oh yes, rediculous. Audi started it accidently when the lower grill 'mirrored' the main grille. They then eliminated the bumper and - tadaa, single frame grille. BMW was last but now they put that giant nose holes on it. And its even more rediculous when they put those grilles on their electric cars as the grille is the only element to make the car identifyable as an audi or bmw or whatever. I'm curius where that's going.
@@michaelheinrich44 ... and the grille is actually without much of a function in an electric car. As if a shape couldn't speak for itself without such oversized attachments.
@@uncinarynin Even on today's ICE-powered cars, the front grille is mostly for decoration. Modern cars take in cooling air for the radiator under the front bumper. It makes for both more efficient cooling and better aerodynamics.
Cars became low and sleek in the mid fifties, partly because men stopped wearing hats (yes there were other reasons too such as lower center of gravity but that was one reason) in the 1940s, cars were taller so men could drive them while wearing their hats. Most passenger cars are still pretty low profile. It’s mostly SUVs, trucks and vans that are tall now. So yes old cars of a certain era are low and sleek but the really old cars were tall.
Now that you brought up today's cars height compared to lower riding models from the late fifties onward I think car design from the mid 2010s through today's with that high-riding profile is reminiscent of cars from the early fifties and the forties.
Virgil exner created in my eyes the most beautiful cars of all time, and kickstarted a bunch of other manufacturers to look awesome. Hats off to my man Virgil!
The early 60s Mopars were horrendous especially after the revolutionary forward look models. His love of styling excess didn't translate well to clean uncluttered design
Unfortunately, Virgil Exner's most beautiful cars never saw production. Those were the Ghia-bodied concept cars made by Chrysler in the 1950s and early '60s.
Ahhh, love those "Tailfins." My very first car was a 59' Chev, Impala. I later referred to it as my, "Flash Gordonmobile." I first became acquanted with 'Fins' at a very young age. My Dad was a used car salesman. It was the 59' Plymouth Velvedre that first grabbed my attention---My dream car. Some things you just never forget.
A friend who drove us to church on Sundays had the Skyliner version, a retractable hard top that folded up into the truck. As a kid I begged him to make it go up and down every time I rode in that car. :)
The '57 Ford was prettier than the '58. We had a '57 Country Sedan wagon, Coral Sand and Colonial White. Ford never tried to follow Chrysler or GM with huge tailfins. They were subtle and very tasteful, IMHO. Mercury, Edsel and Lincoln were more over-the-top but even they didn't have protruding tail fins.
Yeah! Back when cars have style and individuality. Back when style over functionality is given more importance. Now though, today are just a bunch of jellybean generic SUVs, and the trend of huge grilles. I don't get why BMW have to exaggerate their kidney grille.
Just found you in 2021. Love the late 50s fin styling war, so much about the triumph of form over function. The era of rockets, jet aircraft, space exploration, glamorous Hollywood actresses (& actors of course), Rock n roll and the expression of American consumer confidence written in steel & chrome. In 2015, I visited the world's largest 50s American classic car collection (Cuba!) and was a kid in a candy store! Highlight was a tour of Havana in a 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible. Wonderful!
I personally don't like tailfins at all. They clutter up what would otherwise be perfectly good designs all the time. We're allowed our opinions though and I'm glad to hear you made it to that automotive time-capsule known as Cuba. I'd personally be trying to find the strangest cobbled-together American cars and pristine Soviet cars I could find.
Those huge fins were not so great if you lived where winters were cold with snow and ice and salt was used on roads to melt it. All that salty slush got thrown up into the fins as you drove and the fins were rusted out come springtime. I remember a neighbor dad so proud of his 1957 Plymouth, and so disappointed when the fins rusted through that he had them repaired and repainted come summer.. Every year. Of course, they didn't have rustproofing on offer in those days.
Wow, that must’ve been incredible. I’d love to go to Cuba and see all those beautiful cars. Definitely the pinnacle of car design. There will never be another 1950s
I drive a 'finny' just about everyday. Reversing is a dream, visibility is excellent, and the car just looks awesome. Chrome + fins = happytimes (its a 1960 Holden btw)
The car with the best fins is the 61-63 Thunderbird. The fins just FLOW with the car and are part of the car length trim. It looks amazing when seen as a total piece. They're small but not gone and not obscenely oversized either. Just perfect.
I’m going back to view all of the previous videos I missed. I never saw episode #1 until today. Edward’s advancing dependence on energy drinks is evident from his laidback lower voice and slower cadence in his early videos to his tighter cadence and higher pitch in his later videos. 😄 Thank you for all the great videos. Your channel is one of my favourites.
One of the features my dad liked best about his 1959 Dodge Mayfair was the huge tail fins because he could store two fishing rods in a fin. Handy for when you were driving along and one of those fishing emergencies arose.
