Ep. 1 The Tailfin Wars of the Late 1950’s
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ค. 2024
- A classic car connaisseur is going to tell you the story of why American cars in the fifties looked like rocketships!
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Enjoy! - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
This has to be one of my favorite eras of car design
Cars in the 50s: Tailfin wars
Cars today: GIANT GRILLE WARS
oh yes, rediculous. Audi started it accidently when the lower grill 'mirrored' the main grille. They then eliminated the bumper and - tadaa, single frame grille. BMW was last but now they put that giant nose holes on it. And its even more rediculous when they put those grilles on their electric cars as the grille is the only element to make the car identifyable as an audi or bmw or whatever. I'm curius where that's going.
Don’t forget fake air intakes.
@@michaelheinrich44 ... and the grille is actually without much of a function in an electric car. As if a shape couldn't speak for itself without such oversized attachments.
@@uncinarynin Even on today's ICE-powered cars, the front grille is mostly for decoration. Modern cars take in cooling air for the radiator under the front bumper. It makes for both more efficient cooling and better aerodynamics.
BMW
I'll never understand how we went from these gorgeous works of art to today's bland & boring modern jalopies
Aerodynamics.
And safety regulations
Yeah! Back when cars have style and individuality. Back when style over functionality is given more importance. Now though, today are just a bunch of jellybean generic SUVs, and the trend of huge grilles. I don't get why BMW have to exaggerate their kidney grille.
@@jannadrielcervo7753 then don't buy a new car.
@@smouthiful1 Yep, which is why I still have my W123.
What I hate about new cars is how tall they are. Old cars may have been massive and heavy but even the biggest were low and sleek.
You don't have a bad back, because if you did, you will hate how low old cars were
They are tall but still have no ground clearance
Cars became low and sleek in the mid fifties, partly because men stopped wearing hats (yes there were other reasons too such as lower center of gravity but that was one reason) in the 1940s, cars were taller so men could drive them while wearing their hats. Most passenger cars are still pretty low profile. It’s mostly SUVs, trucks and vans that are tall now. So yes old cars of a certain era are low and sleek but the really old cars were tall.
Now that you brought up today's cars height compared to lower riding models from the late fifties onward I think car design from the mid 2010s through today's with that high-riding profile is reminiscent of cars from the early fifties and the forties.
@@nickrustyson8124 I had a 1994 Honda delSol for 19 years that car was almost as low as a go cart and I never got a bad back!.
Cars today are about as exciting as appliances! Can’t wait to see the new washers and dryers! Wow look at that 2001 fridge!
That’s because for most people, they are simply appliances.
Virgil exner created in my eyes the most beautiful cars of all time, and kickstarted a bunch of other manufacturers to look awesome. Hats off to my man Virgil!
The early 60s Mopars were horrendous especially after the revolutionary forward look models. His love of styling excess didn't translate well to clean uncluttered design
Unfortunately, Virgil Exner's most beautiful cars never saw production. Those were the Ghia-bodied concept cars made by Chrysler in the 1950s and early '60s.
I absolutely love "The Fins" The Eldorado being so wickedly outrageous and a work of art to my personal favourite, The 1958 Plymouth Fury! \m/
The 58 Ford will always hold a soft spot in my heart. It’s not the prettiest car in the world but my dad’s had one my entire life and I love it
A friend who drove us to church on Sundays had the Skyliner version, a retractable hard top that folded up into the truck. As a kid I begged him to make it go up and down every time I rode in that car. :)
The '57 Ford was prettier than the '58. We had a '57 Country Sedan wagon, Coral Sand and Colonial White. Ford never tried to follow Chrysler or GM with huge tailfins. They were subtle and very tasteful, IMHO. Mercury, Edsel and Lincoln were more over-the-top but even they didn't have protruding tail fins.
@@frdjr2527 I like the 57, but I really don’t like the headlights. They’re too “bug-eyed” 🤣
@@TheyMakeItLikeThat State laws changed in '58, hence the industrywide switch to dual headlights.
@@TheyMakeItLikeThat I've always felt that way too. I wish Ford had retained the front end of the '56, like they wisely did on the '57 T-Bird.
Just found you in 2021. Love the late 50s fin styling war, so much about the triumph of form over function. The era of rockets, jet aircraft, space exploration, glamorous Hollywood actresses (& actors of course), Rock n roll and the expression of American consumer confidence written in steel & chrome.
In 2015, I visited the world's largest 50s American classic car collection (Cuba!) and was a kid in a candy store! Highlight was a tour of Havana in a 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible. Wonderful!
