33-621: The Chrysler Norseman was a four-seat fastback coupe built in 1956 as a concept car . Although designed by Chrysler 's stylists, actual construction was contracted out to the Italian coach-building firm of Carrozzeria Ghia . The concept car was lost during the sinking of the SS ; Andrea Doria . Virgil Exner , working in Chrysler's Advanced Styling Group, developed lower, sleeker, and more aggressive-looking automobiles for Chrysler in
66-417: A Kamm tail or K-tail —is an automotive styling feature wherein the rear of the car slopes downwards before being abruptly cut off with a vertical or near-vertical surface. A Kammback reduces aerodynamic drag, thus improving efficiency and reducing fuel consumption, while maintaining a practical shape for a vehicle. The Kammback is named after German aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm for his work developing
99-402: A "sweeping fastback rear end design and Chrysler's own take on a tailfin and bumper treatment." More difficult to fabricate was its unusual cantilevered roof, which was secured to the body only at the rear C pillars . There were no side pillars, and at the front the roof rested only lightly on a fully frameless windshield. An advanced 12 square foot power sliding glass panel sunroof feature
132-418: A bus, and Koenig-Fachsenfeld patented the idea. Koenig-Fachsenfeld worked with Wunibald Kamm at Stuttgart University, investigating vehicle shapes to "provide a good compromise between everyday utility (e.g. vehicle length and interior dimensions) and an attractive drag coefficient". In addition to aerodynamic efficiency, Kamm emphasized vehicle stability in his design, mathematically and empirically proving
165-447: A car, so automotive designers sought other solutions. In 1935, German aircraft designer Georg Hans Madelung showed alternatives to minimize drag without a long tail. In 1936, a similar theory was applied to cars after Baron Reinhard Koenig-Fachsenfeld developed a smooth roofline shape with an abrupt end at a vertical surface, effective in achieving low amounts of drag similar to a streamlined body. He worked on an aerodynamic design for
198-463: A coupe but sometimes a sedan, with a roof sloped gradually in an unbroken line from the windshield to the rear edge of the car. A fastback naturally lends itself to a hatchback configuration and many have it, but not all hatchbacks are fastbacks and vice versa. In the case of the Ford Mustang , the term "fastback" is used to differentiate against the coupé notchback body style, which has
231-488: A fastback will have a trunk opening that is separate from the rear window which remains in a fixed position. The term "fastback" is not interchangeable with " liftback "; the former describes the car's shape, and the latter refers to a roof-hinged tailgate that lifts upwards for storage area access. More specifically, the Road & Track Illustrated Automotive Dictionary defines the fastback as A closed body style, usually
264-485: A less practical, elongated rear end design. In Australia, fastbacks (known as "slopers") were introduced in 1935, first designed by General Motors' Holden as one of the available bodies on Oldsmobile , Chevrolet , and Pontiac chassis. The sloper design was added by Richards Body Builders in Australia to Dodge and Plymouth models in 1937; it was subsequently adopted by Ford Australia in 1939 and 1940, as well as
297-463: A low drag coefficient . For example, although lacking a wind tunnel , Hudson designed its post-World War II cars to look aerodynamic, and "tests conducted by Nash later found that the Hudson had almost 20% less drag than contemporary notchback sedans". However, the aerodynamic teardrop shape meant lower headroom for rear seat passengers, limited visibility to the rear for the driver, and also meant
330-473: A partial solution to the problem of aerodynamic lift, which was becoming severe as sports car racing speeds increased during the 1950s. The design paradigm of sloping the tail to reduce drag was carried to an extreme on cars such as the Cunningham C-5R , resulting in an airfoil effect lifting the rear of the car at speed and so running the risk of instability or loss of control. The Kammback decreased
363-638: A resurgence in the early 2000s as a method to reduce fuel consumption in hybrid electric vehicles . Several cars have been marketed as Kammbacks despite their profiles not adhering to the aerodynamic philosophy of a true Kammback. These models include the 1971–1977 Chevrolet Vega Kammback wagon, the 1981–1982 AMC Eagle Kammback, the AMC AMX-GT , and the Pontiac Firebird –based "Type K" concept cars. Some models that are marketed as " coupes "—such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz SUVs like
SECTION 10