You are so lucky. I wish I was born in the early 40s so I could be able to drive those beautiful tail fin cars of the 50s and experience the 50s in general
@@telvederef5 What was interesting about the ‘60’s as a kid was the very wide variety of car styles on the road. At one point, you had the big finned cars out of the ‘50’s/early ‘60’s, along with the more squared up and “sane” designs of the mid and later ‘60’s. My Dad was born in ‘33 and he could pick out those ‘30’s and ‘40’s cars with no problem. I struggle with that era as a lot of them look alike to me. ☺️ He and my Mom were married in 1959. Believe it or not, he went to the wedding in a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. Those you NEVER see on the road anymore! That’s another one of those I got to see on a regular basis when I was a kid. Cars today aren’t bad……certainly a LOT more reliable. I kinda wished they changed the styles a little more often, but cash being an issue today than years ago, I can understand where they don’t have the funds to do that now.
@@plastiksurgeon9129 Yeah, you could tell between the cars and when they were made, along with cars these days. Car manufacturers are putting more effort into their designs, Hyundai for example. Car design from here on out won’t ever be the same as the 50s, but at least that era will be known as one of the most interesting eras for car design.
But let’s be real, tail fin cars are easily the most beautiful cars ever made, unfortunately basically any car with tail fins has extremely gone up in value
Hi Ed, Some clarification about US headlights. In the 1920s and '30s manufacturers designed headlights in a variety of shapes. Rectangles, circles, teardrop etc. The lights used separate replaceable bulbs until 1940 when the federal government required new, round, 7 inch diameter "sealed--beam" headlights. If the light failed, the whole assembly was replaced. This was mainly due to the fact that the older, non-sealed lights often let water in which dimmed the reflector or shorted the bulb. Before the postwar multi-lane freeway, the two lane main roads were quite dangerous because the lights weren't very good and had to be dipped whenever an opposite lane car approached. in the mid '50s car designers wanted to go to a dual lamp sealed beam system consisting of two 5 3/4 inch units for a variety of reasons. The smaller bulbs gave them a lot more design flexibility. But these had to be approved by each state government, not the federal government. Most states approved this change in 1956 for the 1957 model year. But not all, so some manufacturers, especially Chrysler, made both the single 7 inch and dual 5 3/4 versions available. A single lamp 1957 Chrysler or Imperial is a pretty strange looking beast.
A few of my favorite cars to drive in Forza: The '59 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, the '57 Plymouth Fury, and the '57 Chevy Bel-Air. 1950s cars are by far the most beautiful.
You forgot about the ultimate classic 1957 Lincoln Premiere Convertible! Truly a beautiful car with the huge tail fins and chrome exterior. Celebrities like Elvis even owned the car. It definitely won the tail fin wars!
I found 2 -1958 Chevy Bel Air (projects) for sale in 2017. I watched them for 6 months until the prices came down. I bought them both for $3k and frame off restored one of them in my garage in about 18 months. I love the chrome and the look of the 58 Chevy (especially being a one year only design) so much it motivated me to restore one. I dont drive it much ( no real need to) but it sure is fun to look at parked in the garage. I take it out when traffic dies down some or if theres a cruise event. It was as fun yet exhausting project. $21k invested total and many many hours of time and its near mint with a few odds and ends to finish up. I assembled and installed a fresh from the machine shop '68 396 BBC w/ 700R4 trans. and am doing the interior myself (learning as I go). Learning to repair dented stainless and polish it was part of the "thrill". One piece at at time. restoring a car isnt for the faint of heart as I learned real quick. It was the 2nd car I ever painted. Two Tone added many hours to the job but is what makes the cars of that era so cool
When I was growing up in the late 60s and 70s all my uncles, brothers, and brother-in-laws, all of whom are older than me by at least ten years, were huge fans of the chrome/fin cars of the 50s, they all had at least one and they all dreamed of having more. While I appreciate the aesthetic, then and now, I wasn't much of a fan. At one point in the 70s there must have been twelve or fourteen various late 50s cars rusting away on our property. I remember the shock and disapproval that rocked my family to its core the day I got my drivers license and announced I wanted a Datsun 240Z, my family literally held an intervention. It was such a shock to my family, in fact, they hardly noticed when I "came out" gay the following year, as though it was expected from anyone who would deliberately choose to be seen driving a Japanese sports car. God, I love my hillbilly family!
Let me start by saying I rarely if ever comment on sites like this. (car stuff) But I just found your channel today and I must say I absofreakinlutely love it !!! In my opinion you missed / bypassed one of the better Chevy's, the first car I fell in love with, The 57 Belaire model. Just being picky I know. I'm sure it was a time restraint issue. But seriously this is the first channel that's hit me with so much Humor,Trivia, "Knowledge" Humor, Delivery, Accent, Graphics, and Humor !!! "GREAT JOB BRUH"
Ed, Great video , the first design cycle that Exner was over at Chrysler was 55-56s. There were smaller tail fins and even gun site tail lights on the first official Imperial. The sales campaign called 55-56's the 100 million dollar look. Your knowledge of the US auto market makes me think you have lived in the US for a while. Keep up the great work. Lance
The trunk spoiler wars of the 1980's that is still going on today (although it seemed to peak in the 90s). When mom's minivan had a rear spoiler, you know the fight was real.
