Tail fin frenzy found Cadillac receiving 'stamp' of approval

Published: July 30, 2010

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As we move quickly to the year 2011, automobile design is void of what once was a big design item - the tail fin. Today's cars, not surprisingly, are very sleek and aerodynamic, which is a far cry from those memorable cars of 1948 through 1960, where bulk, big fenders and lots of chrome were highlighted by some of the biggest tail fins in the history of automotive design.

The car industry tail fin design era began in 1941, when General Motors chief designer Harley Earl caught a glimpse of several World War II Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters at an American Air Force base.

Due to restrictions on civilian automotive production during the war years, Earl's "aircraft-inspired" car design had to wait until 1948, when a Cadillac rolled off the assembly line with small, ducktail like, rear fins. Although minute in comparison to what was to come, the '48 through '56 Cadillacs all utilized the same Harley Earl stylish appendage and evolved into a statement of elegance along the way.

What followed, however, was unlike any period in auto design history. Cadillac, always correct in its aesthetic statements, found its fin blueprint slowly being copied by competing designers. By 1956, a blatant and at times grotesque "fin frenzy" commenced.

Chrysler Corporation started the slugfest, fitting its Dodge, Chrysler, DeSoto and Plymouth lines with fins that overpowered every car in sight. The public, tired of "bathtub" styles and in a post-war buying mood, responded by gobbling them up and fueling the era. Although several of the lines, most notably the '57 Dodge and '58 Chrysler 300D, were inspiring, the culmination of bad taste came when the 1960 Plymouth Fury rolled off the line. Ugg!

Every other manufacturer participated in "fin wars," although makes like Chevrolet and Pontiac took a minor plunge. Matter of fact, '57 was the only year the duo toyed with straight-up fins. In '58, Chevy introduced its twin and triple taillights via a sideways fin, with even more fin emphasis (and a single tail lamp) in '59. Chevy toned down the fins in 1960, re-introduced the dual and triple taillights and, come '61, emerged totally finless. As for Pontiac, there were no fins in '58, and small ones in '59.

Buick, meanwhile, was pretty classy with fins in '58, then over-expressed itself in '59 with huge angled fins that created much design chatter. Toned down in 1960, Buick's fin experiment was history the next year while Oldsmobile fell somewhere in the middle of the fin wars, playing a bit with fins in the late Fifties and then pulling back.

Ford receives credit for the best small fins of all, especially on the '57 Fords and Thunderbirds. The '57 Ford style fin lasted until 1963, when the mid-sized Fairline still sported them in fine fashion. Mercury opted for "twin-fins" on some of its cars, and seemed a bit mixed up at times as to proper "finology" adaptation, as did the short lived Edsel. As for the largest fins in the Ford family, Lincoln gets the nod for its numerous "biggies" along he way.

Still, it's the '59 Cadillac that received the official "stamp of approval," best representing fin integrity and originality. Cadillac's '59 car was singled out by the postal service in both 1995 and 2008 with official USPS stamps. (See attached photo of 2008 stamp.)

I have to agree with the selection of a 1959 Cadillac by the USPS as a special breed (I have a red 1/24 Franklin Mint model of the very vehicle).

In summary, the "fin frenzy" era designers simply danced to the drumbeats of a car-loving consumer with cash in hand. Good or bad, the fin war era was a great time in automotive design.

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(Greg Zyla writes a syndicated weekly auto column and welcomes reader input. Write him at 116 Main St., Towanda, PA 18848 or e-mail him at extramile_2000@yahoo.com.)

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