#1732779879345396-477: A rolling mockup, so all normal systems for the powertrain , braking, suspension, were installed. Power was from a modified 331 cu in (5.4 L) Chrysler Hemi engine producing 235 hp (175 kW; 238 PS) with a pushbutton-controlled Powerflite automatic transmission . The body panels on the car were made of aluminum with "a sharply sloping hood, upswept tail fins and a covered, smooth underbody for aerodynamic efficiency." The Norseman combined
429-628: A sloper style made on Nash chassis. According to automotive historian G.N. Georgano , "the Slopers were advanced cars for their day". In Europe, there was a sloping rear on streamlined cars as early as 1945, from which the shapes of the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 356 are derived. In Japan, the Toyota AA first adopted the fastback style in 1936. It was strongly influenced by the 1933 DeSoto Airflow . The 1965 Mitsubishi Colt 800
462-457: A steeper rear window followed by a horizontal trunk lid. Automobile designers in the 1930s began using elements of aircraft aerodynamics to streamline the boxy-looking vehicles of their day. Such designs, which were ahead of their time when exhibited during the early 1930s, included a droplet -like streamlining of the car's rear, a configuration similar to what would become known as the "fastback" 25 years later. Merriam-Webster first recognized
495-421: Is a "teardrop," a smooth airfoil -like shape, but it is not practical for road vehicles because of size constraints. However, researchers, including Kamm, found that abruptly cutting off the tail resulted in a minimal increase in drag. The reason for this is that a turbulent wake region forms behind the vertical surface at the rear of the car. This wake region mimics the effect of the tapered tail in that air in
528-403: Is known to automotive historians, however, through photographs and specifications. Chrysler never used the cantilevered roof design in any subsequent vehicle. Automotive designer Dick Teague , who worked for Chrysler as a stylist during the mid-1950s, was responsible for many of American Motors ' vehicles and the "Norseman's resemblance to the 1965 Rambler Marlin fastback coupe, or vice versa,
561-414: Is not a fastback design with a roofline that tapers downward toward the car's rear before being cut off abruptly. Some models, such as the Ford Mustang , have been marketed explicitly as fastbacks, often to differentiate them from other body styles (e.g. coupé models) in the same model range . A fastback is often defined as having a single slope from the roof to the rear of the vehicle. Traditionally
594-588: The 1950s. Exner also wanted maximum all-around visibility from the car's interior and he took the design of the Norseman to the limit. The dream car was named for Exner's ancestry. The Norseman was designed by the Chrysler Corporation Engineering Division and built by Ghia of Turin, Italy. Ghia had experience in the construction of low-volume vehicles and one-off prototypes. Chrysler wanted a fully drivable vehicle, not just
627-484: The area of the lifting surface while creating a low-pressure zone underneath the tail. Some studies showed that the addition of a rear spoiler to a Kammback design was not beneficial because the overall drag increased with the angles that were studied. In 1959, the Kammback came into use on full-body racing cars as an anti-lift measure, and within a few years would be used on virtually all such vehicles. The design had
660-490: The car was finally delivered to the freight forwarder . it was estimated to cost US$ 150,000 (in 1956 dollars). The car missed its intended cargo shipment from Italy and was instead put into a container on the next available ship, the passenger ocean liner SS Andrea Doria . The car was to be a featured attraction of Chrysler's auto show exhibit for 1957 and was shipped from Turin by Ghia to New York City in July 1956. The car
693-402: The design in the 1930s. Some vehicles incorporate the kammback design based on aerodynamic principles, while some use a cut-off tail as a design or marketing feature. As the speed of cars increased during the 1920s and 1930s, designers observed and began to apply the principles of automotive aerodynamics . As aerodynamic drag increases, more energy, and thus more fuel, is required to propel
SECTION 20
#1732779879345726-467: The door and fastened across the occupants to the full-length center console which was later adopted in the early 1990s to satisfy passive restraint regulations enacted by the US Department of Transportation. Other features included concealed automatic headlights, door handles, and concealed trunk lid opening device. Building the complicated car, with its advanced features, took fifteen months and
759-432: The early 1940s until 1950, nearly every domestic manufacturer offered at least one fastback body style within their model lineups. Although the styling was good, the cars had less trunk capacity compared to the notchback designs. In the mid-1960s, the style was revived on many GM and Ford products until the mid-1970s. Marketing terminology changed in 2004, with the launch of the first generation Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class . It
