An analysis of the development of the style of the automobile body

74 Pages·02.997 MB·English

by  Hillger, M. G

AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
STYLE OF THE AUTOMOBILE BODY
A 'Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Fine Arts
The U niversity of Southern C alifornia
In P artial Fulfillm ent
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
Melvin G. H illger
June 19^2
UMI Number: EP57842
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I The Problem and D efin ition of Terms u s e d .......................... 1
The p r o b le m ............................................................................................. 1
Statement of the p rob lem ........................................................ 1
Importance of the s t u d y ......................................................... 1
D efinitions of terms u s e d ......................................................... 2
Review of the Remainder of the t h e s i s .......................... 2
II H istory of the P roblem ........................................................................ 5
Literature on the early development of the
au tom ob ile............................................................. 5
L iterature on the la ter development of the
automobile ............................................................................................ 6
Literature on the stream lining of the
automobile b o d y ............................................................................. 6
III H istory of the Invention and Styling of the
Automobile ................................................................................................. 8
Albrecht Dlirer, an early s t y l i s t ......................................... 8
Early effo rts in construction of self-p ro p elled
v e h ic le s ...................................................................................... 9
Legal d iffic u ltie s and public resistan ce ..................... 11
Chronological development of the sty le of the body
to the year 1 9 1 0 ........................................................................ . 12
Dependency of the body sty le upon the carriage
builders craft .................................................................................. 15
i i i
CHAPTER PAGE
Style development from 1910 to World War I .. . . 16
General stylin g trends since World War I . . . , 18
Contributions of inventions and improvements to
sty lin g , since 1918 . . .................................................... 20
Style developments in the frontal plane . . . . 23
Sum m ary............................................................................................ 24
IV Problems and Attempted Changes in Body Design . . 29
Error in d e s i g n ......................... 29
Attempts at stream lining and redesigning . . . . 33
R esp onsib ility for progress in design . . . . . 37
Sum m ary............................................................................................ 39
V The Car of the F u t u r e .................................................... 40
P o ssib ilitie s in r e d e s i g n ................................... 40
Some lim itation s in d e s ig n ................................................... 46
Models b u ilt on above plans .............................. 50
Sum m ary............................................................................................ 52
VI C o n clu sio n ....................................................................... 60
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................. 64
LIST OF PLATES
PLATE PAGE
I Style Development to World War I ................................................ 26
II Style Development to World WarI I ............................................ 27
III Style Development in the FrontalP lane ................................. 28
IV Unfunctional P la n s ................................................................................. 54
V Functional P la n s ....................................................................................... 55
VI V ariation of F irst P l a n ....................................... 56
VII V ariation of F irst P l a n .................................................................. 57
VIII V ariation of Second P la n ............................................................. . 53
IX V ariation of Second P la n .................................................................. 59
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED
I. THE PROBLEM
Statement of the problem. It was the purpose of th is
study (l) to show that the development of the sty le of the
automobile body was an evolutionary and progressive process;
(2) to explore the existin g errors in body design and some
h isto r ic a l attempts at fundamental redesign; and (3 ) to analyze
and evaluate the p o s s ib ilitie s and lim itation s in designing
the car of the future, aided by actual creation of automobile
m odels.
Importance of the study. There e x ist in the public mind
various m isconceptions concerning in d u strial products and their
development. The automobile body is no exception. Among these
m isconceptions are the assumptions that the manufacturers see
no common goal in their general design; that the automobile
body was slow ly changed because the designers could not fo re­
see the automobile of the future; or that the body developed
in sty le because of the shape and placement of the parts w ithin
it . F in ally, the public is from time to time exposed to de­
sig n er^ conceptions of the future car. These are usually un­
functional or in e ffic ie n t. It seemed important to determine
the facts of th is development in order to discover their r e la ­
tionships to each other and to appraise the goal toward which
2
they are moving.
II. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED
S ty le. The sty le of the automobile body was interpre­
ted to mean the shape of mode of construction in regard to
appearance, implying also some dependence upon the shape and
mode of construction of previous models.
D esign. The word wdesign** was interpreted to mean the
shape or mode of construction as dependent upon the functional
purposes of the product and its method of construetion.
Stream lining. This word is used so generally that it
has become almost m eaningless. In th is study it was in te r ­
preted as the tendency in stylin g and designing toward h ori­
zontal lin es to reduce wind resistan ce, applicable only to
surfaces moving through a flu id .
Development. In th is study the word development” was
interpreted to mean evolution, with the im plication that this
evolution was ordered by man.
III. REVIEW OF THE REMAINDER OF THE THESIS
Chapter I I . Chapter II is devoted to a b rief history
of the problem with a c r itic a l review of the work done by
previous in vestigators in its fie ld .
3
Chapter I I I , Chapter III Is devoted to the problem of
showing that our modern motorcar body is the product of an
evolutionary process. This is illu str a te d with p ro files of
successive models of the automobile body. These p r o files
are in the form of lin e drawings during the past h a lf cen­
tury. Typical p ro files for th eir resp ective years are arranged
chronologically so that it w ill be p ossib le to get a per­
sp ective view of their development. This chapter includes
also a comparison of the various d eta ils accompanied with a
c r itic a l analysis of the development of their sty le .
Chapter IV. Chapter IV points out some errors in the
design of the present-day automobile body. Some h isto ric
examples of effo rts at fundamental redesign are recalled and
discussed to determine why these designs are not used today.
F in a lly s the question of resp o n sib ility for progressive change
in design is discussed.
Chapter V. Chapter V discusses the p o s sib ilitie s
offered by fundamental redesign. Against these p o s s ib ilitie s
are posed the lim ita tio n s. Common errors, which are often
found in period ical a r tic le s concerning the future car, are
pointed out by means of a plate of silh o u ettes. Another plate
of silh o u ettes representing p ossib le functional ideas for the
future car is offered as a solu tion to the problem of design­
ing the car of the near future. F in ally, photographs of two
an.tornQbile^models b u ilt upon the functional plans stated above,
4
are discussed as a p ossib le solu tion for th is future automobile
as planned in p late V.
Chapter VI. This fin a l chapter is devoted to a statement
of the conclusions drawn from the previous chapters as seen in
perspec tiv e .