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Art Deco vehicles


pflaming

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In my opinion the'39 MOPARS' style capped the era of Art Deco automotive design. I suggest this thread is for Art Deco cars in order to note their uniquenesses. " Art Deco [wiki], on the other hand, emerged after World War I. In fact, the deprivations of the Great War years gave way to a whole new opulence and extravagance that defined the Jazz Age and the Art Deco aesthetic. The movement, prevalent from the 1920s until roughly the start of World War II, took its name from the 1925 Exposition Internationales des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (say that ten times, fast), held in France and is characterized by streamlined and geometric shapes. It also utilized modern materials like chrome, stainless steel, and inlaid wood. If Art Deco dabbled with natural materials, they tended to be graphic or textural, like zebra skin or jagged fern leaves. As a result, Deco featured bold shapes like sunbursts and zigzags and broad curves. In fact, if you check out the spire of the Chrysler Building, the hotels of Miami's South Beach, or the "coffin nose" oif a 1935 Cord Model 810, you'll be staring at the very definition of Deco."

I thought the definition of Art Deco was in order for this thread. 

The seller of my 39 was going to part it out. I will not attempt to restore it but I will leave it in a condition where it can be restored by one who knows how. I will rebuild it to a dependable driver, original patina, et al. 

So show us Art Deco cars and trucks, mopars and other makes. 

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Edited by pflaming
Added the definition of Art Deco.
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deleted as off-topic

Edited by knuckleharley
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While I find the '39 and '40 Plymouths to be more "streamline moderne", I think that deco detailing crept back into the '41.  Here are some detail shots of my P12.IMG_4920.JPG.089bf7874777ac8a48fe2bb98113bbe3.JPGIMG_4921.JPG.a6750681347aec869ebbd29130d866a2.JPGIMG_4922.JPG.4cfff7f2fd73f64df06e31de6825eeb1.JPG

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Any  mention or art deco styling years has to include 2000,when Chrysler started selling the PT Cruiser. If you can't look at one of those things and see late 30's Chrysler styling,you have to be blind.

Edited by knuckleharley
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Thoughts on the 1937 -1939 Chrysler cars....

The 1937 Plymouth was advertised as the "ALL STEEL" car. This referred to the fact that they were stamping the roofs in solid sheet metal and getting rid of the rectangular vinyl insert that was found on 1936 and prior cars.

If you take a good look at the 1939 Plymouth the only "flat" exterior body panels were the two vertical drop boards that go between the hood halves and the front fenders.

Every other inch of the car has some king of curved or compound curved surface. As a result the 1939 Plymouth Coupes were considered "bulbous" with huge curved fenders, roof line and trunk lid. It seems the technical ability to stamp / press large panels of metal into extremely curvaceous body panels reached a crescendo with the 1939 Plymouth Coupe (and sedans to a lesser extent). As a result some people find the 39's overdone. They look almost cartoon like...and I love it.

The 1940 and on redesign saw the bodies widen and the fenders shrink. The 1941 Plymouth might be one of the most balanced designs of the decade and is a poor mans classic. The point is that prior to 1940 the cars peaked in their curvaceous styling and "roundness", maybe a love it or leave it for some folks but none the less a beautiful exercise in design and technical abilities to produce an almost exaggerated larger then life statement.

Over 30 years of ownership the 1939 Plymouth Coupe has had many small children literally run from their parents towards the car like it was a "cartoon" car in larger then life scale.

Let me know what you think.

Pictured below.......

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Edited by Roadkingcoupe
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The Ultimate Art Deco Car - The Chrysler in Australia was pretty much the top of the tree in 1940. There were a few Imperials around in 1938/39 and they were trimmed similarly to mine. The TJ Richards version of the C25 had the 38/39 cabin with the 40 front dog house and rear guards (fenders) grafted on. Personally I think it looks better than the US version... TJ Richards records are pretty scarce, so I don't know exactly how many Chryslers were made here. At best there were about 160 of these - assuming all the bare chassis that left the factory came to Australia. I know of one other ex US embassy car in Melbourne, Victoria and I've seen a photo of one in Maroochydore, Queensland.  

The interior is trimmed with Art Deco style door panels and on the front seat back. The rear panels above the armrests had the same pattern stitched into them. The original seats are actually green leather with the same pattern stitched into them. The plaid is just a later cover. Unfortunately the leather is hard and has seen better days (and mice...)

Rick

 

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Ricky.........interesting comments regarding the general style of the Oz built 1940 mopars........I've always thought the 1940 Dodge front sheetmetal & grille is an integrated flowing design but I could be biased.......lol........it seems that the same basic interior styling was used by Richards for the Oz Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler as they all used a variation of the vertical pleats, the coloured pic is from an Oz 1940 Plymouth sales brochure, the next black & white pic is from an Oz 1940 Dodge sales brochure and also a pic of the door trims in my 1940 Dodge  ................I've seen three 1940 Chryslers over the yrs, a cream/white one in Sydney yrs ago, an orange hotrodded one from the Gold Coast a few times in the past 10yrs and in the outer western Sydney suburb of Dural the remains of a straight 8 powered one 40 yrs ago that was a complete basket case........I went with a mate who removed the engine & trans as a spare for the 1938 Imperial Limo he was restoring.......this car was so bad that the doors and pillars were removed by opening them...they fell off in your hand.......no tools required.....lol.......I noticed that your Chrysler still has its running board chrome caps............I obtained the ones on my Dodge from that basket case Chrysler as I knew the boards were the same shape on my Dodge and they rechromed up beautifully as they are made of a brass stamping, you can see them in the 4th pic............regards, andyd       

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Paulf........don't suppose you know what model the 1940 Chrysler is as it has the running board cap that I referred to in my above post and which seems to have been on the Oz 1940 Chryslers which I think only came as one model, the Royal........I've only seen this cap on pics of the New Yorker series.........andyd  

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You wouldn't believe it........I'm sitting in front of the TV watching Wheeler Dealers and then the ad break...........Lloyds Classic Car Auction this Saturday, 3rd June at the Brisbane Hot Rod Show and thead goes thru a few pics of some of the cars......and yep, there it is....a bright orange 1940 Chrysler 4 door sedan hotrod, 360 V8 etc...........went to the Lloyds website and there is about 25 pics...........lol..........doesn't rain it pours....regards, andyd    

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2 hours ago, Andydodge said:

You wouldn't believe it........I'm sitting in front of the TV watching Wheeler Dealers and then the ad break...........Lloyds Classic Car Auction this Saturday, 3rd June at the Brisbane Hot Rod Show and thead goes thru a few pics of some of the cars......and yep, there it is....a bright orange 1940 Chrysler 4 door sedan hotrod, 360 V8 etc...........went to the Lloyds website and there is about 25 pics...........lol..........doesn't rain it pours....regards, andyd    

Damn that's nice - and it's an Australian bodied car. Jane's Motors - Melbourne. They sold my dad's 1929 Plymouth.  If only I'd won lotto Tuesday night...

Ok, that takes the list to 4...

Rick

Edited by Ricky Luke
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Ricky........o/k.....the deal is I win lotto this week & I'll buy the car for you..........lol.............btw, do you have to buy a ticket to win?...............uh...........maybe that's why I never get the call................lol...........I've seen the orange 40 Chrysler a few times and its a nice car, not sure about the tweed style upholstery but I'm sure you'll get used to it.....lol........Janes were the sellers weren't they?......that's a TJ Richards body isn't it?................andyd

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