792-542: The effectiveness of the design. In 1938, Kamm produced a prototype using a Kammback shape, based on a BMW 328 . The Kammback, along with other aerodynamic modifications, gave the prototype a drag coefficient of 0.25. The earliest mass-produced cars using Kammback principles were the 1949–1951 Nash Airflyte in the United States and the 1952–1955 Borgward Hansa 2400 in Europe. The ideal shape to minimize drag
825-464: The free stream does not enter this region (avoiding boundary layer separation ); therefore, smooth airflow is maintained, minimizing drag. Kamm's design is based on the tail being truncated at the point where the cross section area is 50% of the car's maximum cross-section, which Kamm found represented a good compromise, as by that point the turbulence typical of flat-back vehicles had been mostly eliminated at typical speeds. The Kammback presented
858-480: The late 1960s to the 1970s, American coke bottle styling became popular in Japan, as seen on Toyota 's 1973 Celica "Liftback" . In North America, the numerous marketing terms for the fastback body style included "aerosedan", "club coupe", "sedanette" and "torpedo back". Cars included Cadillac 's Series 61 and 62 Club Coupes, as well as various other models from General Motors , Ford , and Chrysler . From
891-652: The term "fastback" in 1954, many years before the popularization of the term "hatchback", which entered the dictionary in 1970. Opinions vary as to whether the terms are mutually exclusive. Early examples of fastback cars include the 1929 Auburn Cabin Speedster, 1933 Cadillac V-16 Aerodynamic Coupe, 1935 Stout Scarab , 1933 Packard 1106 Twelve Aero Sport Coupe, Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic, Tatra 87 , Porsche 356 , Saab 92/96 , Standard Vanguard , GAZ-M20 Pobeda , and Bentley Continental R-Type . Fastbacks provide an advantage in developing aerodynamic vehicles with
924-459: The vehicle. In 1922, Paul Jaray patented a car based on a teardrop profile (i.e. with a rounded nose and long, tapered tail) to minimize the aerodynamic drag that is created at higher speeds. The streamliner vehicles of the mid 1930s—such as the Tatra 77 , Chrysler Airflow and Lincoln-Zephyr —were designed according to these discoveries. However, the long tail was not a practical shape for
957-778: Was described as a 4-door coupé , a purely marketing term describing its fastback sedan arrangement, with fastback coupé-profiled bodywork and two doors on each side. The design reinterpreted the concept used in the 1992-1997 Infiniti J30/Nissan Leopard J Férié , which is not a true fastback. This marketing term was followed by other competing models, such as the Audi A7 and the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupé, Audi A5 Sportback, BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé, Volkswagen CC , Volkswagen Arteon , Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class , Aston Martin Rapide , and Porsche Panamera . Kammback A Kammback —also known as
990-443: Was difficult to integrate into a slender roof structure lacking A-pillar support at the front. The windshield and roof glass was specially made by PPG Industries to provide strength and be shatterproof. The door glass was ventless (having no small vent window at the front), a styling theme that would become popular some fifteen years later. The interior featured four bucket seats and the retractable reel-type seatbelts were mounted in
1023-462: Was shipped on the ocean liner SS Andrea Doria , which was involved in a collision off the coast of Massachusetts and sank, with the loss of fifty-one lives and all cargo. The beautiful, one-of-a-kind automobile was a "fascinating casualty" of the sinking of the Andrea Doria . As a result, the car was never shown to the public and was never seen by most of the stylists who worked on it. It
Chrysler Norseman - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-446: Was the first post-war Japanese fastback, and the 1958 Subaru 360 was the first kei fastback. The Prince Skyline 1900 Sprint was developed by Prince Motor Company in 1963, but was never marketed. Afterwards, all Japanese automakers adopted the fastback style, with the 1967 Honda N360 , 1968 Nissan Sunny Coupe, 1968 Mazda Familia Rotary Coupe, 1970 Suzuki Fronte "Sting Ray Look" , and 1971 Daihatsu Fellow Max . From
1089-411: Was uncanny." The remains of the Norseman were found in Andrea Doria's number two cargo hold in 1994 by diver David Bright. By the time it was found, it had disintegrated into a pile of debris with only the wheels still being recognizable. Fastback A fastback is an automotive styling feature , defined by the rear of the car having a single slope from the roof to the tail. The kammback
#344655