1954 Studebaker Champion Custom 4-door Sedan

"Studebaker . . . the new American car that is setting the style for the world."

We're really fascinated by the front ornamentation of this 6-cylinder powered Studebaker Champion from Havana: the highly stylized "S" (as in "Studebaker") represents exactly one half of the equally stylized "8" that adorned the V-8 powered Commander models. That's graphic design at its clever best!

The Champion Custom was the most frugal version of all Studebaker sedans, and somehow, its lack of chrome trim even emphasized the clean, European look that the "Loewy-styled" Studebakers were so much admired for upon their introduction in 1953. Studebaker's General Manager Harold Vance wanted the sedans to look like the coupe ever since he'd seen the first drawings. But that wasn't an easy task since the sedans were planned to have a 4-inch shorter wheelbase and were higher than their coupe counterparts. Robert E. Bourke, responsible chief designer at Loewy's Studebaker studio couldn't do miracles, and at the end of the day, although looking quite similar in front view, the sedans were no match to the sleek beauty of the "Loewy-Coupes". Still, they looked clean and modern beside other contemporary designs.

Around 1953, when the toolings of the facelift for 1954 were finalized, Studebaker was already running tight on money and had started negotiations to join forces with Packhard. Hence, the 1954 facelift resulted in minimal changes: added vertical chrome bars in the front grille and a new hood ornamentation had to be enough "news" to please the customers. Worse than that, over the next years, the same body should become re-, re-, re-, re-, and re-cycled because Studebaker simply had no money left for the development of a new, modern platform.

1959 Rambler Custom 4-door Sedan

"Rambler is first in sales gains because it gives buyers what they want – big car room, easy handling, top economy plus Personalized Comfort: Sectional sofa front seats for driver and passenger glide back and forth individually so each has the legroom he likes. See and try reclining seats, adjustable safety headrests, low cost All-Season Air Conditioning, every pushbutton convenience. Switch to the success sensation – the smart new Rambler for 1959."

In June 1959, the "Wall Street Journal" reported that American Motors had seized the third place in nationwide new-car sales. The "independent" company which had merely served a limited market segment with its Rambler, suddenly was a big player in the automotive industry. What had happened?

Well, overall sales numbers for 1959 corrected the picture slightly, as Rambler just scored 4th in the yearly statistics, closely trailing Plymouth. Yet, it was a more than decent result, if you consider that Rambler hadn't anything really new to sell in 1959. Since AMC President George W. Romney set off to his personal crusade against Detroit's "gas-guzzling dinosaurs" and strictly focused on "compact" cars, the lineup merely consisted of the "compact" Rambler and the just revived, even more compact Rambler American.

AMC's chief designer Ed Anderson and his team had facelifted the Rambler for 1958 with the obligatory "must have" details like quad headlights and high-rising tailfins. Compared to its predecessor and compared to Detroit's typical designs of the late 50s, the "new" Rambler looked pretty modern. Hence, for 1959, just a few details got changed. Still, the sales nearly doubled, because customers, pounded by a sharp economic recession, now desired compact and thrifty cars. Rambler and Studebaker could capitalize on the fact that the "Big Three" had completely missed the boat and couldn't really compete in this exploding market until their own compact cars were ready to hit the road in the early 60s.

1950 Pontiac Streamliner DeLuxe 4-Door Sedan

"The open road is a bright and wonderful invitation when you're behind the wheel of a new Pontiac – a beauty, a superb performer and a great value!"

This Pontiac Streamliner taxi in front of the busy train station of Moron, home of "El Trompo", is quite a looker. We were immediately intrigued by the complete set of original chrome trim* which nicely contrasts with the car's natural patina. Even the "Silver-Streak" plates at the front fenders are still in their place, quite unusual for a more than sixty year-old workhorse on Cuban roads.

Disappointment, however, when the conversation with the owner came to the inevitable question of "Original motor?": "No, amigo", was the answer, "it's a new Nissan Diesel." The vintage Pontiac, like so many others, needs to run daily to gain money as a collective taxi. And as sad as it might be: when economy and reliability have highest priority, then there's no place for sentiments about the authenticity of a car and its parts.

1950 was the last year Pontiac offered the beautiful Streamliner fastback sedan. This bodystyle became swiftly popular in the 40s as one of the various styling trends that were introduced by Harley Earl and GM Design to leapfrog the rest of the industry. Its most beautiful and refined revision appeared with the fastback version of GM's all-new A-Body for 1949 which was shared between Chevrolet, Pontiac and Oldsmobile. As usual, Chevrolets and Pontiacs were technically quite similar, the latter merely sporting abundant chrome trim and an optional eight cylinder engine to justify the higher price tag.

Already in 1951, however, the torpedos, as they are being called in Cuba, should disappear from the catalog pages. Only Chevrolet should keep on offering them through 1952, while all other GM divisions, and their customers, embraced another new automotive fashion out of Harley Earls GM Design Studios which rapidly gained a longer-lasting popularity: the "hardtop convertible".

* Remark: attentive readers will spot the taillight cones that resemble the ones of a 1962 Imperial. We don't know how they found their way to the Pontiac, but this certainly would make for an interesting story.

1955 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria

"This proud new beauty's 'crown of chrome' and low silhouette will set the styling keynote for cars to come. In addition, there are new two-tone combinations and carefully placed exterior trim that distinguish all the models in the Ford Fairlane series for 1955. Here, indeed, is the style-setter of the 'hard-tops'."

Design development at America's leading car manufacturers couldn't be more divergent in the 50s: while the autocratic Harley Earl presided over the decision-making process at the General Motors design department, design decisions at Ford were made by committee, involving different departments early in the development process. Thus, many new design ideas were already filtered by "naysayers" upon their maturation, and new Fords, albeit generally looking nice and dandy, rarely became immediate styling leaders. The 1955 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria was the exception to the rule. Perhaps many had to look twice when they first saw a brand-new Crown Victoria. With it's "chopped" low roof and "frenched" headlights, it looked almost like a Hot Rod straight out of the factory. This wasn't your average Ford anymore, but a complete departure from the carefully conservative look that Ford was known for.

If you were a Ford customer and in the game for a two-door hardtop, you could choose between two coupes with pretty different characters: the pillarless Fairlane Victoria hardtop and the Fairlane Crown Victoria. The former shared its roof with the Ford Sedans and thus stood quite tall at 60.1 inches overall height, while the latter sported the beautiful "bright metal roof transverse molding", as Ford's advertisers called it, and an incredibly low looking roof, that was three inches longer and a full inch lower than on the Victoria. The metal-bar roof treatment and the new chrome trim, starting at the headlights and sweeping down the flanks of the car, made for a truly elegant look. It's not a surprise that the Crown Victoria today is considered being one of the milestones of 50s car styling.

To make this fresh look possible at moderate cost, studio chief Frank Hershey and his team delved deep into the corporate parts bin. The Crown Victoria shared it's roof stamping with the Mercury Montclair coupe. To match the lower roofline, Ford's designers mounted the windshield of the Fairlane Sunliner convertible, which was shorter than the sedan's "standard" windscreen. You could order an optional transparent "sky-view" roof ahead of the metal bar to make the result of this "patchwork" look even more stunning. This tinted plexiglass roof was really innovative, but in a time when air condition was a rare and expensive extra, perhaps only enjoyable in northern states. The rest of the Crown Victoria: body, engines, transmission and even the suspension were standard Ford stuff.

Rather than selling in large numbers, the Crown Victoria fulfilled it's purpose by drawing many a prospective buyer into Ford's showrooms who finally drove away with a more modest version of Ford's 1955 lineup.