The Origins of the Fastback

"Money Hustard" (moneyhustard) 12/02/2014 at 11:52 • Filed to: Classic Cars, Fastbacks, Antique Cars, Aerodynamics

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In the 1930's car manufactures finally started to pay attention to how their automobiles move through the air, instead of just making boxes on wheels. It became stylish to drive a car that had no flat surfaces whatsoever. Heacock offers !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! if you're interested.

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But I shall offer the opportunity to oggle fastback without all that annoying reading and learning bullshit. Photos and snarkiness is all I offer today. Let's stay on the Dubonnet Xenia Coupé for a moment, because I know what you are thinking you practical Jalop, you, you want to know how one is supposed to put any luggage in the back of of a car whose trunk opening is a tiny triangle. With custom luggage, of course!

As I promised no learning and minimal reading, I'm just going to assume that's one of history's first examples of form-fitting luggage for a car. A car that happened to have the interior of a futuristic fighter plane.

I'm going to move on from the Xenia, but just understand, you aren't ready for its jelly, not even close.

GM did it first, though

Fastbacks were just the classiest way to end a car nascent car designers could think of at the time. It was a gesture to the air the car was disrupting, the fastback gently flowed the air off the back of the car like a little child placing a paper boat adrift on the water. It was the gentlemanly way to disrupt the air. Break it up with a V16 up front and gently release it behind you as if you were never there with GM's first swing at "aero coupes" from Cadillac and Pierce-Arrow

Dem asses tho!

Also, how were Cadillac's interiors so much better 80 years ago than they are now?

Parallel inspiration in Europe

What's interesting about the fastback is that it didn't necessarily spread to Europe due to imitation. Both GM and Mercedes-Benz both release similar cars within about a year of each other, unlikely to have seen each other's work. This was Mercedes's first try:

Actual production units looked more like:

The Frenches weigh in

But then came the French. They came on the scene perhaps aware in some way that oddly-shaped automobiles were and would always be their thing, and dropped Brigitte Bardot-like bombshells:

Mmmmmmm Delage

And no showcase of fastbackery would be complete without Talbot-Lago's effort. Not much room for people in a car so jampacked with style.

Streamlining needs to make a comeback, what's your favorite fastback in history?

Sn210 > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 11:58

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all of them!

Sonex > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:23

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I'm a big fan of anything in a fastback.

Somebody needs to work on a fastback mini van...I'd like to see that.

I probably did it > Sn210 12/02/2014 at 12:24

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Man, that this is ugly, but in a beautiful way.

Money Hustard > Sonex 12/02/2014 at 12:26

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LOL, just need to shorten this guy up a bit:

KilgoreTrout53 > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:30

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My new wallpaper, I love classic car porn

Margin Of Error > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:31

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I don't know, all the examples above have droopy asses. Not a fan.

Now that's a fastback done right. It's muscular, it's tight and it's right.

StalePhish > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:31

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I don't think the 80s were anyone's favorite car decade for style, but I sure do love the fastback Fiero!

JonaWerks > Sn210 12/02/2014 at 12:33

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That's a fast front and back

Money Hustard > KilgoreTrout53 12/02/2014 at 12:33

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You should follow me then, over the next year I'm releasing the annals of car collector magazine on Heacoks blog. Nothing but straight porn

Lupin3rd > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:35

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Best ever; period.

Packardbaker > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:35

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I think it would end up similar to Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion.

Margin Of Error > Sn210 12/02/2014 at 12:39

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This looks like if someone forgot to remove the tarp on the car !

Garland - Last Top Comment on Splinter > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:40

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I absolutely love the Dubonnet Xenia. One of my all-time favourite designs.

Another one of my favourites is the Voisin C28 Aerosport:

mike > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:42

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Bugatti 57SC Atlantic

stoke > Sonex 12/02/2014 at 12:42

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Raphael Orlove > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:43

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You're right that aerodynamic styling really took off in the 1930s and that's when you saw the first boom in streamlined and fastbacked cars, but I would argue that the fastback traces further back into the 1920s.

Those are a number of European streamliners. It looks like a tatra way over on the left and the original Maybach Streamliner and two other what look like Jaray designs in the middle.

Oh right, Paul Jaray. He wasn't the first guy to start streamlining cars, but he was the first to really start making it a trend, even filing for a patent for the whole concept back in 1922.

He was the leader in transitioning streamlined cars from looking like bullets on wheels to something more like a modern fastback profile. His cars were extremely narrow at first, but he eventually got the proportions of a swoooping (rather than pointing) rear end right.

More on the guy's extremely influential work can be found here: http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-his…

S2Konstantin > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:43

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Those are some of the most gorgeous cars I have ever laid eyes on, thank you for this.

