Art Deco and British Car Design: The Airline Cars of the 1930s

by Barrie Down

Overview

This is a book about automotive styling, in particular the streamlined styling that defined what are now known as Airline cars. During the mid-1930s the majority of British car manufacturers and coachbuilders experimented with streamlined styling. This fashion was the result of Art Deco, an international movement that influenced design and marketing in many different industries, and produced some of the most unique and visually exhilarating cars ever produced in Britain. Part One of the book explains and illustrates the Art Deco styling elements that link these streamlined car designs, and describes their development, their commonality, and their unique aeronautical names. The stories of the individual cars, their designers, and their development, are told in Part Two. Here, Barrie Down has collected examples of all the significant British streamlined production cars made between 1933 and 1936, many of them still represented by beautifully restored survivors. The book is well illustrated with over 200 contemporary pictures and colour photographs of existing cars, many of which have never before been published. This book is an instructive and visual feast for all car lovers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845844851
Publisher:	Veloce Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	12/12/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	33 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Barrie Down has had a fascination with cars from as early as he can remember, and his childhood drawings were almost exclusively cars, cars, and more cars. Those he owned as an impecunious bachelor were from the 1920s and ‘30s, from which he gained a healthy respect for the design and quality of vintage and thoroughbred cars. After emigrating to Canada in 1964, he spent more than 20 years in the industrial design field, concerned primarily with transportation design. From his art historian wife, he learned to link design and social history, and discovered that the design of the cars he loved were strongly influenced by Art Deco.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgements

PART 1 – Why Art Deco?
1. Art Deco
2. Streamlining in Car Design
3. The evolution of Art Deco styling in British car design
4. 1934 - The Developing Styles of Art Deco
5. 1935 - The Classic Airline Year
6. 1936 and on - The Maturing of Art Deco Styling

PART 2 – The Cars & their Stories
7. Hillman Aero Minx
8. MG Airline coupe
9. SS1 Airline
10. Triumph Gloria Flow-free
11. Flying Standard
12. Riley Kestrel
13. Singer le Mans Coupe and Airstream
14. Talbot 105 Airline and 10 
15. Rover 14 Streamline
16. British Salmson Sports Saloons
17. AC and Alvis Saloons
Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"We think of the French as producing the most strikingly streamlined cars of the 1930s, in lyric teardrop bodies hammered out with doses of Italian style and German science. But this book reminds us that streamline design was the rage among car buffs everywhere in the '30s, even in upright, country-house, Evelyn Waugh Britain. Mr. Down reminds us that at the same time streamline cars were going on the market, ocean liners and trains were being streamlined, the better to compete with the nascent airline industry. His book also reminds us that the automobile industry of the time in Britain had yet to embrace mass production. Cars were sold to the few, and the sellers were coachbuilders as much as chassis or engine makers. To compete, each British car company had to offer a version of the season's fashionable cut, and so each one presented an airline or streamline body or two. The resulting cars are rare, with wonderful names like the Triumph Gloria Flow-Free and the Riley Kestrel. Many of these companies would not survive. But there are also glimpses of the future. We meet the young William Lyons, who impressed a man named William Walmsley. Together, their Swallow Sidecar company moved from teardrop add-ons for motorcycles to aero bodies for popular auto chassis. Swallow became Jaguar, of course, and two decades later produced more serious streamlining, driven by aerodynamics and racing." - New York Times "This vibrant work features a good mix of period and modern photos. Fans of streamlining will enjoy this fresh perspective on pre-war British car styling." – Classic & Sports Car "It's a fascinating read, which also feature photos of the cars that have survived to this day (many of which haven't been published until now)." – Classic Car Buyer
 "Here's a delightful book that could fill a gap both on your bookshelf. In the first part, author Barrie Down explains the Art Deco movement and how it combined with streamlining in the 1930s to produce some of the century's most stunning cars. He then goes on to details some of those cars, with background to the designs, a critique of them, an assessment of their success and more, all illustrated in colour and black and white. Highly recommended!" – Triumph World
 "Author Barrie Down was an industrial designer and it shows in his thorough and knowledgable text. Readable, informative and good value." – Classic Cars
 "A most enjoyable 144-page romp through a golden age of motoring." – Gay Classic Car Group
 "The book has some lovely period pictures and adverts together with some really nice pictures of many of the known survivors. The narrative has been thoroughly researched and is in a very readable style." – Jowetteer
 "With a mix of recent photos of many of these cars, and the more interesting contemporary photos and brochures, this is a very enjoyable look at a mid-'30s style that was different, and yet established various design elements that have been seen again over the decades since." – New Zealand Classic Car
 "Barrie Down, a man well versed in industrial design, is an authoritative narrator and has dug out a number of rare photographs." – Octane
 
 

"It is not often these days that a new book about old cars has really new information, but this one does. Buy it." – The Sacred Octagon "This is both a book for those with an interest in cars and the art deco period."

 

Editorial Reviews

"We think of the French as producing the most strikingly streamlined cars of the 1930s, in lyric teardrop bodies hammered out with doses of Italian style and German science. But this book reminds us that streamline design was the rage among car buffs everywhere in the '30s, even in upright, country-house, Evelyn Waugh Britain. Mr. Down reminds us that at the same time streamline cars were going on the market, ocean liners and trains were being streamlined, the better to compete with the nascent airline industry. His book also reminds us that the automobile industry of the time in Britain had yet to embrace mass production. Cars were sold to the few, and the sellers were coachbuilders as much as chassis or engine makers. To compete, each British car company had to offer a version of the season's fashionable cut, and so each one presented an airline or streamline body or two. The resulting cars are rare, with wonderful names like the Triumph Gloria Flow-Free and the Riley Kestrel. Many of these companies would not survive. But there are also glimpses of the future. We meet the young William Lyons, who impressed a man named William Walmsley. Together, their Swallow Sidecar company moved from teardrop add-ons for motorcycles to aero bodies for popular auto chassis. Swallow became Jaguar, of course, and two decades later produced more serious streamlining, driven by aerodynamics and racing." - New York Times

"This vibrant work features a good mix of period and modern photos. Fans of streamlining will enjoy this fresh perspective on pre-war British car styling." – Classic & Sports Car

"It's a fascinating read, which also feature photos of the cars that have survived to this day (many of which haven't been published until now)." – Classic Car Buyer

"Here's a delightful book that could fill a gap both on your bookshelf. In the first part, author Barrie Down explains the Art Deco movement and how it combined with streamlining in the 1930s to produce some of the century's most stunning cars. He then goes on to details some of those cars, with background to the designs, a critique of them, an assessment of their success and more, all illustrated in colour and black and white. Highly recommended!" – Triumph World

"Author Barrie Down was an industrial designer and it shows in his thorough and knowledgable text. Readable, informative and good value." – Classic Cars

"A most enjoyable 144-page romp through a golden age of motoring." – Gay Classic Car Group

"The book has some lovely period pictures and adverts together with some really nice pictures of many of the known survivors. The narrative has been thoroughly researched and is in a very readable style." – Jowetteer

"With a mix of recent photos of many of these cars, and the more interesting contemporary photos and brochures, this is a very enjoyable look at a mid-'30s style that was different, and yet established various design elements that have been seen again over the decades since." – New Zealand Classic Car

"Barrie Down, a man well versed in industrial design, is an authoritative narrator and has dug out a number of rare photographs." – Octane




"It is not often these days that a new book about old cars has really new information, but this one does. Buy it." – The Sacred Octagon
 
"This is both a book for those with an interest in cars and the art deco period." 

From the Publisher