Man what I love the wing age of the late 50's to early 60's. The love started for me as a little kid living in my late 1980's with discovering Cadilacs 59'ers, especally the 1959 Cadillac Mille-Meteor that was used in the 1984 movie Ghostbusters and its 1986 cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters. After that I found all other manufacturers who did the same and that is why my favorite cars are from the late 50's and the 60's. Sure Ford is my favorite brand and the 1960 Thunderbird my 1# car but Cadillac, Dodge, Chevrolet etc all made some beautiful cars at that era.
I love the tailfin era as much for the beautiful colors as for the styling. I'm buying a new 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee this week, and I'm so disappointed with the colors offered that I've settled for white. Contrast that with the 1959 De Soto, which was available from Chrysler Corporation in any of 26 different solid colors and 190 different two-tone combos!
Yeah I noticed that slight,myself. In fact, the whole 1959 Chevy lineup had fins( of a sort),tho while the 57 looked classy and sporty,the 59 ,well,didn't.
Oh and for the best tailfins that managed to be both crazy and beautiful at the same time, my favourite has always been the '60 and '61 Chrysler New Yorkers. Especially on a 2-door hardtop station wagon (-:
Ed, you are the man! This was very good and I really enjoyed it. There is so much more to this story but as you said..just a quick history on this video. Thanks!
Even the conservative company Mercedes-Benz produced two model lines with tailfins between 1959 and 1968. Officially the tailfins were considered to help identify the car's corner when parking. Some of these were pretty durable and could still be found as taxis into the 1980s (I think there is still one in Berlin, or was until recently, operated by a nostalgic taxi company).
Chrysler designed their 1957 cars with dual headlights, only to find out that this arrangement was illegal in most states at the time of presentation. Later in the model year they got the proper headlights the cars were designed for due to new regulations. So now you could tell if a 1957 Chrysler built car is an early or a late production vehicle! Got a 1959 DeSoto myself, and you got to love tailfins that actually stretches half the cars length!
@@zachstudios567 -- Don't take things so seriously -- it's a joke. Anyway, the 59 Chevy was more than fins or wings, with what we called "Cat Eye" tail lights at the time, that seemed to state right at ya.
It was rumored that if you drove a '59 Chevy fast enough, the rear end would lift off the ground. Hydroplaning on a dry pavement! The wings were less radical on the '60 Chevy and gone completely by '61.
Ever since the malayse videos, I've been hooked on this channel. I had to come back and watch the rest of the videos in the series. Hopefully your channel gets bigger.
I'm 68, and was a bit too young to be interested in car design at the time. But, my still living mother (94) has told me stories about dear-old-dad buying and installing aftermarket fins on an older, pre-fins car. Uggghhh, my dad a wonderful man, but was not a car guy.
Got episode 5 randomly recommended on my home page, just subscribed and starting from the beginning. Great quality videos, and I'm sure your channel is about to blow up!
I owned a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker. Had a bubble speedometer, cruise control and a 413 cu in engine. The truck was big enough for two bodies - um, so I heard.
Good video, thank you. We were living in the age of Buck Rodgers and every car had to resemble a personal rocket ship that propelled us to 60 mph in 9 seconds or so and used a gallon of gas to do it. Now we're paying for it.
I remember the first time I rode in my uncle's 1959 Cadillac wow I mean that thing was huge it was heavy but man it was it was nice how big it was incredible the trunk everything
A neighbor owned a 1960 Cadillac Sedan deVille. One day, he told a clerk at the hardware store to put his order in the big Cadillac. A friend commented that his Cadillac was no longer "big." When he got home, he told his wife to grab her purse and the checkbook. They were buying a new car. He brought home a 1968 Coupe deVille the next day. While the 68 deVille was nice, I liked the fins on the 60 deVille.
Cadillac was a bit more of a hold-out than you credit them for - while less pronounced than their predecessors, the late-1960s Cadillac tailfins were a thing of beauty. Check out a 1967/1968 deVille (Sedan or Coupe - take your pick)... Not only did the full-height chromed taillights resemble jet engines but the forward-swept front end with over-under headlights was aggressive as heck! While the 340-375hp of Cadillac's standard V-8s might appear tame, their insane 480-550 pounds of torque was enough muscle to give Mustangs and Corvettes a run for their money!
I like the cars from the 1940s-1950s. But my most favorite 1950s car is the Space Age concepts. My so called "dream" car is a 1950s concept car that I have to build.
