CC In Scale: The Rise And Fall Of The Tailfin

The fifties were a decade of amazing change in automobile styling. At the start of the decade, you had rounded shapes, sometimes with fastbacks, and more often than not with separate rear fenders. Those rear fenders grew higher, flatter, and you ultimately got the flat-sided ‘shoebox’ shape (which Ford had since 1949). Then body surfaces grew flatter, body lines sharpened up, and rear fenders grew fins. Not the little rounded tail bumps seen on earlier Cadillacs, but sharper upward bulges often involving the entire fender line.

Opinions are divided on whether these had any practical benefit, but they were a transitory fad that had largely flamed out by 1960. Let’s take a look at a selection of fifties cars to trace the rise (and ultimate fall) of the fin. I’ll throw in a few general design comments along the way. If I seem to concentrate mostly on Ford and Chevy, that’s not by choice, just because there are more of them; the only fifties Mopar kits are the Moebius ’55 and ’56 Chryslers and AMT’s ’58 Plymouth.

1950 Ford

Futuristic. Smooth body sides proved very forward-looking, and as well as the lateral bulge for the oval taillight, there is a slightly sharp peak line at the rear fender top where other cars were more rounded – an interesting choice. I can only guess how radical this design must have seemed in 1949.

1951 Chevrolet

Classical GM. A much more rounded shape, still with the beltline raised above the fender tops and protuberant rear fenders which were raised and lengthened for 1951 and gained this accent strip along the top. A much more gradual approach, not the sharp break from 1948 that the Ford represented.

1953 Chevrolet

A much squarer shape here, though the beltline is still above the fender tops. GM seemed to cling onto the high hood and beltline look longer than most. Rear fenders are now suggested by bulges on the doors, while the taillights are large and vertical, accenting the added height of the rear deck.

1953 Ford

Ford meanwhile added chrome-accented bulges to hint at fenders, and mounted round taillights at the fender tops. Not so much a step forward in styling as a restatement of earlier themes, with the fender accent imparting a feeling of forward motion.

1953 Studebaker

Just to upset the applecart, Studebaker debuts another radical design. Take that, Harley Earl! Aside from the low proportions not as evident on the sedans, you have smooth body sides with a concave accent instead of convex, and on the doors not the rear quarters. But here we have vertical taillights with a sharp chrome accent along the fender top, and the slope of the rear deck almost gives something of a proto-fin effect. There’s a lot of other interesting stuff going on here, but I’m focusing on the rear.

1955 Chrysler 300

A curious blend of old and new. The generally rounded body shape is typical mid-fifties. The fender bulges arising from mid-body height and transitioning to fins are an interesting blend of past and future, while the vertical taillights and ornate surrounds from the Imperial point to the future. The following year would see more obvious fins develop from these.

1955 Chevrolet

GM’s most popular moves were to smooth body sides and a lower beltline. Triangular taillight shape kind of hints at fins, though the fender top is still pretty flat and rounded. This would change.

1956 Chevrolet

Largely the same rear fenders, with more of a finned look being achieved by a larger and reshaped taillight assembly, cut more into the fender and accented by the curve of the side trim on Bel Air and Two Ten models.

1956 Ford

Meanwhile over at Ford the 1952-4 body had been reworked with smooth sides, sharp fender tops, and triangular reversing lights atop the round taillights, with some interesting prescient creases on the fender sides. Crown Victorias added chrome highlights along the fender tops, sharpening the suggestion of fins.

1957 Chrysler

How the master did it. Beautifully integrated into the overall shape, a natural subtle outgrowth from the overall shape…

1957 Chevrolet

A sharper rear fender line with large chrome accents, and tiny little taillights which I always thought looked kind of lost way down there, not really where you would expect lights to be. Also note these fins had quite a rearward cant to them, not so much reaching upward as backward. Once again, the downward curve of the side trim makes the fin look taller.

1957 Ford

Ford went to a much more sculptured look for 1957. The fins seem a natural progression from the earlier design, but with larger lights and sharper fender tops. Beautifully integrated. Side trim on Fairlane 500s swept up, drawing the eye to the outward-canted fender top.

1958 Plymouth

New for 1957, this Plymouth shows smooth body sides with a pronounced hump beginning behind the door handles and transitioning dramatically to a definite fin on the rear quarters. Large intricately-detailed taillight surrounds accentuate the shape, aided on Belvederes and Furies by the upward slash of the side trim.

But elsewhere, things were getting weird.

1958 Thunderbird

Ford went to even more complex pressings for the Thunderbird, with small angled fins atop a straight fender line.

1958 Chevrolet

In a move away from a distinct fin, Chevrolet adopted something of a hunchbacked look, with a rounded upper fender bulge overhanging the lower body, which kind of resolved diagonally on the rear. Curious, but it sold.

1958 Edsel

A thoroughly contrary design, leading nowhere.

1958 Cadillac

Meanwhile the instigator of this whole tailfin thing was distinctly, definitely, defiantly going vertical. I’ve always thought this 1958 Eldorado Biarritz would look quite nice without the fins (ducks for cover…), as they seem like sharp blades stuck in the fenders of an otherwise rounded car. You could say they give tension to the design, or you could view them as incongruous. The regular non-Biarritz models carried them better.

1959 Cadillac

What, you think the ’58 had fins? Look at these! Pretty much a caricature, and iconic these days because of it.

1959 Chevrolet

Forget going up, let’s go sideways! Or, taking that 1958 theme way past its natural conclusion.

1959 Ford

Meanwhile, Ford went to a tubular upper fender design (like the ’58 Chevy) but terminated it with the backup light, with a chrome edged fin atop that. And made their round taillights even bigger.

1959 Imperial 

And over at Chrysler, Virgil Exner was playing Space Invaders with this 1959 Imperial.

Where could you go from here?

1960 DeSoto Adventurer

Start them further forward?

1960 Plymouth

Even higher and further rearward?

1960 Chevrolet

Horizontal then angled down to a boxy deck?

1960 Ford

Horizontal then angled forward again?

1961 Ford

For 1961 it was all pretty much over. Fins were little more than a suggestively placed piece of trim.

But they were fun while they lasted.