Isn't it kinda ironic that such awesome cars were all made during the great depression?

omgwtfbbqroflcopter > StalePhish 12/02/2014 at 12:43

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my eyes!

Drissi > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:44

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I'll stick to this

Because 6 tail pipes

Haze > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:48

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This is the Mercedes Benz stream liner, which was the first car to achieve a drag coefficient of .36, at least according the article I just finished reading. It was designed for a race that the war cancelled, and it never ran. This is a reconstruction from the original plans onto the original 540K chassis, which was discovered at the Mercedes museum. The original body was most likely used as war materielle.

Sn210 > JonaWerks 12/02/2014 at 12:49

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exactly!

salmon > StalePhish 12/02/2014 at 12:50

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It has certainly aged well.

d3v > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:52

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I wish more luxury automakers did these. Sadly, I think only Pagani still does this nowadays.

WarShrike > Margin Of Error 12/02/2014 at 12:52

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Gotta love banned race cars.

472CID > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:54

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Wow, I was going to point out this pic, but the whole post is jam packed with classiness.

Money Hustard > Raphael Orlove 12/02/2014 at 12:55

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Interesting, I thought actual production of Maybach and Tatra fastback designs came after GMs. Thanks for the info!

UrbanGearWorks > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:55

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"Streamlining needs to make a comeback."

Um... Porsche never quit?

I'd say the Bentley Continental GT, Audi A7, Mercedes CLS, Porsche Panamera, and the old Cadillac CTS coupe were all modern fastback designs.

tobythesandwich > Margin Of Error 12/02/2014 at 12:56

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Yeah man. That underpowered 305ci sure made it a muscle car...

Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:59

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Excellent topic. We just received a new car into our collection: the 1938 Bentley Coupe by Van Vooren . This car is incredible. It's been in the same family since new.

May we also suggest the Embiricos Bentley, and Peugeot 402 Darl'mat coupe. They would make fantastic inclusions into this topic.

Joseph Chiaccio

SimeoneMuseum.org

chicagoE36 > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 12:59

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This is perfection.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > Sonex 12/02/2014 at 13:00

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Looking for a fastback?

shitheelandtoe > Raphael Orlove 12/02/2014 at 13:00

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The look of these cars and the emerging airplane industry gave rise to a whole new design language, Streamline Moderne, in the inter-war years. Houses, kitchen appliances, everything was made to look streamlined, fast, and smooth. I personally think those designs have aged very well.

Sonex > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 12/02/2014 at 13:01

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That's about as fastback as they come!

GrauGeist > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:02

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Streamlining needs to make a comeback, what's your favorite fastback in history?

Avusrennen

Because racecar.

GrauGeist > StalePhish 12/02/2014 at 13:03

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That's a notchback with flying buttresses, not a fastback or streamliner.

GrauGeist > d3v 12/02/2014 at 13:05

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McLaren had custom luggage for the F1.

ChickenMcBooty > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:06

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The unforgettable Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Jonckheere Coupe.

I would kill for this.

StalePhish > salmon 12/02/2014 at 13:11

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Absolutely agreed! It's nearly 30 years old. Other cars from that time period were super boxy for the most part

Money Hustard > Haze 12/02/2014 at 13:12

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Purdy!

Dr_Watson > d3v 12/02/2014 at 13:13

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custom luggage is still very much "a thing"

http://flatsixes.com/cars/porsche-9…

Money Hustard > d3v 12/02/2014 at 13:14

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Custom baggage is the absolute tits.

SpecialEdHardy > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:15

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"GM did it first, though"

If I had a nickel for everytime I had to scream this at my idiot domestic hating friends. Man I miss my Fastback Caddie

Haze > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:16

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Ain't it though! And the story is pretty cool. The curator of the museum was trying to figure out why this beat up 540K chassis was put in the collection in the early fifties, and he tracked it down to one used for the lost stream liner experimental car. Under the bolt holes, they found bits of original body aluminum and some green war paint. I love the fact that Mercedes decided to rebuild it, and the interior has plenty of finished wood and such. A very pretty car indeed!

Money Hustard > SpecialEdHardy 12/02/2014 at 13:16

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I wish Caddy was still doing FLIR, why aren't we getting that tech along with all of these driving nannies they are shoving into cars these days?

TDogg > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:16

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this is some classy shit.

Money Hustard > TDogg 12/02/2014 at 13:17

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Nothing but cigars and cognac up in those.

GrauGeist > Sonex 12/02/2014 at 13:17

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BMW X6 M - fastback SUV. Goes like hell.

OK, actually, it's a big as fuck 5 series fastback sedan...