Actually, wood-bodied station wagons date to before the war. Plenty of those prewar "woodie" wagons were still around in the postwar years and could be bought cheaply, which made them popular with the surfing crowd. Take out the back seat, knock out the rear window, and you had room to slide in a couple of surfboards. The 1955-56 Chryslers had subtle, tasteful fins and are still beautiful cars today. The so-called Forward Look actually began with the 1957 models. Ironically, the "Forward Look" was all about emphasizing the back end of the car!
In the 50's and early 60's cars looked distinctive. I could tell the make and model of the car from a half mile away. Now, they all look alike. Unless you see the name plate they all look like they came down the same production line. Now cars are just transportation. It doesn't matter what they look like as long as they get you there.
My father bought a 1960 Plymouth similar to the one at 9:34, and my mother hated it because she was always spotting the immense fins in her peripheral vision, and would fear they were another car that was way too close. When we moved in May 1961 the Plymouth was sold and left behind, so we only had it for a matter of months.
In the Keith Laumer story 'The Day of the Troll' which dates from around this era there is a reference to someone identifying a 1990s Rolls Royce by the fact it has 8inch high tail fins!
This has to be one of my favorite eras of car design
Cars today are about as exciting as appliances! Can’t wait to see the new washers and dryers! Wow look at that 2001 fridge!
That’s because for most people, they are simply appliances.
Cars in the 50s: Tailfin wars
Cars today: GIANT GRILLE WARS
oh yes, rediculous. Audi started it accidently when the lower grill 'mirrored' the main grille. They then eliminated the bumper and - tadaa, single frame grille. BMW was last but now they put that giant nose holes on it. And its even more rediculous when they put those grilles on their electric cars as the grille is the only element to make the car identifyable as an audi or bmw or whatever. I'm curius where that's going.
Don’t forget fake air intakes.
@@michaelheinrich44 ... and the grille is actually without much of a function in an electric car. As if a shape couldn't speak for itself without such oversized attachments.
@@uncinarynin Even on today's ICE-powered cars, the front grille is mostly for decoration. Modern cars take in cooling air for the radiator under the front bumper. It makes for both more efficient cooling and better aerodynamics.
BMW
What I hate about new cars is how tall they are. Old cars may have been massive and heavy but even the biggest were low and sleek.
You don't have a bad back, because if you did, you will hate how low old cars were
They are tall but still have no ground clearance
Cars became low and sleek in the mid fifties, partly because men stopped wearing hats (yes there were other reasons too such as lower center of gravity but that was one reason) in the 1940s, cars were taller so men could drive them while wearing their hats. Most passenger cars are still pretty low profile. It’s mostly SUVs, trucks and vans that are tall now. So yes old cars of a certain era are low and sleek but the really old cars were tall.
Now that you brought up today's cars height compared to lower riding models from the late fifties onward I think car design from the mid 2010s through today's with that high-riding profile is reminiscent of cars from the early fifties and the forties.
@@nickrustyson8124 I had a 1994 Honda delSol for 19 years that car was almost as low as a go cart and I never got a bad back!.
Virgil exner created in my eyes the most beautiful cars of all time, and kickstarted a bunch of other manufacturers to look awesome. Hats off to my man Virgil!
The early 60s Mopars were horrendous especially after the revolutionary forward look models. His love of styling excess didn't translate well to clean uncluttered design
Unfortunately, Virgil Exner's most beautiful cars never saw production. Those were the Ghia-bodied concept cars made by Chrysler in the 1950s and early '60s.
Ahhh, love those "Tailfins." My very first car was a 59' Chev,
Impala. I later referred to it as my, "Flash Gordonmobile."
I first became acquanted with 'Fins' at a very young age.
My Dad was a used car salesman. It was the 59' Plymouth
Velvedre that first grabbed my attention---My dream car.
Some things you just never forget.
I absolutely love "The Fins" The Eldorado being so wickedly outrageous and a work of art to my personal favourite, The 1958 Plymouth Fury! \m/
The 58 Ford will always hold a soft spot in my heart. It’s not the prettiest car in the world but my dad’s had one my entire life and I love it
A friend who drove us to church on Sundays had the Skyliner version, a retractable hard top that folded up into the truck. As a kid I begged him to make it go up and down every time I rode in that car. :)
The '57 Ford was prettier than the '58. We had a '57 Country Sedan wagon, Coral Sand and Colonial White. Ford never tried to follow Chrysler or GM with huge tailfins. They were subtle and very tasteful, IMHO. Mercury, Edsel and Lincoln were more over-the-top but even they didn't have protruding tail fins.
@@frdjr2527 I like the 57, but I really don’t like the headlights. They’re too “bug-eyed” 🤣
@@TheyMakeItLikeThat State laws changed in '58, hence the industrywide switch to dual headlights.