I personally don't like tailfins at all. They clutter up what would otherwise be perfectly good designs all the time. We're allowed our opinions though and I'm glad to hear you made it to that automotive time-capsule known as Cuba. I'd personally be trying to find the strangest cobbled-together American cars and pristine Soviet cars I could find.
Those huge fins were not so great if you lived where winters were cold with snow and ice and salt was used on roads to melt it. All that salty slush got thrown up into the fins as you drove and the fins were rusted out come springtime. I remember a neighbor dad so proud of his 1957 Plymouth, and so disappointed when the fins rusted through that he had them repaired and repainted come summer.. Every year. Of course, they didn't have rustproofing on offer in those days.
Wow, that must’ve been incredible. I’d love to go to Cuba and see all those beautiful cars. Definitely the pinnacle of car design. There will never be another 1950s
Caddy to this day has skinny tall taillights as a "homage" to their tail fins.
Ahhh, love those "Tailfins." My very first car was a 59' Chev,
Impala. I later referred to it as my, "Flash Gordonmobile."
I first became acquanted with 'Fins' at a very young age.
My Dad was a used car salesman. It was the 59' Plymouth
Velvedre that first grabbed my attention---My dream car.
Some things you just never forget.
It is crazy how you put so much effort into your videos but almost nobody subscribes.
Ikr
@Dakota Brezinka Don’t listen to this bot
@Wilson Pablo Or this one
His videos are cool
Strange comment, considering there are 11,700 subscribers, which is hardly "almost nobody".
Yes, I enjoyed this very much.
Liked your humor, facts, texts and also artistic license at times.
Liked all of it.
The 57 chevy is an iconic tail finned car.
Agreed. When I think of tail finned cars the 1957 Chevy Bel Aire is it.
The car with the best fins is the 61-63 Thunderbird. The fins just FLOW with the car and are part of the car length trim. It looks amazing when seen as a total piece. They're small but not gone and not obscenely oversized either. Just perfect.
I can’t believe you left out the ‘57 Chevy Bel Air. An even more recognizable tail fin than the ‘58 Caddy.
Yeah I noticed that slight,myself. In fact, the whole 1959 Chevy lineup had fins( of a sort),tho while the 57 looked classy and sporty,the 59 ,well,didn't.
Ditto, how could the 57 be not remarked upon, and the 58 & 9 Desotos, Firedome & Firesweep also pre-dated the Cadillac bullet shaped tail lamps!
I agree!! 57 Bel Air is my all time favorite car.
This is where I started before I finished binge-watching every single video you have. Time for lap 2
But let’s be real, tail fin cars are easily the most beautiful cars ever made, unfortunately basically any car with tail fins has extremely gone up in value
No
@@carlosandleon yes
@@DerPinguim No
Sucks when one of them is your favorite car i'm never gonna afford it:[
*some* tail fin cars look great, some are gaudy. IMO the Art Deco era produced the most beautiful cars ever.
I was born in ‘61, so cars with fins were the first cars I can remember seeing when I first knew what a car was. ☺️
You are so lucky. I wish I was born in the early 40s so I could be able to drive those beautiful tail fin cars of the 50s and experience the 50s in general
@@chriscar1527
What was interesting about the ‘60’s as a kid was the very wide variety of car styles on the road. At one point, you had the big finned cars out of the ‘50’s/early ‘60’s, along with the more squared up and “sane” designs of the mid and later ‘60’s.
My Dad was born in ‘33 and he could pick out those ‘30’s and ‘40’s cars with no problem. I struggle with that era as a lot of them look alike to me. ☺️
He and my Mom were married in 1959. Believe it or not, he went to the wedding in a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. Those you NEVER see on the road anymore! That’s another one of those I got to see on a regular basis when I was a kid.
Cars today aren’t bad……certainly a LOT more reliable. I kinda wished they changed the styles a little more often, but cash being an issue today than years ago, I can understand where they don’t have the funds to do that now.
@@plastiksurgeon9129 Yeah, you could tell between the cars and when they were made, along with cars these days. Car manufacturers are putting more effort into their designs, Hyundai for example. Car design from here on out won’t ever be the same as the 50s, but at least that era will be known as one of the most interesting eras for car design.
Even boats had fins in the late 50's, perhaps travel trailers, outdoor grills, furniture & shopping carts too.
Shopping carts 😂
Can you believe that even aeroplanes had tailfins back then too.... amazing.
