1956 Buick Sequence 60 Riviera Sedan (prime) and Cadillac Sedan de Ville,
There is no such thing as a denying that the hardtop physique model was a triumph of midcentury auto design. Relying on who you ask, the 1949 Buick Roadmaster Riviera coupe was the primary regular-production hardtop of the post-war period. For Basic Motors, issues acquired much more fascinating when their designers turned to sedans.
Extra Favourite Automobile Advertisements
For 1955, Basic Motors rolled out its first 4-door hardtops, with an instance in all 5 of the maker’s model lineups.
For these unaware, the hardtop physique model is much like a typical coupe or sedan, however doesn’t embody the central “B” pillar usually discovered aft of the entrance doorways. The Pillarless look affords a given car an open, ethereal, and unbroken silhouette. The hardtop physique model was often provided solely on midline and prime trim ranges of a given mannequin, and sometimes commanded a value premium over “pillared” examples.
Properly Suited: The Designer Sequence Lincoln Mark V Fashions of 1977
Although GM’s 4-door hardtops had been launched for 1955, the maker started promoting the lot in single company adverts for 1956. It’s fascinating to see Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac in the identical print advert, it’s additionally actually cool.
Cool, too, is the introduction of latest hardtop trim-level identify addendums which, for essentially the most half, have stood the take a look at of time. The 1956 Chevrolet hardtop was generally known as the Bel Air, The Pontiac because the Catalina, the Oldsmobile because the Vacation, the Buick because the Riviera, and the Cadillac because the de Ville.
As famous above, going with the hardtop added to the underside line. Whereas the least-expensive 1956 Chevrolet 4-door sedan began at $1869, going with the hardtop Bel Air would set customers again at the very least $2068; that’s a hefty 11-percent value bump.
Although uncommon, GM would often assemble automobiles from all of its divisions for a variety of adverts within the following years, presumably to the chagrin of name advertising and marketing sorts in search of more-exclusive publicity.
What If: A Gallery of Alternate-Universe Mercedes-Benz 300SL Designs
1956 Basic Motors Hardtop Sedans
1956 Basic Motors Advert
Take heed to the Shopper Information Automobile Stuff Podcast
Favourite Automobile Advertisements: 1956 Basic Motors Hardtop Sedans
(Click on under for enlarged photographs)
1956 Basic Motors Hardtop Sedans
Design Insanity: A Gallery of Sixties Hardtop Advertisements