@@TheyMakeItLikeThat I've always felt that way too. I wish Ford had retained the front end of the '56, like they wisely did on the '57 T-Bird.
I'll never understand how we went from these gorgeous works of art to today's bland & boring modern jalopies
Aerodynamics.
And safety regulations
Yeah! Back when cars have style and individuality. Back when style over functionality is given more importance. Now though, today are just a bunch of jellybean generic SUVs, and the trend of huge grilles. I don't get why BMW have to exaggerate their kidney grille.
@@jannadrielcervo7753 then don't buy a new car.
@@smouthiful1 Yep, which is why I still have my W123.
This is where I started before I finished binge-watching every single video you have. Time for lap 2
Just found you in 2021. Love the late 50s fin styling war, so much about the triumph of form over function. The era of rockets, jet aircraft, space exploration, glamorous Hollywood actresses (& actors of course), Rock n roll and the expression of American consumer confidence written in steel & chrome.
In 2015, I visited the world's largest 50s American classic car collection (Cuba!) and was a kid in a candy store! Highlight was a tour of Havana in a 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible. Wonderful!
I personally don't like tailfins at all. They clutter up what would otherwise be perfectly good designs all the time. We're allowed our opinions though and I'm glad to hear you made it to that automotive time-capsule known as Cuba. I'd personally be trying to find the strangest cobbled-together American cars and pristine Soviet cars I could find.
Those huge fins were not so great if you lived where winters were cold with snow and ice and salt was used on roads to melt it. All that salty slush got thrown up into the fins as you drove and the fins were rusted out come springtime. I remember a neighbor dad so proud of his 1957 Plymouth, and so disappointed when the fins rusted through that he had them repaired and repainted come summer.. Every year. Of course, they didn't have rustproofing on offer in those days.
Wow, that must’ve been incredible. I’d love to go to Cuba and see all those beautiful cars. Definitely the pinnacle of car design. There will never be another 1950s
Caddy to this day has skinny tall taillights as a "homage" to their tail fins.
I drive a 'finny' just about everyday. Reversing is a dream, visibility is excellent, and the car just looks awesome. Chrome + fins = happytimes (its a 1960 Holden btw)
The car with the best fins is the 61-63 Thunderbird. The fins just FLOW with the car and are part of the car length trim. It looks amazing when seen as a total piece. They're small but not gone and not obscenely oversized either. Just perfect.
Yes, I enjoyed this very much.
Liked your humor, facts, texts and also artistic license at times.
Liked all of it.
Ed, you have a fantastic sense of humor. Thank you.
I’m going back to view all of the previous videos I missed. I never saw episode #1 until today.
Edward’s advancing dependence on energy drinks is evident from his laidback lower voice and slower cadence in his early videos to his tighter cadence and higher pitch in his later videos. 😄
Thank you for all the great videos. Your channel is one of my favourites.
It is crazy how you put so much effort into your videos but almost nobody subscribes.
Ikr
@Dakota Brezinka Don’t listen to this bot
@Wilson Pablo Or this one
His videos are cool
Strange comment, considering there are 11,700 subscribers, which is hardly "almost nobody".
One of the features my dad liked best about his 1959 Dodge Mayfair was the huge tail fins because he could store two fishing rods in a fin. Handy for when you were driving along and one of those fishing emergencies arose.
I was born in ‘61, so cars with fins were the first cars I can remember seeing when I first knew what a car was. ☺️
You are so lucky. I wish I was born in the early 40s so I could be able to drive those beautiful tail fin cars of the 50s and experience the 50s in general
@@telvederef5
What was interesting about the ‘60’s as a kid was the very wide variety of car styles on the road. At one point, you had the big finned cars out of the ‘50’s/early ‘60’s, along with the more squared up and “sane” designs of the mid and later ‘60’s.
My Dad was born in ‘33 and he could pick out those ‘30’s and ‘40’s cars with no problem. I struggle with that era as a lot of them look alike to me. ☺️
He and my Mom were married in 1959. Believe it or not, he went to the wedding in a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. Those you NEVER see on the road anymore! That’s another one of those I got to see on a regular basis when I was a kid.
Cars today aren’t bad……certainly a LOT more reliable. I kinda wished they changed the styles a little more often, but cash being an issue today than years ago, I can understand where they don’t have the funds to do that now.
@@plastiksurgeon9129 Yeah, you could tell between the cars and when they were made, along with cars these days. Car manufacturers are putting more effort into their designs, Hyundai for example. Car design from here on out won’t ever be the same as the 50s, but at least that era will be known as one of the most interesting eras for car design.
But let’s be real, tail fin cars are easily the most beautiful cars ever made, unfortunately basically any car with tail fins has extremely gone up in value
No
@@carlosandleon yes
@@DerPinguim No
Sucks when one of them is your favorite car i'm never gonna afford it:[
*some* tail fin cars look great, some are gaudy. IMO the Art Deco era produced the most beautiful cars ever.