Ed, you have a fantastic sense of humor. Thank you.
I drive a 'finny' just about everyday. Reversing is a dream, visibility is excellent, and the car just looks awesome. Chrome + fins = happytimes (its a 1960 Holden btw)
Ed, Great video , the first design cycle that Exner was over at Chrysler was 55-56s. There were smaller tail fins and even gun site tail lights on the first official Imperial. The sales campaign called 55-56's the 100 million dollar look. Your knowledge of the US auto market makes me think you have lived in the US for a while. Keep up the great work. Lance
Great video Ed! Love the commentary. Keep up the good work.
Great! But what about the 1957 Chevy?
This was a brilliant video dude honestly it’s really informative and the way you explain things keeps them interesting
One of the features my dad liked best about his 1959 Dodge Mayfair was the huge tail fins because he could store two fishing rods in a fin. Handy for when you were driving along and one of those fishing emergencies arose.
A few of my favorite cars to drive in Forza: The '59 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, the '57 Plymouth Fury, and the '57 Chevy Bel-Air. 1950s cars are by far the most beautiful.
Just found this channel, going to binge watch the lot it is so brilliant!
Same here!
"Don't even get me started on Jeeps." I'd love to hear you do a history on the Jeep brand. Great videos!
Can't believe you didn't include pictures of the '60 Chrysler. Those fins were almost as big as the '59 Cadillac.
I always thought the 1960 Imperial tailfins looked bigger than the 1959 Cadillacs fins.
I stumbled on this by accident - it's great. Informative and delightfully silly.
You missed out the '59 Impala, a totally different kind of tail fin. Oh... And my dream car...!
"don't make this mistake agian"
Dang calm down. One little mixup like that is not going to kill anybody...yeesh
@@zachstudios567 -- Don't take things so seriously -- it's a joke.
Anyway, the 59 Chevy was more than fins or wings, with what we called "Cat Eye" tail lights at the time, that seemed to state right at ya.
@@ibamINV Either way, I consider the '59 Impala to be the most beautiful mass production car ever built... :-)
It was rumored that if you drove a '59 Chevy fast enough, the rear end would lift off the ground. Hydroplaning on a dry pavement! The wings were less radical on the '60 Chevy and gone completely by '61.
Can’t talk about this era without the ‘57 and ‘59 Chevies!
Your videos are excellent. I enjoy them so much. Keep up the good work. Thank you for posting.
You forgot about the ultimate classic 1957 Lincoln Premiere Convertible! Truly a beautiful car with the huge tail fins and chrome exterior. Celebrities like Elvis even owned the car. It definitely won the tail fin wars!
They don't seem to be any taller than those of a 57 Chrysler. Also, as far as Tallest, I would go with the 59 caddy, and 60 Plymouth.
Interesting and very comprehensive video! Looking forward to see more!
Let me start by saying I rarely if ever comment on sites like this. (car stuff) But I just found your channel today and I must say I absofreakinlutely love it !!! In my opinion you missed / bypassed one of the better Chevy's, the first car I fell in love with, The 57 Belaire model.
Just being picky I know. I'm sure it was a time restraint issue. But seriously this is the first channel that's hit me with so much Humor,Trivia, "Knowledge" Humor, Delivery, Accent, Graphics, and Humor !!! "GREAT JOB BRUH"
Brilliant content!!! Please keep it coming, this level of quality is bound to pay off sometime soon :-)
So much awesomeness - outstanding video!
ColdWarMotors channel is restoring a 1960 Plymouth Fury on almost no budget, amazing craftsmanship!
Ed, you are the man! This was very good and I really enjoyed it. There is so much more to this story but as you said..just a quick history on this video. Thanks!
Hi Ed, Some clarification about US headlights. In the 1920s and '30s manufacturers designed headlights in a variety of shapes. Rectangles, circles, teardrop etc. The lights used separate replaceable bulbs until 1940 when the federal government required new, round, 7 inch diameter "sealed--beam" headlights. If the light failed, the whole assembly was replaced. This was mainly due to the fact that the older, non-sealed lights often let water in which dimmed the reflector or shorted the bulb. Before the postwar multi-lane freeway, the two lane main roads were quite dangerous because the lights weren't very good and had to be dipped whenever an opposite lane car approached. in the mid '50s car designers wanted to go to a dual lamp sealed beam system consisting of two 5 3/4 inch units for a variety of reasons. The smaller bulbs gave them a lot more design flexibility. But these had to be approved by each state government, not the federal government. Most states approved this change in 1956 for the 1957 model year. But not all, so some manufacturers, especially Chrysler, made both the single 7 inch and dual 5 3/4 versions available. A single lamp 1957 Chrysler or Imperial is a pretty strange looking beast.