Raphael Orlove > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:18

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what's also interesting is GM was the one that killed off the fastback trend, too

Later GM head of design Bill Mitchell's first gig was on the Cadillac Sixty Special back in '37, the first big car to bring back a trunked style. It was sort of retro, which is hard to see today.

And it was GM that offered trunked Chevy sedans right alongside their fastbacked 'Fleetline' versions starting in the early 1940s.

StalePhish > GrauGeist 12/02/2014 at 13:21

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Hm, interesting. It's referred to as a fastback in all of the Fiero communities. Perhaps because it looks like it from the side. Here's the "notchback" Fiero from a few years earlier:

Money Hustard > Packardbaker 12/02/2014 at 13:21

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Fuller came up with so much amazing-looking, practically-useless stuff in his day.

SpecialEdHardy > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:21

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Because of new "safety standards" such as rear cameras and the like. They dont want to make safer cars they just want to make idiot proof cars.

Packardbaker > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:23

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Who cares about utility? Form is much more important than function. :)

Plus his name is Buckminster. Bonus points for such an awesome name.

Krynn > StalePhish 12/02/2014 at 13:23

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Except that's a fastback in name only... Since the rear glass is vertical at the b-pillar, it's really a notchback.

I do agree though... I love the last-gen Fiero. Well, the exterior, at least. The interior, not so much.

foxbody > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:24

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The original. The best.*

*(Neither of these statements may be true)

StalePhish > Krynn 12/02/2014 at 13:26

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I suppose the interior didn't age as well as the exterior. The blocky dashboards are very 80s.

FrankZappa > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:27

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Still my favorite Fastback design:

Money Hustard > Raphael Orlove 12/02/2014 at 13:27

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At least the brought it back, occasionally!

Money Hustard > ChickenMcBooty 12/02/2014 at 13:30

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It looks like something an evil sorcerer would drive.

Money Hustard > Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum 12/02/2014 at 13:32

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Damn it that's pretty. The separation of the front wheels and body is really neat.

Jedidiah > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:41

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Oh god yes.

Jedidiah > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:42

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So hawt

31ModelA > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:46

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The 1948 Tasco prototype was almost entirely cribbed from the airline industry, down to the controls. The sloping roof and sides finish off at a little polycarbonate cover drawn to a point over the license plate and rear lights. It's like a tiny display case riding caboose on your airplane car.

Zack Danger > Sonex 12/02/2014 at 13:49

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People say they want it, but bitch and moan when they are given it:

(Although, these are more like fastback wagons... which I actually think is even more badass than a minivan.)

Jimmy Joe Meeker > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:50

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Now admittedly I couldn't remember the name of this and other earlier design exercises, but that's what search engines are for. The A.L.F.A 40/60 HP of 1914:

There are of course other early aerodynamic designs. There are more of course, isolated examples of the line of thought that would not fully bloom until the 1930s. Also the many open cars with the tear drop tails in 1920s racing.

douging > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 13:52

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Actually I think this became this: the 1938 540K Autobahn Kurier (is that not one of the greatest names)

Money Hustard > 31ModelA 12/02/2014 at 13:52

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Yeah, they never really around to making it. I covered this badboy and other notable t-tops here , and I wrote the original article on Heacock here , too. The TASCO was the first to sport a t-top.

The TASCO was something else!

Sonex > Zack Danger 12/02/2014 at 13:53

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See, I was all about the Acura version of that. I thought it looked awesome, minus the beak.

Money Hustard > Jimmy Joe Meeker 12/02/2014 at 13:56

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It's like they just put a plane fuselage on a typical car of that day for the one shown. Yeah, it's definitely a design concept that predates the 30's but I think it took until then for manufacturers to apply the concept to cars people could actually afford/want to drive.

I can't decide if that car would be embarrassing or pimpin-as-hell to drive.

Money Hustard > douging 12/02/2014 at 13:58

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Wow! Taking that bit of chrome off the centerline of that car and moving it to the window really improves the look. Intensely classy.

E. Julius > StalePhish 12/02/2014 at 14:02

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I like 80s cars…

Zack Danger > Sonex 12/02/2014 at 14:06

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My understanding is that the Acura version was a completely different platform from the Crosstour. In the interest of full disclosure, I really don't hate the CT... I legit see it as a "fastback wagon" which makes it perfect for late-twenty-somethings who need more room, don't want to go full on wagon or minivan but don't want to lug around an SUV everywhere.

Styling looks like it was done by Honda... but then again, it was.

I think Audi nailed it... just more $$ than my budget can support:

Sonex > Zack Danger 12/02/2014 at 14:07

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I wasn't sold on the ZDX until I saw it in person, it looks good.