Hi Ed, Some clarification about US headlights. In the 1920s and '30s manufacturers designed headlights in a variety of shapes. Rectangles, circles, teardrop etc. The lights used separate replaceable bulbs until 1940 when the federal government required new, round, 7 inch diameter "sealed--beam" headlights. If the light failed, the whole assembly was replaced. This was mainly due to the fact that the older, non-sealed lights often let water in which dimmed the reflector or shorted the bulb. Before the postwar multi-lane freeway, the two lane main roads were quite dangerous because the lights weren't very good and had to be dipped whenever an opposite lane car approached. in the mid '50s car designers wanted to go to a dual lamp sealed beam system consisting of two 5 3/4 inch units for a variety of reasons. The smaller bulbs gave them a lot more design flexibility. But these had to be approved by each state government, not the federal government. Most states approved this change in 1956 for the 1957 model year. But not all, so some manufacturers, especially Chrysler, made both the single 7 inch and dual 5 3/4 versions available. A single lamp 1957 Chrysler or Imperial is a pretty strange looking beast.
A few of my favorite cars to drive in Forza: The '59 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, the '57 Plymouth Fury, and the '57 Chevy Bel-Air. 1950s cars are by far the most beautiful.
You forgot about the ultimate classic 1957 Lincoln Premiere Convertible! Truly a beautiful car with the huge tail fins and chrome exterior. Celebrities like Elvis even owned the car. It definitely won the tail fin wars!
They don't seem to be any taller than those of a 57 Chrysler. Also, as far as Tallest, I would go with the 59 caddy, and 60 Plymouth.
The 57 chevy is an iconic tail finned car.
Agreed. When I think of tail finned cars the 1957 Chevy Bel Aire is it.
So why did he say Chrysler had them in 58 but GM didn't? I always thought GM had them first
I found 2 -1958 Chevy Bel Air (projects) for sale in 2017. I watched them for 6 months until the prices came down. I bought them both for $3k and frame off restored one of them in my garage in about 18 months. I love the chrome and the look of the 58 Chevy (especially being a one year only design) so much it motivated me to restore one. I dont drive it much ( no real need to) but it sure is fun to look at parked in the garage. I take it out when traffic dies down some or if theres a cruise event. It was as fun yet exhausting project. $21k invested total and many many hours of time and its near mint with a few odds and ends to finish up. I assembled and installed a fresh from the machine shop '68 396 BBC w/ 700R4 trans. and am doing the interior myself (learning as I go). Learning to repair dented stainless and polish it was part of the "thrill". One piece at at time. restoring a car isnt for the faint of heart as I learned real quick. It was the 2nd car I ever painted. Two Tone added many hours to the job but is what makes the cars of that era so cool
When I was growing up in the late 60s and 70s all my uncles, brothers, and brother-in-laws, all of whom are older than me by at least ten years, were huge fans of the chrome/fin cars of the 50s, they all had at least one and they all dreamed of having more. While I appreciate the aesthetic, then and now, I wasn't much of a fan. At one point in the 70s there must have been twelve or fourteen various late 50s cars rusting away on our property. I remember the shock and disapproval that rocked my family to its core the day I got my drivers license and announced I wanted a Datsun 240Z, my family literally held an intervention. It was such a shock to my family, in fact, they hardly noticed when I "came out" gay the following year, as though it was expected from anyone who would deliberately choose to be seen driving a Japanese sports car. God, I love my hillbilly family!
Let me start by saying I rarely if ever comment on sites like this. (car stuff) But I just found your channel today and I must say I absofreakinlutely love it !!! In my opinion you missed / bypassed one of the better Chevy's, the first car I fell in love with, The 57 Belaire model.
Just being picky I know. I'm sure it was a time restraint issue. But seriously this is the first channel that's hit me with so much Humor,Trivia, "Knowledge" Humor, Delivery, Accent, Graphics, and Humor !!! "GREAT JOB BRUH"
Even boats had fins in the late 50's, perhaps travel trailers, outdoor grills, furniture & shopping carts too.
Shopping carts 😂
Can you believe that even aeroplanes had tailfins back then too.... amazing.
Ed, Great video , the first design cycle that Exner was over at Chrysler was 55-56s. There were smaller tail fins and even gun site tail lights on the first official Imperial. The sales campaign called 55-56's the 100 million dollar look. Your knowledge of the US auto market makes me think you have lived in the US for a while. Keep up the great work. Lance
"Don't even get me started on Jeeps." I'd love to hear you do a history on the Jeep brand. Great videos!
The trunk spoiler wars of the 1980's that is still going on today (although it seemed to peak in the 90s). When mom's minivan had a rear spoiler, you know the fight was real.
Man what I love the wing age of the late 50's to early 60's.