Brilliant little episodes, well funny, interesting and full of facts. Job done Ed.
I just discovered your channel! You’re funny, informative and entertaining. Great knowledge of cars!
I love the tailfin era as much for the beautiful colors as for the styling. I'm buying a new 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee this week, and I'm so disappointed with the colors offered that I've settled for white. Contrast that with the 1959 De Soto, which was available from Chrysler Corporation in any of 26 different solid colors and 190 different two-tone combos!
How the hell this video only has 1k views
The trunk spoiler wars of the 1980's that is still going on today (although it seemed to peak in the 90s). When mom's minivan had a rear spoiler, you know the fight was real.
Look at the 1954 Ford La Tosca and '54 Ford FX Atmos concepts. They were the first to take tailfin design to the extremes with sharp angles.
When I was growing up in the late 60s and 70s all my uncles, brothers, and brother-in-laws, all of whom are older than me by at least ten years, were huge fans of the chrome/fin cars of the 50s, they all had at least one and they all dreamed of having more. While I appreciate the aesthetic, then and now, I wasn't much of a fan. At one point in the 70s there must have been twelve or fourteen various late 50s cars rusting away on our property. I remember the shock and disapproval that rocked my family to its core the day I got my drivers license and announced I wanted a Datsun 240Z, my family literally held an intervention. It was such a shock to my family, in fact, they hardly noticed when I "came out" gay the following year, as though it was expected from anyone who would deliberately choose to be seen driving a Japanese sports car. God, I love my hillbilly family!
Got episode 5 randomly recommended on my home page, just subscribed and starting from the beginning. Great quality videos, and I'm sure your channel is about to blow up!
Thanks, Ed for the educational. I was waiting to see what you would say about the Chev Biscayne tail fins. ))
Even the conservative company Mercedes-Benz produced two model lines with tailfins between 1959 and 1968. Officially the tailfins were considered to help identify the car's corner when parking. Some of these were pretty durable and could still be found as taxis into the 1980s (I think there is still one in Berlin, or was until recently, operated by a nostalgic taxi company).
Enjoying the series! It would be nice to see an episode about my favorite, the "sports car"!
Ever since the malayse videos, I've been hooked on this channel. I had to come back and watch the rest of the videos in the series. Hopefully your channel gets bigger.
I always liked the big tail fins, one of my all time favorite cars was the Plymouth Fury from 1959, we had one when I was a kid.
That’s amazing! I would love to have one of those one day.
Well done!
Thrilled to find your channel. I'm exhausted so going to watch till the wee hours in Ga USA
Awesome info! Thanks!
This is a great video dude!! Can't wait to see the next videos
Love your videos! Great work. Would like to see videos about the Ford Falcon, Ford Fox Body Platform, the Chrysler K-Car and Lee Iacocca.
I love tailfins, are so aestetic !!!
Love the video!
Man what I love the wing age of the late 50's to early 60's.
The love started for me as a little kid living in my late 1980's with discovering Cadilacs 59'ers, especally the 1959 Cadillac Mille-Meteor that was used in the 1984 movie Ghostbusters and its 1986 cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters. After that I found all other manufacturers who did the same and that is why my favorite cars are from the late 50's and the 60's.
Sure Ford is my favorite brand and the 1960 Thunderbird my 1# car but Cadillac, Dodge, Chevrolet etc all made some beautiful cars at that era.
I found 2 -1958 Chevy Bel Air (projects) for sale in 2017. I watched them for 6 months until the prices came down. I bought them both for $3k and frame off restored one of them in my garage in about 18 months. I love the chrome and the look of the 58 Chevy (especially being a one year only design) so much it motivated me to restore one. I dont drive it much ( no real need to) but it sure is fun to look at parked in the garage. I take it out when traffic dies down some or if theres a cruise event. It was as fun yet exhausting project. $21k invested total and many many hours of time and its near mint with a few odds and ends to finish up. I assembled and installed a fresh from the machine shop '68 396 BBC w/ 700R4 trans. and am doing the interior myself (learning as I go). Learning to repair dented stainless and polish it was part of the "thrill". One piece at at time. restoring a car isnt for the faint of heart as I learned real quick. It was the 2nd car I ever painted. Two Tone added many hours to the job but is what makes the cars of that era so cool
Oh and for the best tailfins that managed to be both crazy and beautiful at the same time, my favourite has always been the '60 and '61 Chrysler New Yorkers. Especially on a 2-door hardtop station wagon (-:
These are fantastic.
