214:. The 1959 Cadillac fins looked like jet airplane vertical stabilizers with sharp points and twin bullet-shaped taillights. Many of automotive press and much of the public were getting weary of the exaggerated tailfins, and the manufacturers were ready to phase them out because they added cost and complexity to design and manufacturing. Tailfins descended throughout the early 1960s, even adopting a downward slope on the 1965 Cadillacs. Mostly they disappeared and were replaced with a new style of taillight, called lobster-claw taillights, although in instances a sharp-edged quarter panel meeting a downward sloping trunk created the illusion of fins. Vestigial tailfins, however, remained on American cars into the 1990s, at least as far as the 1999
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183:, which predates the P-38, also contained hints of tailfins via projecting tail-light "paddles", although it is unclear if this influenced later fin designs. The 1941 Cadillac Series 63 4-Door Sedan also had a form of jutting tail-lights, although milder than the 1937 Fleetwood. Even though the 1948 model was the first conscious effort at fins, the earlier partial occurrences may have made the concept more acceptable to consumers and designers. (
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styling encompassed the 1950s and 1960s, peaking between 1955 and 1961. It was a style that spread worldwide, as car designers picked up styling trends from the US automobile industry, where it was regarded as the "golden age" of
American auto design and
116:, thought the twin rudders of the airplane would make a sleek design addition to the rear of future modern automobiles. Tailfins took particular hold on the automotive buying public's imagination as a result of
163:
added a center fin to his prototype designs in the 1920s for aerodynamic stability. Influenced by his patents some car producers made streamlined prototypes with one center positioned tailfin. For example, the
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claimed that the tailfins were not fins, but "stabilizers" to place the "center of pressure" as far to the rear as possible and thus "reduce by 20% the needs for steering correction in a cross wind", while
331:(1958), is also prominent in the study of personal injury from parked vehicles. In both of these cases, children were injured by sharp protrusions on parked cars. The plaintiffs lost in both cases. In
128:, which subsequently resulted in manufacturers scrambling to install larger and larger tailfins onto new models. As jet-powered aircraft, rockets, and space flight gained public recognition through the
769:. Recent Cadillacs have continued the tradition of the brand's signature vertical taillamp tailfins. Cadillac's designers call the current Cadillacs's styling evocative of tailfins. In 2010, the
187:
produced a gap of
Cadillac model production between the early 1940s and late 1940s as factories turned to military goods production, interrupting the development of the fin concept.)
132:, the automotive tailfin assemblies (including tail lights) were designed to resemble more and more the tailfin and engine sections of contemporary jet fighters and space rockets.
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195:
The
Cadillac 1948 fin styling proved popular, and its use spread to other models in the General Motors family of brands. Soon it was adopted by other manufacturers, with top
335:, the court found that Chrysler was not responsible for anticipating "all the possible ways in which a person may injure himself by falling against an automobile." In
108:, who at the time the 1948 Cadillac was being designed was chief of the GM Special Car Design Studio. It was Hershey who, after seeing an early production model of a
295:. Since the Ambassador's exterior design remained virtually unchanged for nearly sixty years, the tailfins were retained for the duration of its production
339:, the plaintiff attempted to rely on a law governing the size and protrusion of radiator caps and grills, which the court said did not apply to tailfins.
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In 2009 Trabant introduced the Nt concept with distinct tail fins projecting from the rear similar to the earlier models made the
Trabant company.
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styling incorporated the trademark vertical taillights sculpted into tiny tailfins projecting from the rear. This was also done with the
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in particular taking the tailfin look on board. As confidence grew in the styling trend, the fins grew larger and bolder.
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Cadillac tailfins had started to turn downward already by 1965, here seen vestigially a quarter century later on a 1990s
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327:(1963), a seven-year-old child on a bicycle collided with a fin and sustained a head injury. A case of the same era,
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Though not officially mentioned by the manufacturer, reviews from the media compared the sharp angles of the
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tail-lights similar to tailfins. This is better seen when the tail-lights are lit.
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Tailfins have been criticized as a safety concern, even as a parked vehicle. In
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The
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is often credited for the automobile tailfin, introducing small fins on the
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The most extreme tailfins appeared in the late 1950s, such as on the 1959
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951:'Dangerous Instrumentality': The Bystander as Subject in Automobility"
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879:(First ed.). New York NY: Harper Collins. pp. 176β177.
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784:'s rear styling included subtle delta fins as a homage to the
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concept to lead the marque's new design language, known as
986:"FindLaw's California Court of Appeal case and opinions"
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shows the fin as a separate assembly added to the tail
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The tailfin was first introduced on the 1948 Cadillac
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244:with similar rear "sight line" augmentation.
