Saturn: The First and the Last

(Apologies to the late Generalleutnant Adolf Galland for cribbing the title of his autobiography for the title of this post.)

General Motors was not in the best of shape when Roger Smith became Chairman and CEO in 1981.  When he retired in 1990, the corporation was in worse shape, in part due to Smith's many unfortunate decisions.  This is not to say that Smith's ideas were totally bizarre; in a number of cases he was simply going along with conventional management wisdom at the time.  One such item was to rely heavily on high-technology solutions.  Another was to adopt Japanese production practices.  A major consequence was the launching of what proved to be an entirely unnecessary new make of car, the Saturn.

The Wikipedia entry on Saturn is here and the entry on the first Saturn production model is here.  The publicized concept was that the Saturn was to be a hi-tech Japanese car-beater, but by the time Saturns reached showroom floors in Fall 1990, there was little in the way of hi-tech to be found.  The most radical feature was the use of fiberglass body panels attached to a metal cage.  The selling point was that those panels could easily be repaired or replaced.  Another selling point was that Saturns had a fixed sales price, this to eliminate buyers haggling with dealers, a sore point for most car buyers.  I never considered buying a Saturn, though I test-drove one of the early ones once, so I'm not sure how trade-in prices were handled.  Unless some fixed amount for each potential trade-in was set, the result would be that Saturn dealers could bargain on the trade-in value.  Readers who traded a car in when buying a Saturn are urged to tell how that was done in Comments.

Saturn sales were never as strong as expected, and eventually new models based on German Opels were introduced.  Before the brand was killed in 2010, Saturns had become re-badged versions of other General Motors cars; whatever uniqueness the brand had possessed was gone.

1992 Saturn S sedan

2007-10 Saturn Outlook crossover SUV
Shown above are the initial and final versions of the Saturn. From a small Japan-fighter the marque evolved to include large crossover SUVs sharing bodies with the GMC Acadia.

Flaminio Bertoni of Citroën: Not a Bertone

Automobile styling buffs are probably familiar with the name Bertone, an Italian styling and coachbuilding firm.  But many styling fans might not know about Flaminio Bertoni (1903-1964) -- spelled with an "i" at the end, not an "e."  This "other Bertone" was an Italian who spent most of his career in France as head stylist for Citroën.  A useful biographical sketch is here and a link to a Bertoni museum website is here.

Bertoni was a sculptor as well as a car stylist, which might not have been a bad thing in theory.  In the days before computer assisted design, stylists usually sketched themes.  And those sketches were often exaggerated to the point that the intended effect was lost when a model of it conforming to dimensions of a usable car was built. This problem was largely eliminated when stylist relied on sculpting in the first place.  On the other hand, the sculpting approach has been criticized because actual cars are more like semi-hollow shells with windows rather than being solid lumps.  So sculpting also can present a distorted version of an actual car.

Bertoni was responsible for the design of Citroën's major models from the 1930s until the early 1960s, the time of his comparatively early death.  Here are those cars:

Gallery

Traction Avant (from 1934)
The Traction Avant (front wheel drive) was radical in its day.  Thanks to its drive train, the passenger compartment could be set lower to the ground and its center of gravity lowered to improve roadability.  Other front wheel drive cars existed in the mid-1930s, but Citroën's version was the only one to attain high production volumes (for Europe in those days).

Prototype 2CV (c.1939)
Mass-production versions of the iconic Citroën 2CV (two "steam horsepower") had two headlamps and were otherwise tidied-up versions of the extremely basic prototype shown here. Although Bertoni gets the credit for "styling" the 2CV, it was so minimal and intended to be cheap to build, that engineer André Lefèbvre (1894-1964) might instead be considered the designer.

DS 19 - 1956
The DS was a sensation when it was first displayed at the Paris auto show in the fall of 1955.  This was largely due to engineering features, though its unusual styling also attracted much attention.  That styling was far removed from anything the Italians, Germans and Americans were doing at the time -- or since.

