsche actually discovered the dubious aerodynamic properties of the early 917s manifested only above 180 mph when the cars took to the race-tracks; their test track permitted runs up to only 180 mph.
When Chrysler developed the modifications for the Daytona and Superbird they used a wind-tunnel and had the expertise available because the corporation’s missile division was being shuttered as a consequence of negotiations between the US & USSR to limit the build-up of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) and the projected Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) systems. The first fruits of this were the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaties (SALT I & II).
Have to disagree with you regarding the Mercedes fins, I think it is a fine looking car, and that front end with the European domed headlights defined the classic Mercedes look that has not been bettered.
As a European, I find the lurid 2 tone colour schemes the worst, though I do like instances where the roof is a different colour to the body.
The early 50s fins give a nice definition to the rear end, and those 57 Chrysler/Desoto look fantastic
The pic of the baby blue `59 Fury cvt, looks as if this might be a ‘yet unsold’ inventory unit at a dealer somewhere. It’s so clean, no rear plate, and no wheelcovers on it. I don’t see a window sticker, which it should have been the first year for those on new cars. It looks pretty enough to drive home & show the wife!
That 59 Plymouth caught my eye as well. Surprisingly, per the sales brochure, this appears to be a Belvedere convertible. There was a Sport Fury convertible that had a medallion trim piece on the fin. No Fury convertible, but instead a mid-line Belvedere rounding out the available drop tops.
In any case, a sharp car, particularly with the blue roof!
It’s a beauty for sure!
Speaking of fin cars, I just found this YouTube video, “Classic Cars of Leave It To Beaver”. It is remarkable for two reasons:
–All of the cars were correctly and exactly identified, with no mistakes (which is rare).
–The narration by Tony Dow (Beaver’s older brother in the show) is absolutely perfect and sounds just like the youthful character from the ’50s/early ’60s. But is it really Tony Dow? He died two years ago. So was the voice A.I. generated? If so, the implications are staggering:
“Ward” got a new “mopar” every season, after the first two. During those seasons, the “Cleavers had a “57 Ford”.
Although, I do recall it being a “dark color” in one show, a light color in two others.
I was going to comment that the DeSoto was the newest car in the photo. Then the background focus improved enough to show the ‘67 Chevy.
Without delving into the merits of either car, their stying really seems years apart. The Chevy may have aged better, but I can understand how panicked GM stylists must have been when they 1st saw the ‘57 Chrysler products.
The Leave It to Beaver video missed the scene where Wally and Beaver walked past an Edsel station wagon during the credits……a rare sight in its day and now.
“Doc (and Mrs) Stone had an “Edsel” wagon in a season or two of the “Donna Reed” show.
(a woodie)
The Oldsmobiles side by side perfectly show how one of the most beautiful Olds ever, was destroyed by 1958.
And that same photo shows that the 1958 Olds was a heavy facelift of the 1957, when GM redesigned the Olds as well as the Buick and Cadillac. It’s often assumed that the entire GM large car lineup was all-new in ’58, when in reality only Chevy and Pontiac were.
Both cars shown are 4-door hardtops, and it’s easy to see that the roof, side windows, belt line, trunk lid and even the central portion of the rear bumper are identical, or very nearly so. Notice also the telltale “step up” of the base of the windshield compared to the belt line.
The first photo features one of my favorite Caddy’s, a ’57 Fleetwood sedan. The last photo of the ’55 ElDorado is also nice. These were always rare, but there was a brown one like this, parked near Lake Merritt in Oakland in the early ’70’s. I used to jog around the lake almost every day back then. Now the sight of me jogging would be more rare than the Eldo!
What is the beige coupe at the World Famous Porpoise Show? Pontiac?
Yes, it’s a Pontiac, a ’54 I believe.
Looking at the ’57 Olds next to the ’58 Olds makes me yearn for the days when each model year was distinct and waiting to see what Detroit had done next was an exciting time indeed!
I love the posts on Curbside Classics . Love the posts from Florida, and The west, visited Florida a lot in the past, and lived out West for a long time. Been a car guy since I could remember, 60 years or so. Keep it going!!!
Your video sent me down the “Leave it to Beaver” rabbit hole, where I learned that a 14-year-old Harry Shearer (!) appeared in the pilot episode playing Frankie Bennett, the prototype for Eddie Haskell. Also, Max Showalter of all people was the original Ward Cleaver! The voice-over sure sounds like Tony Dow, and if it’s not then I’m even more frightened of this brave new world.
Oooooh, the 59 Plymouth convertible. I loved my 59 Fury sedan, but a convertible like the one in the photo would have made my life at age 20 perfect and complete. 🙂
What a great and fascinating idea, this .
-Nate
I stand nearly alone on this — but I thought the finned Mopars were uniformly hideous — I hated them when they came out. That 1954 Pontiac was a nice-looking car, as was the ’53 — neither one dowdy and frumpy like the ’53 Chevy! As for tge ’57 DeSoto and ’57 Chevy in the same photograph: the Chevy is clean and tasteful; whereas, the DeSotos is ugly.. Yes, the ’57 Chevrolet had “fins”, but they were nicely integrated into the design, not excessive and gouche.. 1953 was a nice-looking year for most makes of American cars — the rounded-down rears selecting pre-war designs were largely gone, and excesses had yet to launch and overtake the marketplace. Hudson, lacking funds to do much about their 1948 “step-down design, suffered largely unflattering modification of their essential 1948 look, which was sad. They were a wonderful car, in their time. I remember my excitement over thec1942 Hudson, for example. LOVE these photos of automobiles from back when cars were NORMAL, and I was younger than I am now.