228:series of sedans, which gained the nickname "
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176:production car or Fiat Padovan prototype.
42:Another view of the 1959 Cadillac tailfin
224:introduced a modest tailfin on its 1959
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757:Subtle reintroduction into car styling
232:". In company terminology, they were
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972:, 221 F. Supp. 677 (S.D. Tex. 1963)"
31:The tailfin at its apex on the 1959
579:(Series II & Elite,) 1959β1964
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811:1950s American automobile culture
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957:19:1 (February 2004): pp. 61β94.
875:Knoedelseder, William (2018).
859:"Hershey, Franklin (Frank) Q."
799:fourth generation Toyota Prius
761:In 1999 Cadillac launched the
691:Studebaker-Packard Hawk series
268:Latent tailfin on the compact
1:
970:Kahn v. Chrysler Corporation
348:Examples of tailfin styling:
282:Cadillac Brougham d'Elegance
179:Some sub-models of the 1937
1054:Automotive styling features
16:Aspect of automotive design
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571:Mercury Turnpike Cruiser
143:called its own tailfins
930:"Cadillac history 1948"
901:"Cadillac history 1948"
862:industrialdesignhistory
782:2000-2005 Buick LeSabre
452:(all models), 1958β1960
319:Facel Vega HK 500 coupΓ©
88:American exceptionalism
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703:Studebaker Commander
697:Studebaker President
583:Morris Oxford Farina
293:Hindustan Ambassador
212:Imperial Crown sedan
159:Automobile engineer
1044:American inventions
1002:. 9 September 2015.
816:Googie architecture
535:Lincoln Continental
466:Facel Vega Facel II
402:Chrysler New Yorker
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565:Mercury Park Lane
479:(105e), 1959β1968
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390:Chevrolet Bel Air
384:Cadillac Eldorado
208:Cadillac Eldorado
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771:Cadillac SRX
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625:Opel KapitΓ€n
577:Morris Major
495:Ford Galaxie
444:Dodge Lancer
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311:Toyota Crown
270:Lancia Kappa
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201:Virgil Exner
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185:World War II
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126:Forward Look
122:Virgil Exner
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752:, 1959β1962
745:Volvo P1800
741:, 1957β1962
735:, 1957-1991
729:, 1955-1962
723:, 1960-1964
717:, 1959-1971
711:, 1959β1968
699:, 1957β1958
693:, 1957β1961
687:, 1959β1971
681:, 1959-1978
675:, 1959β1960
669:, 1959β1960
663:, 1960β1962
657:, 1956β1960
651:, 1960β1975
649:Peugeot 404
645:, 1953-1958
639:, 1955-1958
633:, 1955-1958
627:, 1958β1963
621:, 1957β1959
611:, 1960-1965
605:, 1964β1976
595:, 1956β1965
585:, 1959β1971
573:, 1957β1958
567:, 1959β1960
561:, 1957β1964
555:, 1961β1963
549:, 1960β1964
543:, 1959β1968
537:, 1957β1960
531:, 1955β1957
525:, 1955β1961
519:, 1960β1962
509:, 1951β1966
507:Ford Zephyr
503:, 1957β1963
497:, 1959β1961
491:, 1957β1963
485:, 1951β1962
483:Ford Consul
477:Ford Anglia
473:, 1959β1961
446:, 1955β1959
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416:, 1956β1960
404:, 1957β1964
398:, 1958β1960
392:, 1955β1960
386:, 1948β1964
380:, 1959β1964
374:, 1959β1960
368:, 1955β1958
362:, 1959β1963
191:Tailfin era
172:prototype,
168:prototype,
98:Harley Earl
79:tailfin era
1033:Categories
918:Allpar.com
833:References
438:Dodge Dart
161:Paul Jaray
155:Background
130:Space Race
83:automobile
50:Tailfins (
821:Empennage
513:Holden FB
471:Fiat 2100
420:Cisitalia
356:1958β1965
256:The 1959
236:Peilstege
174:Tatra T77
170:Kdf-Wagen
147:Peilstege
120:designer
54:Peilstege
805:See also
523:Imperial
230:Fintails
199:stylist
197:Chrysler
136:Plymouth
118:Chrysler
1023:Tailfin
846:pbs.org
826:Spoiler
750:ZIL-111
733:Trabant
679:Saab 95
58:) on a
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705:, 1958
515:&
410:, 1962
343:Legacy
450:Edsel
337:Hatch
291:2013
272:CoupΓ©
62:sedan
881:ISBN
877:Fins
780:The
422:1947
333:Kahn
226:W111
110:P-38
77:The
124:βs
112:at
81:of
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601:β
591:β
517:EK
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864:.
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