The love started for me as a little kid living in my late 1980's with discovering Cadilacs 59'ers, especally the 1959 Cadillac Mille-Meteor that was used in the 1984 movie Ghostbusters and its 1986 cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters. After that I found all other manufacturers who did the same and that is why my favorite cars are from the late 50's and the 60's.
Sure Ford is my favorite brand and the 1960 Thunderbird my 1# car but Cadillac, Dodge, Chevrolet etc all made some beautiful cars at that era.
Great! But what about the 1957 Chevy?
I love the tailfin era as much for the beautiful colors as for the styling. I'm buying a new 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee this week, and I'm so disappointed with the colors offered that I've settled for white. Contrast that with the 1959 De Soto, which was available from Chrysler Corporation in any of 26 different solid colors and 190 different two-tone combos!
ColdWarMotors channel is restoring a 1960 Plymouth Fury on almost no budget, amazing craftsmanship!
Just found this channel, going to binge watch the lot it is so brilliant!
Same here!
I can’t believe you left out the ‘57 Chevy Bel Air. An even more recognizable tail fin than the ‘58 Caddy.
Yeah I noticed that slight,myself. In fact, the whole 1959 Chevy lineup had fins( of a sort),tho while the 57 looked classy and sporty,the 59 ,well,didn't.
Ditto, how could the 57 be not remarked upon, and the 58 & 9 Desotos, Firedome & Firesweep also pre-dated the Cadillac bullet shaped tail lamps!
I agree!! 57 Bel Air is my all time favorite car.
This was a brilliant video dude honestly it’s really informative and the way you explain things keeps them interesting
Great video Ed! Love the commentary. Keep up the good work.
I stumbled on this by accident - it's great. Informative and delightfully silly.
Oh and for the best tailfins that managed to be both crazy and beautiful at the same time, my favourite has always been the '60 and '61 Chrysler New Yorkers. Especially on a 2-door hardtop station wagon (-:
I always liked the big tail fins, one of my all time favorite cars was the Plymouth Fury from 1959, we had one when I was a kid.
That’s amazing! I would love to have one of those one day.
It doesn't matter how critical he is of this video it's alot better then what I can dream of even making love it
I love tailfins, are so aestetic !!!
Ed, you are the man! This was very good and I really enjoyed it. There is so much more to this story but as you said..just a quick history on this video. Thanks!
Look at the 1954 Ford La Tosca and '54 Ford FX Atmos concepts. They were the first to take tailfin design to the extremes with sharp angles.
Even the conservative company Mercedes-Benz produced two model lines with tailfins between 1959 and 1968. Officially the tailfins were considered to help identify the car's corner when parking. Some of these were pretty durable and could still be found as taxis into the 1980s (I think there is still one in Berlin, or was until recently, operated by a nostalgic taxi company).
The space age fin cars of the late fifties we're true works of art! Never to be seen again.
Just love those 50s car......better then today.
Chrysler designed their 1957 cars with dual headlights, only to find out that this arrangement was illegal in most states at the time of presentation. Later in the model year they got the proper headlights the cars were designed for due to new regulations. So now you could tell if a 1957 Chrysler built car is an early or a late production vehicle! Got a 1959 DeSoto myself, and you got to love tailfins that actually stretches half the cars length!
My father owned a 1944 Ford ex-staff car in Germany around 1958. Car production did not completely stop in 1942.
The fins on my '57 Chev are great for parking. I also remember my Grandma saying that when she owned it.
I didn't realize the Japanese used a nuclear bomb on pearl harbor. Thanks for setting history straight!
Brilliant little episodes, well funny, interesting and full of facts. Job done Ed.
Interesting and very comprehensive video! Looking forward to see more!
Awesome info! Thanks!
My favorite classic car is the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible.
You missed out the '59 Impala, a totally different kind of tail fin. Oh... And my dream car...!
"don't make this mistake agian"
Dang calm down. One little mixup like that is not going to kill anybody...yeesh
@@zachstudios567 -- Don't take things so seriously -- it's a joke.
Anyway, the 59 Chevy was more than fins or wings, with what we called "Cat Eye" tail lights at the time, that seemed to state right at ya.
@@ibamINV Either way, I consider the '59 Impala to be the most beautiful mass production car ever built... :-)
It was rumored that if you drove a '59 Chevy fast enough, the rear end would lift off the ground. Hydroplaning on a dry pavement! The wings were less radical on the '60 Chevy and gone completely by '61.
Can’t talk about this era without the ‘57 and ‘59 Chevies!
How the hell this video only has 1k views
Your videos are excellent. I enjoy them so much. Keep up the good work. Thank you for posting.
Brilliant content!!! Please keep it coming, this level of quality is bound to pay off sometime soon :-)
Ever since the malayse videos, I've been hooked on this channel. I had to come back and watch the rest of the videos in the series. Hopefully your channel gets bigger.
