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Showing posts from April, 2020

Kaiser Grille Designs

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America's Kaiser brand lasted less than ten model years (though production continued in South American a while longer).  During that time only two basic body designs were used, the original one plus a complete redesign launched for the 1951 model year.  To freshen the designs, grilles were restyled on occasion, the subject of this post.  I wrote about 1954 Kaiser styling here . Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale. Gallery 1947 Kaiser Here is an early Kaiser.  The grille opening is the rectangular element immediately above the bumper.  The raised ornamentation between it and the Kaiser name simply covers some hood sheet metal. 1949 Kaiser, RM Sotheby's auction photo The original grille was carried through the 1949 model year.  The 1950 redesign shown here is much more bold, featuring the kind of large, fat chrome bars that were fashionable on postwar American cars.  This design is much cleaner and more attractive than the rather fuss...

Car charging system works||how car charging system works

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Car charging system works||how car charging system works Automobile vehicle Charging system          Vehicle have a particular component which charge on a battery when vehicle is start * All vehicle have a charging systems on different way *Which component charge a battery? ans).  ALTERNATOR OR DYNAMO *HOW TO WORK ALTERNATOR? ans). Alternator have many more child parts insight like Rotor, Rectifier, Regulator Carbon brush or brush holder, circular coil,Alternator housing, Bearing, pulley. Working Procedure   ROTOR       It is a part of alternator this part are rotate North pole to South pole and generate the Magnetic field to produce a current (I) Car charging system works||how car charging system works   RECTIFIER       Current is a two types AC (Alternative current) and DC(Direct current) Alternator generate a AC current but cars not work on AC current this reason alternator have a Rectifier to convert the current ...

Oldsmobile's 1954 Corvette-Based F-88 Concept Car

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General Motors' Motoramas of the early-to-mid 1950s featured one or more show cars from each of the Corporation's divisions.  Many were unique, but some others were based on cars currently in production or about to be introduced to the market.  An example of a production-derived dream car is the 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 (Wikipedia entry here ). As should be evident from the images below, the F-88 clearly resembles the Chevrolet Corvette.  The Corvette first appeared in the 1953 Motorama as a show car, and was in limited production by late that year.  As for the F-88, it was likely okayed around that time. Unless otherwise noted, images are factory publicity photos. Gallery 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Although the link states that the F-88 was Corvette-based, there are significant differences.  The cockpits and windshields look about the same, but the door cuts are different -- the F-88's extends closer to the rear wheel opening, and those wheel ope...

American Motors' Stubby Pacer

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In the mid-1970s American Motors Corporation (AMC) launched a different kind of car -- the Pacer .  That act was more risky than usual for a car industry firm because of all the "unknowns" that the effort faced.  (Even playing it safe by launching an utterly conventional car has its risks.  Such as the car being perceived as being bland and a bit old-fashioned.) What AMC did was create a small car by American market standards simply by making it shorter than standard cars.  Not shorter and narrower -- overall, smaller -- but just as wide as conventional cars.  Width was even a point stressed in early Pacer advertising. Pacers sold fairly well for the 1975-76 introductory period, but then dropped off noticeably.  The link above cites some reasons.  I recall that the reason had to do with the recent gas crisis still worrying potential buyers and that Pacers were not seen as being much less fuel-thirsty than regular cars.  In that context, the Pacer...

Maybe Not All 1942 Chevrolets Had GM's A-Bodies

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During the 1940s and 1950s General Motors used three body platforms.  In those days before the American auto industry began the proliferation into compact, subcompact, SUV and other body types, those cars were all what can be termed "standard-size" though they did vary in wheelbase, numbers and shapes of windows, and other distinguishing details.  GM labeled these bodies A, B and C, and they roughly corresponded to the corporation's brand hierarchy progression of Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. (I presented a Special-Interest Autos magazine article dealing with B and C body variations here that's well worth reading for background on what GM was doing body-wise.) The A Body was the entry-level one, never found on Buicks or Cadillacs. According to this Wikipedia entry, "Starting in 1936 through 1958, GM used four different designations for various bodyshells/platforms with the A-body for Chevrolet, most Pontiacs, and the Oldsmobile Series F a...

Chevrolet Impala Side Trim Evolution

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I wrote about the redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Impala in this post .  But what about earlier designs launched intermittently starting with the 1958 model year? General Motors' entry-level brand is Chevrolet, and such brands seems to care less about styling feature continuity across redesigns compared to upscale makes such as Roll-Royce, or Packard in its day.  Chevy's Impala model is a case in point, as can be seen below. Gallery 1958 Chevrolet Impala, Barrett-Jackson auction photo First-generation Impalas featured a complicated side-trim composition.  There was a long, horizontal spear shape from which a link was provided to curved chrome trim along the edge of rear fender sculpting.  Aligned (almost) with the forward point of the latter is a vertical decoration mimicking exhaust venting that also sports four horizontal "speed lines."  Abaft of the rear wheel opening is a spear form that blends with rear bumper shaping.  It contains four vertical chrome hash...