A thing of beauty… or woe?!
Dear Classic American,
I am a little behind on my reading of CA due to a protracted stay out of the country, so I am still catching-up on back-issues. In the March issue you featured the fascinating photographs snapped by John Picard of American cars in and around Blackpool during the Sixties. One photo that leapt off the page at me was the 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 – in my view one of the most attractive cars of the whole decade. Imagine my dismay when you described the ‘skegs’ (upside down tailfins) as “woeful”! To my eye, the ‘skegs’, both front and rear – together with the concave radiator grill and circular rear lights – give a car great beauty and purpose. Unfortunately, it may be that I am in a minority, as the following year Oldsmobile gave the front and rear ends a ‘bland-over’, eliminating all the above features that I so love, leaving a very dull design indeed.
I quickly checked the subsequent issues to see if there was a torrent of letters protesting your vile libel, but nothing, so I am compelled to be a lone voice in the defence of this great-looking car. I suppose that the old adage is true – one man’s meat is another man’s poison – but it is all subjective. After all, there are some people who admire the frankly hideous (in my opinion) Chrysler products of 1962... Anyway, it was an otherwise very entertaining article – maybe some other readers have albums of old photos tucked away that they would like to share with a wider audience?
Michael Hooton
Holyhead
Anglesey
Well Michael, as a great writer once said, (we think it might even have been Samuel Johnson): “One man’s woeful upside down skegs, are another man’s styling cue of great beauty and purpose”! I think most American folks would agree that the ’60-’62 models of all the big three were a little odd in the styling department; the new decade, after the Fifties flying fins era, represented a bit of a loss of styling direction. Probably the most extreme being the ‘de-finned’ Chyrslers of the era…