Car tailfin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The tailfin was first introduced on the 1948 Cadillac
The tailfin at its apex on the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado
Another view of the 1959 Cadillac tailfin
Peilstege) on a Mercedes-Benz W110
sedan
A finned British Vauxhall Cresta PA

The tailfin era of

automobile styling encompassed the 1950s and 1960s, peaking between 1955 and 1961. It was a style that spread worldwide, as car designers picked up styling trends from the US automobile industry, where it was regarded as the "golden age" of American auto design and American exceptionalism.[1]

Forward Look, which subsequently resulted in manufacturers scrambling to install larger and larger tailfins onto new models. As jet-powered aircraft, rockets, and space flight gained public recognition through the Space Race
, the automotive tailfin assemblies (including tail lights) were designed to resemble more and more the tailfin and engine sections of contemporary jet fighters and space rockets.

Peilstege
, sight lines that ostensibly aided in backing up.

Background

Automobile engineer

Tatra T77
production car or Fiat Padovan prototype.

Some sub-models of the 1937 Cadillac Fleetwood, which predates the P-38, also contained hints of tailfins via projecting tail-light "paddles", although it is unclear if this influenced later fin designs.[6] The 1941 Cadillac Series 63 4-Door Sedan also had a form of jutting tail-lights, although milder than the 1937 Fleetwood. Even though the 1948 model was the first conscious effort at fins, the earlier partial occurrences may have made the concept more acceptable to consumers and designers. (World War II produced a gap of Cadillac model production between the early 1940s and late 1940s as factories turned to military goods production, interrupting the development of the fin concept.)

Tailfin era

The Cadillac 1948 fin styling proved popular, and its use spread to other models in the General Motors family of brands. Soon it was adopted by other manufacturers, with top

Chrysler stylist Virgil Exner
in particular taking the tailfin look on board. As confidence grew in the styling trend, the fins grew larger and bolder.

The most extreme tailfins appeared in the late 1950s, such as on the 1959

Cadillac Deville
.

Peilstege, sight lines that aid backing up. In 1997, Lancia introduced the Lancia Kappa Coupé
with similar rear "sight line" augmentation.

Safety issues

The 1959 Dodge Coronet shows the fin as a separate assembly added to the tail
Latent tailfin on the compact Lancia Kappa Coupé
Cadillac tailfins had started to turn downward already by 1965, here seen vestigially a quarter century later on a 1990s Cadillac Brougham d'Elegance
2013 Hindustan Ambassador. Since the Ambassador's exterior design remained virtually unchanged for nearly sixty years, the tailfins were retained for the duration of its production
Nissan Cedric Special
Toyota Crown
Facel Vega HK 500 coupé

Tailfins have been criticized as a safety concern, even as a parked vehicle. In Kahn v. Chrysler (1963), a seven-year-old child on a bicycle collided with a fin and sustained a head injury. A case of the same era, Hatch v. Ford (1958), is also prominent in the study of personal injury from parked vehicles. In both of these cases, children were injured by sharp protrusions on parked cars.[7] The plaintiffs lost in both cases. In "Kahn", the court found that Chrysler was not responsible for anticipating "all the possible ways in which a person may injure himself by falling against an automobile."[8] In "Hatch", the plaintiff attempted to rely on a law governing the size and protrusion of radiator caps and grills, which the court said did not apply to tailfins.[9]

Legacy

Examples of tailfin styling:

Subtle reintroduction into car styling

In 1999 Cadillac launched the Cadillac Evoq concept to lead the marque's new design language, known as Art and Science. Recent Cadillacs have continued the tradition of the brand's signature vertical taillamp tailfins. Cadillac's designers call the current Cadillacs's styling evocative of tailfins. In 2010, the Cadillac SRX styling incorporated the trademark vertical taillights sculpted into tiny tailfins projecting from the rear. This was also done with the Cadillac XTS, which launched in 2012, and with many other models in later years.

The 2000-2005 Buick LeSabre's rear styling included subtle delta fins as a homage to the early LeSabres.

In 2009 Trabant introduced the Nt concept with distinct tail fins projecting from the rear similar to the earlier models made the Trabant company.

The Chrysler 300 from 2011 to the present has subtle, but noticeable tailfins.

Though not officially mentioned by the manufacturer, reviews from the media compared the sharp angles of the fourth generation Toyota Prius tail-lights similar to tailfins. This is better seen when the tail-lights are lit.[10]

See also

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tailfin.
  1. ^ pbs.org
  2. ^ Gantz, Carroll. "Hershey, Franklin (Frank) Q." industrialdesignhistory.
  3. ISBN 9780062289070
    .
  4. ^ "Cadillac history 1948". Archived from the original on 2001-06-22.
  5. ^ Allpar.com
  6. ^ "Cadillac history 1948". Archived from the original on 2001-06-22.
  7. ^ Jain, S. Lochlann "'Dangerous Instrumentality': The Bystander as Subject in Automobility". Cultural Anthropology 19:1 (February 2004): pp. 61–94.
  8. ^ "Kahn v. Chrysler Corporation, 221 F. Supp. 677 (S.D. Tex. 1963)".
  9. ^ "FindLaw's California Court of Appeal case and opinions".
  10. ^ "Tailfins, edge and dictionaries: What people are saying about Toyota's redesigned Prius". 9 September 2015.
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