1940 American Automobiles

[JRoberts]

[studegary]

I don't have much connection to 1940 models. Our family had a 1940 Plymouth from 1940 to 1951. I owned a 1940 Studebaker President for a few years. They are my only connections to 1940 cars.

[8E45E]

Out of those 21 stand-alone brand names, I only count seven that are left where you can buy a 2013 model of!!!

Craig

[qsanford]

Great piece of History. Where was it from? There appears to be a slight FOMOCO bias as the Ford and the Lincoln names are embellished with their engine type!

[qsanford]

Forgot the Mercury,too!

[JBOYLE]

Notice from the cowl back, they all look alike.
Yes, I know some/many of the bodies were made by outside suppliers like Budd, but still, not a lot of difference.

[Peanut]

Notice from the cowl back, they all look alike.
Yes, I know some/many of the bodies were made by outside suppliers like Budd, but still, not a lot of difference.

I'm glad you said it first, but I agree with you 100%. It frustrates me to hear people demeaning current automotive designs as derivative (i.e., "They all look the same"). I think that this has always been the case. Sure, there are exceptions here and there throughout the years. But, really, the general shapes tend to be similar within any sampled period.

In another post, I put up an image of a '41 Champion and a '41 Willys. Not much difference there.

I think that the kids today are just as deft at identifying makes and models (if not model years) as most of the previous generations were with the cars of their day.

[Sdude]

Notice from the cowl back, they all look alike.
Yes, I know some/many of the bodies were made by outside suppliers like Budd, but still, not a lot of difference.

Except the Hupmobille. That Cord body was quite different in it's day.

[comatus]

Crosley copied no one -- and no one copied Crosley.
American Bantam was still in production in 1940, and is not represented.

[Milaca]

Quite a spread in engine cylinders available for the money with the Crosley at this time sporting two cylinders and the Lincoln sporting twelve cylinders. Even if the Lincoln was only running on 1/3 of it's available cylinders, it would still be running on twice as many as the Crosley! Imagine a cold winter morning and the Lincoln wont spin over fast enough to start, along comes a little Crosley to give it a jump. They both likely came from the factory with the same size 6-volt battery.

[aenthal]

We have more marques to chose from today. But most of them are no longer made by US companies.

Still around: Ford, Lincoln, Chrysler, Dodge, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac
Added since then: Volkswagon, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Honda, Subaru, Toyota, Kia, Isuzu, Nissan, Infiniti, Lexus, Scion, Tesla, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Bently, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Hyundai, Lamborghini, Mazda, Maserati, Jeep, and are Volvo and Saab still made?

Wonder how many foreign cars were out there in 1940 (though not commonly imported into the US).
We have fewer US choices, but it seems to me that we have quite a bit more than any time since the end of the post war car boom (1958? 1961?)

[Corvanti]

when i showed the '40, a lot of folks thought it was a furd - some thought willys...

maybe it was due to growing up when i did, but always thought that the mid-50's to early 70's had more differences than pre-war or post '75 - some corporate "stablemates" excluded - after that it was different grilles/backsides.

now the "soap bars" mainly being made, can usually only be recognized by it maker's badge - front and rear.

from what i've seen of the new cars coming out, they are going to be more "angular" - http://www.egmcartech.com/2012/04/16...-evos-concept/

maybe Caddy did something good!!! http://gmauthority.com/blog/category...e/cts-v-coupe/

[Guido]

We have more marques to chose from today. But most of them are no longer made by US companies.

Still around: Ford, Lincoln, Chrysler, Dodge, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac
Added since then: Volkswagon, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Honda, Subaru, Toyota, Kia, Isuzu, Nissan, Infiniti, Lexus, Scion, Tesla, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Bently, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Hyundai, Lamborghini, Mazda, Maserati, Jeep, and are Volvo and Saab still made?

Wonder how many foreign cars were out there in 1940 (though not commonly imported into the US).
We have fewer US choices, but it seems to me that we have quite a bit more than any time since the end of the post war car boom (1958? 1961?)

I take exception to the comment that Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Toyota, Nissan, Bentley, Rolls Royce and Volvo were added since 1940. Mercedes began production in 1886, BMW in 1929, Audi in 1909, Toyota in 1937, Nissan (as Datsun in 1919, as Nissan in 1937), Bentley in 1919, Rolls in 1904 and Volvo in 1927. While most were not directly imported into the US, all were producing vehicles prior to WWI (and WWI in a number of instances).

While the Jeep was an outgrowth of the war effort, it was manufactured as a civilian vehicle by Willys-Overland Motors. Willys-Overland got its start in 1908 and dropped passenger car production after WWII to concentrate on Jeep vehicles (the CJ2A, utility wagon, pickup and Jeepster) before resuming car production in 1953. There is a Studebaker connection here, as Barney Roos re-engineered the Willys 4 cylinder engine to meet the demands of military applications in the Jeep.

1940 was not a good year for several of the manufacturers pictured, as it was the last year of Huppmobile production with the factory closing in June of that year after only producing 315 Skylarks (though some were sold as 1941 models). Graham also ceased production in September, 1940, though it did produce the Frazer starting in 1946 in conjunction with Kaiser. LaSalle also called in quits in the summer of 1940, which is odd given that it outsold Cadillac during the 1930's. I may get an opportunity to drive a LaSalle next week, I have driven the car in the past and it is a well made automobile.

[8E45E]

While most were not directly imported into the US, all were producing vehicles prior to WWI (and WWI in a number of instances)

And a very small handful actually had assembly plants in the US, in including Austin (Bantam), Springfield bodied Rolls Royces, and this Fiat:



Craig

[Bob Bryant]

Shouldn't Suzuki be included? Sold in the US and some are assembled in Canada, but I don't know if those cars are sold in the US market.