Ami 6 - 1961
The Ami was Bertoni's final Citroën design.  A distinctive feature was its reverse-slope back window, an element that had been used earlier by other brands, including Mercury.
I find it a little difficult to evaluate Bertoni's designs because they were so far from mainstream thinking in Europe as well as America, and because they mostly were tied to unusual engineering solutions.

Let's just say that Bertoni was creative.

But what about the aesthetics?  Did his designs look good?

I happen to like the Traction Avant styling best.  To be sure, it was of its early 1930s time, yet it was racier looking than much of its mass-production competition.

As noted above, the 2CV was largely an engineering-based design, so its appearance wins points for functionality even though it's pretty ugly.

The DS is harder for me to pin down.  I can appreciate it intellectually, but was never fond of the styling.  The defects are related to what stylists call the "greenhouse," the windows-and-roof area.  To me, it always seemed too spindly, insubstantial -- that due to the thin door posts.  At a more general level, this wispy upper area contrasted too greatly with the rather thick, heavy lower body, thereby destroying unity of the whole.  The brake lights at the rear of the roof also struck me as being too contrived a solution to a fairly minor potential problem.

And the Ami?  I think it is an ugly mess.

1996 Ford Taurus Wagon: by Salvador Dali?

A comparatively easy way to increase fuel efficiency in the wake of the gasoline shortages on the 1970s was to improve the streamlining of cars.  Ford was one of the first American manufacturers to do this in the early-to-mid 1980s, the best-known example being the Taurus line.  These early wind tunnel tested Fords tended to have windows featuring large-radius corners.  This was something in the spirit of 1936 vintage models from General Motors, Chrysler and others introducing all-steel bodies in those days when metal stamping technology could not easily accommodate tight surface curves.

But when the aerodynamic Fords appeared, stamping technology didn't force large-radius window corners; stylists apparently chose strong rounding as a means of emphasizing the curved design theme derived from the wind tunnel testing.  At the time, I felt that all that curving wasn't really necessary and resulted in designs that seemed excessively soft looking; more crisp styling elements in the details would have been better.  And of course others came to the same conclusion, so today's aerodynamically efficient cars include many crisp elements along with the curves.

So why, when it came time for a complete 1996 redesign on the Taurus, did Jack Telnack and his crew decide to emphasize curves even more than they did for the original Taurus design?  I have no idea, other than they might have decided to zig while the rest of the industry zagged.  Or perhaps corporate management interfered.

In any case, while the Taurus design had some nice features (I like the subtle sculpting around the front of the hood and fenders), other parts of the car are simply odd -- especially the windows at or near the rear along with the instrument panel.

In fact, I now entertain the amusing thought that surrealist artist Salvador Dalí of drooping watches fame could have been on the Taurus styling team had he lived long enough.  This is especially true for the station wagon model, the subject of this post.

Gallery

Here is a general view of the 1996 Taurus station wagon showing the subtle front end styling and hinting at the window curves towards the rear.

This appears to be a factory photo showing the rear of the wagon.  It was taken from close to the ground, a view few people normally have of the car.

I found this image on the Internet.  The car is painted white, eliminating distracting highlights and allowing us a good view of the large, rounded, droopy looking window shapes around the rear.  The rear passenger door looks to be the same as that for the sedan, a cost-saving detail (no special door tooling for the station wagon version).  The problem, as I see it, is that the rear area window treatment is not integrated with the rest of the design.  In particular, the upper edge of the rear side windows fails to link to the upper edge curves of the other side windows, giving the window a tacked-on appearance.

This is the Taurus instrument panel where curves further abound.  To me, the problem area is the cluster in the oval at the center, just forward of the shifter lever.  Control buttons are strewn across it in a somewhat organic pattern, not in well organized (from an ergonomics standpoint) groupings.

Brussels' Autoworld Museum

One large European automobile museum that's not far off the beaten path (as many are) is Autoworld in Brussels, Belgium.  Its Web site is here.  It is located in the Parc du Cinquantenaire (Jubelpark) that's a longish walk or a fairly short subway ride from the Gare Centrale (Centraal Station).