These are fantastic.
I'm 68, and was a bit too young to be interested in car design at the time. But, my still living mother (94) has told me stories about dear-old-dad buying and installing aftermarket fins on an older, pre-fins car. Uggghhh, my dad a wonderful man, but was not a car guy.
Yes, the fins should come back in a safe design way! 🇺🇸
I would love to see them make a great return too!
but then you shift in reverse and you can impale a man lickity-split
Got episode 5 randomly recommended on my home page, just subscribed and starting from the beginning. Great quality videos, and I'm sure your channel is about to blow up!
So much awesomeness - outstanding video!
I owned a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker. Had a bubble speedometer, cruise control and a 413 cu in engine. The truck was big enough for two bodies - um, so I heard.
Good video, thank you. We were living in the age of Buck Rodgers and every car had to resemble a personal rocket ship that propelled us to 60 mph in 9 seconds or so and used a gallon of gas to do it. Now we're paying for it.
I remember the first time I rode in my uncle's 1959 Cadillac wow I mean that thing was huge it was heavy but man it was it was nice how big it was incredible the trunk everything
A neighbor owned a 1960 Cadillac Sedan deVille. One day, he told a clerk at the hardware store to put his order in the big Cadillac.
A friend commented that his Cadillac was no longer "big."
When he got home, he told his wife to grab her purse and the checkbook. They were buying a new car.
He brought home a 1968 Coupe deVille the next day.
While the 68 deVille was nice, I liked the fins on the 60 deVille.
Cadillac was a bit more of a hold-out than you credit them for - while less pronounced than their predecessors, the late-1960s Cadillac tailfins were a thing of beauty. Check out a 1967/1968 deVille (Sedan or Coupe - take your pick)... Not only did the full-height chromed taillights resemble jet engines but the forward-swept front end with over-under headlights was aggressive as heck! While the 340-375hp of Cadillac's standard V-8s might appear tame, their insane 480-550 pounds of torque was enough muscle to give Mustangs and Corvettes a run for their money!
Well done!
Thrilled to find your channel. I'm exhausted so going to watch till the wee hours in Ga USA
Every year from mid 1950s to early 60s, it was cool cause every model year was different. So cool.
I like the cars from the 1940s-1950s. But my most favorite 1950s car is the Space Age concepts. My so called "dream" car is a 1950s concept car that I have to build.
The best era for cars.
The 59 Cadillac still rock today!
Can't believe you didn't include pictures of the '60 Chrysler. Those fins were almost as big as the '59 Cadillac.
I always thought the 1960 Imperial tailfins looked bigger than the 1959 Cadillacs fins.
A German sounding guy doing a southern accent totally made my day!😂
He's Dutch.
German “sounding”. A Dutch accent sounds similar to a German one.
Fascinating!!!
I would love one of these Caddilac DeVilles with the huge tailfins. Hope I can rent one should I ever have another opportunity to visit the states.
Love the video!
The '59 Caddy was cool.
Actually, wood-bodied station wagons date to before the war. Plenty of those prewar "woodie" wagons were still around in the postwar years and could be bought cheaply, which made them popular with the surfing crowd. Take out the back seat, knock out the rear window, and you had room to slide in a couple of surfboards.
The 1955-56 Chryslers had subtle, tasteful fins and are still beautiful cars today. The so-called Forward Look actually began with the 1957 models. Ironically, the "Forward Look" was all about emphasizing the back end of the car!
Amazing Caddy still holds on to their fins, just now it's all tall led tail lights hidded within the cars body.
I commented this on another video but I do want to see this styling coming back. Especially the tail fins.
In the 50's and early 60's cars looked distinctive. I could tell the make and model of the car from a half mile away. Now, they all look alike. Unless you see the name plate they all look like they came down the same production line. Now cars are just transportation. It doesn't matter what they look like as long as they get you there.
My father bought a 1960 Plymouth similar to the one at 9:34, and my mother hated it because she was always spotting the immense fins in her peripheral vision, and would fear they were another car that was way too close. When we moved in May 1961 the Plymouth was sold and left behind, so we only had it for a matter of months.
When I was a kid, I hated fins. Now I liked some models.
I just discovered your channel! You’re funny, informative and entertaining. Great knowledge of cars!
The Rococo of American Car Design ‼️
Great vid! 🎉
The ‘59 Cadillac fins were 12 1/2 inches (over 30-cm) at the tail end. Measured them personally many years ago!
fantastic documentary
In the Keith Laumer story 'The Day of the Troll' which dates from around this era there is a reference to someone identifying a 1990s Rolls Royce by the fact it has 8inch high tail fins!
I have a 2019 Jeep Wrangler. One reviewer said "the styling hasn't changed since I liked Ike". :)
Funny and informative. Thanks.
WHAAAAAT!!!! No mention or pics of the infamous Batmobile -- The King of Fins.