Yes, the fins should come back in a safe design way! 🇺🇸
I would love to see them make a great return too!
but then you shift in reverse and you can impale a man lickity-split
The '59 Caddy was cool.
Funny and informative. Thanks.
My father owned a 1944 Ford ex-staff car in Germany around 1958. Car production did not completely stop in 1942.
The fins on my '57 Chev are great for parking. I also remember my Grandma saying that when she owned it.
The space age fin cars of the late fifties we're true works of art! Never to be seen again.
Great vid! 🎉
Love these videos !
Fascinating!!!
Cadillacs still have tiny tail fins
I'm 68, and was a bit too young to be interested in car design at the time. But, my still living mother (94) has told me stories about dear-old-dad buying and installing aftermarket fins on an older, pre-fins car. Uggghhh, my dad a wonderful man, but was not a car guy.
New Subsciber..
My Dad was FISHER BODY/BOC Designer 1955 to 1986, he worked with Harley Earl..(Y-JOB, 1959 ELDORADO)
I wish there was a new tailfin war
So do I, but it looks like we’re having a big grill war right now
Just love those 50s car......better then today.
fantastic documentary
Good video, thank you. We were living in the age of Buck Rodgers and every car had to resemble a personal rocket ship that propelled us to 60 mph in 9 seconds or so and used a gallon of gas to do it. Now we're paying for it.
I owned a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker. Had a bubble speedometer, cruise control and a 413 cu in engine. The truck was big enough for two bodies - um, so I heard.
Excellent! New subscriber, great series.
Here in the UK we had the Triumph Herald / Vitesse, with subtle tail fins which sort of worked.
Cadillac was a bit more of a hold-out than you credit them for - while less pronounced than their predecessors, the late-1960s Cadillac tailfins were a thing of beauty. Check out a 1967/1968 deVille (Sedan or Coupe - take your pick)... Not only did the full-height chromed taillights resemble jet engines but the forward-swept front end with over-under headlights was aggressive as heck! While the 340-375hp of Cadillac's standard V-8s might appear tame, their insane 480-550 pounds of torque was enough muscle to give Mustangs and Corvettes a run for their money!
Every year from mid 1950s to early 60s, it was cool cause every model year was different. So cool.
I didn't realize the Japanese used a nuclear bomb on pearl harbor. Thanks for setting history straight!
My dream car for years has been that 59 caddy, especially the convertible model.
I commented this on another video but I do want to see this styling coming back. Especially the tail fins.
very interesting, thank you
A neighbor owned a 1960 Cadillac Sedan deVille. One day, he told a clerk at the hardware store to put his order in the big Cadillac.
A friend commented that his Cadillac was no longer "big."
When he got home, he told his wife to grab her purse and the checkbook. They were buying a new car.
He brought home a 1968 Coupe deVille the next day.
While the 68 deVille was nice, I liked the fins on the 60 deVille.
It doesn't matter how critical he is of this video it's alot better then what I can dream of even making love it
I remember the first time I rode in my uncle's 1959 Cadillac wow I mean that thing was huge it was heavy but man it was it was nice how big it was incredible the trunk everything
Amazing Caddy still holds on to their fins, just now it's all tall led tail lights hidded within the cars body.
My father bought a 1960 Plymouth similar to the one at 9:34, and my mother hated it because she was always spotting the immense fins in her peripheral vision, and would fear they were another car that was way too close. When we moved in May 1961 the Plymouth was sold and left behind, so we only had it for a matter of months.
The 59 Cadillac still rock today!
My great grandpa had a 59 Cadillac fleetwood and it is now in the shop so hopefully soon it will run again
Actually, wood-bodied station wagons date to before the war. Plenty of those prewar "woodie" wagons were still around in the postwar years and could be bought cheaply, which made them popular with the surfing crowd. Take out the back seat, knock out the rear window, and you had room to slide in a couple of surfboards.
The 1955-56 Chryslers had subtle, tasteful fins and are still beautiful cars today. The so-called Forward Look actually began with the 1957 models. Ironically, the "Forward Look" was all about emphasizing the back end of the car!
I like the cars from the 1940s-1950s. But my most favorite 1950s car is the Space Age concepts. My so called "dream" car is a 1950s concept car that I have to build.