Gerald Palmer's Riley Pathfinder + Wolseley 6/90

Gerald Palmer (1911-1999) was one of the most important post- World War 2 British automobile designers (Wikipedia entry here).  He was responsible for the Jowett Javelin that I wrote about here.

He later moved to the Morris group where he designed the subjects of this post, the Riley Pathfinder, produced 1953-1957 (5,536 units built) and the Wolseley 6/90 produced 1954-1959 (11,852 units).

The bodies were nearly identical aside from their grilles.  But the Riley was powered by a four cylinder motor whereas the Wolseley's engine had six cylinders, so this might be considered a marginal case of badge engineering.

The images below are factory sourced or are of cars listed for sale.

Gallery

A 1955 Riley Pathfinder in this and the following two images.  At its 1952 origin, the styling was dated by American standards, but modern in its British context.  Aside from the prewar-style grille, the design features nothing but postwar elements, albeit in simple, conservative fashion.  Fenders are of the slab, flow-through type.  The windshield is of curved, one-piece glass.  Headlights are mounted at the front of the fenders.

The rear window is large and also curved.  The passenger greenhouse is nearly as wide as the car: note that the fender does not project very far from the beltline.  The trunk (boot) lid has a simple shape.  The tail light ensemble is dainty while the bumper is substantial.

Side view.  A subtle touch is the fenderline.  Starting at the B-pillar, it slightly rises and peaks above the rear axle line.  Compare to the fenderline of an otherwise somewhat similar car in the following photo.

Here is a 1947 Frazer.  It and its Kaiser stablemate were two of the earliest American cars with postwar styling (the other was the 1947 Studebaker).  Here the fender is a flow-through slab, but is dropped farther below the beltline than the Riley's.  The fenderline is simple, lacking the subtle curve that Palmer included.  The passenger greenhouse is similar to the Riley's, though the windows are smaller and the windshield is formed by two pieces of flat glass.  Palmer surely was aware of Kaiser-Frazer styling and might have been inspired by some of the features.  However, his design is better proportioned, better shaped, more subtle and, in sum, more attractive.

A publicity photo of what is probably an early Pathfinder.  It lacks the chrome trim along the fenderline seen in the previous images.

Side view of a 1957 Wolseley 6/90.  The main differences from the Pathfinder are the chrome strip across the fender and door and the sculpted wheel opening surrounds.

Front quarter view.  Front-end difference from the Riley include the grille, hood (bonnet) and bumper.

Seen from this perspective, we find a wider back window and different tail light assemblies.