Mike > JonaWerks 12/02/2014 at 14:07

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It's just a fast.

StalePhish > E. Julius 12/02/2014 at 14:10

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The boxy ones or the early and mid 80s? Or just the late 80s when curves started to make a comeback?

SantaRita > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 14:18

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Alfa's BAT projects are always in mind when i think pure styling for aero sake

E. Julius > StalePhish 12/02/2014 at 14:18

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Hmm, I guess both, with a boxy bias. Any 80s Benz, MR2, 300ZX (both generations), Grand National, XJ Cherokee, NA Miata, Starion, C4 'Vette—I could go on. Even the hilarious interiors delight me.

I was born in the early 90s so these cars have always been just old and cool to me, although I also like automatic seat belts so there's probably some sort of brain defect involved as well.

Gary Yogurt > GrauGeist 12/02/2014 at 14:23

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WHOOOOOA

Super-badass > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 14:26

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I drool over Tatras

deprecated account > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 14:33

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Saw this at an exhibit at the Frist Museum in Nashville. Absolutely stunning. I have a framed picture of it hanging on my bedroom wall.

Money Hustard > deprecated account 12/02/2014 at 14:36

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It's as if an entire design team was forbidden from contributing any fucks whatsoever were placed in a remote village 500 miles away from the nearest engineer and were told to go ham on the thing.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 14:40

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This dash is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Actually, everything in this photo is beautiful.

Money Hustard > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) 12/02/2014 at 14:41

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It would just take the addition of a few discrete indicator lights to make this every bit as functional as most modern dashboards. Analog can be so fucking hot sometimes.

Time Traveler > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 14:42

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I'm a little embarrassed how looking at these pictures made my gentleman sausage tingle.

GrauGeist > StalePhish 12/02/2014 at 14:45

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So you're totally on board with BMW and Mercedes selling "coupe" sedans?

Calling a foot a hand doesn't make it a hand. It just means that you don't use the label properly.

A proper fastback has the roof continue smoothly to the rear. The presence of flying buttresses doesn't make a notchback into a fastback. It just makes it a notchback with extra bodywork.

BTW, had this been a proper fastback, that would have been pretty cool.

H4N5 GRU83R > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 14:59

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Fast Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack Aagghhhhhhhhhhhhhhblrblubrapblerpblrpppttttt....

Jimmy Joe Meeker > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 15:06

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In 1914 there were no plane fuselages like that. The first metal plane was 1915 and it did not have a shape like that. My guess is that it was more inspired by airships.

I am just pointing out that the idea didn't just suddenly come about there were little bits here and there first and momentum built up. I probably should have included this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.L.F.A_4… because it was a design exercise, a single prototype on an existing car.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 15:09

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Fastback=YES

Cé hé sin > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 15:10

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There are times when you can take restoration too far and this is one of them. This looks as if no one has ever driven it in its life.

deprecated account > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 15:16

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Ya gotta love it though.

Cé hé sin > Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum 12/02/2014 at 15:18

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Here's a Darl'mat:

Wilhelm_de_la_Kraut > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 15:20

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I see your coachbuilts and raise you a production car: The Rumpler Tropfenwagen ("Teardrop Car".

Limited production, though... after the company folded they sold the remaining stock to the Babelsberg studios. There they served as a futuristic backdrop in the making of Metropolis where they met their untimely fiery death.

Dear Oppo, please get me out of the grey zone. Trace my history, you won´t find anything pRon or "graphic"

MultiplaOrgasms > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 15:21

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French fastbacks are best fastbacks, and my favourite french fastbacks are Opron designs. And all of them are Alpines.

CyborgAdaLovelace > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 15:25

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You post a picture of a '63 Corvette, I click the little star. It's kind of a Pavlovian response.

LeafDriverSteve > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 15:28

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the_AUGHT > GrauGeist 12/02/2014 at 15:39

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Didnt this fly off of the Autobahn and kill its driver?

StalePhish > GrauGeist 12/02/2014 at 15:44

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There have been some louvre kits for the back so it doesn't look like a notch!

iaianstg > Margin Of Error 12/02/2014 at 15:47

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these always looked wrong to me. Just can't put my finger on it.

iaianstg > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 12/02/2014 at 15:49

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Is this the one with the flying bridge?

Raphael Orlove > Money Hustard 12/02/2014 at 16:02

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They did! They followed the fastback revival of the '60s and had a brief flirtation with it again in the late '70s with the Cutlass Aeroback.

americanmuscle > FrankZappa 12/02/2014 at 16:03

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Still my favorite too. That Mustang really needs some smaller rims with more sidewall though