Game Changer: Fins and things

When fitted to fighter aircraft that needed to stay aloft at 700km/h, the tailfin ranks as an essential piece of equipment in the 1940s.

When tacked to the back of an automobile of the same era, when it served no aerodynamic purpose, fins were purely decorative and a tool of the car company’s marketing division.

That didn’t stop General Motors’ stylist Harley Earl, who had been involved with aircraft design during World War II, deciding that a hint of aeronautical tail might have some effect on a car’s stability but would certainly evoke feelings of patriotism among buyers.

The car Earl used to trial his ‘winglets’ was by no small coincidence – a Cadillac. Launched in 1948, it was the forerunner of designs symbolic of post-war American prosperity and the status of all who owned one. But America was not the first nation to produce a finned automobile.

Back in 1934 when Tatra launched its rear-engined, V8 powered Model 77, it was the most aerodynamic car in the world and diabolically fast for a large sedan.

Helping the car cleave the air was a single, fish-like fin that sprouted from the roof and ended down by the rear bumper. Sadly, those early Tatras with a heavy engine behind the rear axle were inherently unstable and involved in numerous fatal crashes.

However, the idea had merit and worked a treat when used on D Type Jaguars that won the Le Mans 24 Hour race three times during the 1950s.

Cadillac, as mentioned earlier, pioneered the automotive fin and was identified by the device. Other brands within the GM family would follow, but hesitantly and not until some years after Cadillac.

Chevrolet was among the last GM brands to embrace finned design. The vestigial bumps of 1955-56 grew proper points for ’57, before disappearing altogether from the fussy and frumpy 1958 shape.

In 1959 they were back, but in a horizontal format with elongated ‘cat’s-eye’ tail-lights; a shape which would be adopted by Plymouth for its first Valiant and by the British Ford Capri.

Most prominent among rival brands to adopt fins was Ford’s Lincoln-Mercury division. Lincoln didn’t feature a true fin until 1957 but from 1952 created a similar impression by extending the rear mudguards and fitting wrap-around tail-lights.

Lincoln’s shape was derived from a show car called the Futura, which appeared in 1955. In addition to inspiring the new Mark IV Continental, it would provide the basis for another winged icon – the 1966 Batmobile.

Across the world, finned automotive designs flourished, entrapping even the most creative of styling houses.

The shapes penned by Pininfarina for various BMC brands all featured fins. Cars affected would include Austin, Riley and Wolseley models, with even the uniquely Australian Austin Lancer and Morris Major adding pointed rear mudguards and side flashes.

Across Europe the influence was widespread as well, with Fiat, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz all adding fins to their flagship models. Ford Zephyr Mark 2 featured fins of modest dimensions before the Mk3 arrived in 1962 with monster wings that remained in vogue until 1966.

Australia’s Holden explored the culture by adding chromed extensions to the rear of its FC Special, before channelling the ’57 Chev for its FB and EK models.

Retroactive Fords and Holdens aside, the temptation to fit fins had by 1960 had largely died out. That didn’t diminish their appeal though, and hasn’t deterred collectors from stacking their displays with cars inspired by the inventive Harley Earl.