It has plenty of cars, the Web site claiming more than 250.  I found some interesting ones, but few showstoppers.  That is, a few Belgian Minervas were on view as were some Hispano-Suizas, but no Duesenbergs, Bugatti Royals and their ilk.

I had my trusty camera on hand and took plenty of photos that I might include in future posts.  For now, I'll just set the scene.
Gallery

This is what a visitor sees shortly after entering. Most of the cars are clustered on the main floor, but there's also a mezzanine with more cars and some motorcycles.

Looking down on the main floor from the opposite end of the hall.

Another view, this from a stairway.  Below is a display featuring Panhards form France.  Let's take a closer look at the one at the left.

It is a 1937 Panhard et Lavassor Dynamic, featuring an early form of wraparound windshield plus a centrally-mounted steering wheel. I encountered one in Florida a while ago and included a photo in this post over at the Art Contrarian blog.  Note that the Panhard is not resting on its tires.  Instead, it sits on supports, two of which are visible below the bumper.  Cars in the museum are supported this way, eliminating the need to keep tires fully inflated.  But it does give the cars an odd stance with the tires and wheels not quite relating to fenders and wheel well openings as they would when seen on the street.  Also note that this Panhard has not been restored to factory-fresh condition.  Many of the cars on view are in a similar state.

Also on view is this 1937 Cord 812.  It is in good condition, but the metallic gray paint job is almost certainly not original.  Looks nice, however.

General Motors' Chopped-Off 1978s

One consequence of the 1973 "Yom Kippur" Arab-Israeli war was a gasoline shortage in the United States that in turn led to downsizing of many American cars a few years later.  Given the three or four years it took from start of planning to appearance in showrooms, General Motors' most visible reaction didn't appear until the fall of 1977, when 1978 models based on a new, redesigned A-platform were introduced.

I don't think it would be fair of me to criticize the styling of the new models because the mid-1970s were difficult times for Detroit's engineering and styling staffs, though I couldn't quite resist the temptation, as you will see below.  Some of the difficulties have to do with the car market, because buyers shifted to smaller, usually imported cars with better fuel consumption than the large, traditional American automobiles that dominated the market when the gasoline crisis hit.  Most of the difficulties were related to government regulations related to engine emissions, passenger safety and crash worthiness, the latter having to do with stronger bumpers being mandated.

One way to improve fuel economy is weight reduction.  At the time when the new '78s were conceived (1974 or thereabouts), production models tended to be long, with plenty of rear overhang.  So the 1978 redesign had the wheelbase reduced about 8 inches (20 cm) and overall length shortened as much as 17 inches (35 cm) for Buick models.  Most of these reductions were applied to the rear of the cars, creating what seemed at the time to be a stubby or 'bob-tailed" look.

Gallery

1978 Chevrolet Malibu
The 1970s were a time when Mercedes-Benz styling was influential in Detroit, so the new A-platform cars and many others had a crisp appearance based on what was called the "three box" configuration (the general shape resembling two boxes placed end-to-end with a box centered on top). In any case, GM's styling supremo Bill Mitchell had a preference for sharply creased edges and transitions, so the new designs must have met his approval.

1978 Pontiac LeMans
This is a four-door version by Pontiac. Note the attempt at a "flowing" fender line with a rear apex at the C-pillar, this to distinguish Pontiacs from other makes sharing the platform.

1978 Buick Century Custom

1980 Buick Century
Two-door and four-door A-platform Buicks are shown here.  Rear side window glass on the 2-door models did not roll down, a source of customer dissatisfaction and probably lost sales.  Unlike A-platform Chevrolets and Pontiacs, the Buick and Oldsmobile versions were given "fastback" rather than "notchback" or "bustleback" styling.  Although the styling effort might have been well-intended, the result emphasized the fact that the cars' rears had been chopped off compared to previous models.

1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Aeroback
This is the Oldsmobile version.