Halo cars are popular but not always a good idea

1966 Chevrolet Corvette

Halo cars tend to quite popular — even wetness inducing — among auto enthusiasts. That’s because the mission of halo cars is mostly to generate a positive buzz about a brand rather than high sales.

So even though halo cars can achieve cult-like popularity, they may live a precarious existence because of their often questionable economics. A classic example is the 1955-57 two-seater Ford Thunderbird, which only lasted three years because output barely hit 21,000 units in its best year, which was 1957.

1957 Ford Thunderbird
The 1955-57 Ford Thunderbird may have been more legendary among car buffs, but the early four-seaters were a goldmine both in sales as well as influence (go here for further discussion).

Once in a while a halo car does bring home the bacon. The four-passenger Thunderbird sold so well that it sparked the rise of “personal coupes” in multiple sizes and personalities — from the Cadillac Eldorado to the Toyota Celica.

Indeed, the T-bird is arguably the all-time most successful halo car in the American automobile industry. For years the nameplate overshadowed another legend, the Chevrolet Corvette — which has drawn only a few short-lived domestic competitors. Why would Ford let such an influential nameplate die?

Halo cars can be cruel mistresses — and last gasps

Halo cars can be paradoxical. The 1953 “Loewy” coupe and hardtop are among the most beautifully designed cars of the post-war era, yet they also arguably played a major role in Studebaker’s financial decline (go here for further discussion).

Interestingly, Studebaker made the same mistake twice. The 1963 Avanti was an instant classic but a market failure that diverted scarce resources from higher-volume cars and trucks that might have kept the automaker alive at least a few more years.

Circa early-80s Avanti
The Avanti may have been far ahead of its time, but the dollars spent on it really should have gone to modernizing Studebaker’s family cars and trucks (go here for further discussion).

Dying brands often come out with a halo car in one last act of defiance. Witness the Kaiser Darrin, Hudson Italia, Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.

Big Three halo cars have often trafficked in excess

Most of the time halo cars from the Big Three have reflected Detroit’s bias toward bigger, glitzier and more powerful vehicles. For example, Chrysler Corporation under head designer Virgil Exner explored the outer limits of aircraft carrier size and space-age styling with the early-60s Imperial.

1963 Imperial
1963 Imperial

The original Ford Mustang was relatively small, light and inexpensive, but its successors were not. In the photograph below, the 1971-73 Mustang fastback shows off its rather large butt.

Lee Iacocca blamed Ford President Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen for the blimping out of the Mustang, but David Halberstam noted that “almost everyone else” who worked on the car remembers differently.

“Iacocca, like Henry Ford (II), adopted the formula of GM, which kept producing bigger and more expensive cars for its customers as they presumably become richer and more important. For there was not much difference in the cost of making a Chevrolet and a Cadillac, but the difference in profit was immense.” (Halberstam, 1986, p. 384)

Ironically, over the course of the Mustang’s lifetime sales have mostly been higher when the car has been smaller, more affordable and not outrageously powerful (go here for discussion about the ideal size for a Mustang).

Circa 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1
1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1

Meanwhile, the 1973-77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo — supposedly a mid-sized car — was as big as a mid-60s full-sized Impala but much less space efficient. The “personal coupe” was supposed to represent affordable luxury but instead was dripping with baroque styling that has not withstood the test of time very well (go here for further discussion).

1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo (Old Car Brochures)

Some halo cars have outgrown their names

The Toronado is but one example of a halo car that radically changed during its lifetime. When it was introduced in 1966, the Thunderbird competitor had an unusually sporty shape for a full-sized personal coupe.

1966 Oldsmobile Toronado
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado

The first-generation Toronado didn’t sell very well, so in 1971 Oldsmobile gave the car a neo-classical look similar to the 1967-70 Cadillac Eldorado (go here for further discussion). The designers changed the car so much that they might as well have given it a new name. My modest suggestion: El Bargio Grande.

1974 Oldsmobile Toronado
1974 Oldsmobile Toronado (Old Car Brochures)

Of course, one could point to a number of other halo cars during the 1970s that arguably changed more than the Toronado. For example, the Mercury Cougar morphed from a Europeanesque pony car to a broughamtastic chariot. The Dodge Charger made a somewhat similar transformation from a wedge-shaped, mid-sized sporty coupe to a Monte Carlo imitator.

Even so, I’d like to single out the Corvette Stingray. Over the years it has gotten so much bigger and gaudier that its name needs at least some fine tuning. For example, the major redesign in 2014 should have been called the Corvette Galactica (go here for further discussion about the car’s styling).

Circa 2014 Chevrolet Corvette
Circa 2014 Chevrolet Corvette 

Diverging from a brand’s identity can backfire

Halo cars can be particularly problematic when they don’t build upon a brand’s existing identity. For example, American Motors’ first full-fledged halo car, the 1965-66 Marlin, lacked the space efficiency and versatility Ramblers were known for. Nor was styling particularly attractive. Not surprisingly, the Marlin sold poorly.

1966 Dodge Charger interior
The 1966-67 Dodge Charger’s roomy and versatile interior would have been a better fit with Rambler’s practical image (go here for further discussion).

Ironically, the 1966-67 Dodge Charger, with its fold-down back seats and openable tunnel to the trunk, was more in keeping with the Rambler’s brand DNA. However, the original Charger’s styling was entirely too nerdy for Dodge — as the vastly more popular second-generation models would prove (go here for further discussion).

1970 Dodge Charger rear-quarter view
The 1968-70 Dodge Charger proved to be one of the Chrysler Corporation’s most popular halo cars of all time. This is a 1970 model.

In an effort to obliterate its dowdy Rambler image, American Motors came out with some of the U.S. auto industry’s weirdest halo cars. For example, the two-seater AMX answered a question that nobody asked — so only lasted three model years.

Meanwhile, the 1969 SC/Rambler and 1970 Rebel Machine offered nothing to distinguish themselves from other muscle cars aside from outrageous-looking paint schemes and hood scoops. How did that improve AMC’s image? (Go here for further discussion.)

1969 SC/Rambler
1969 Hurst SC/Rambler (Old Car Brochures)

The moral to this story is that halo cars can backfire when not approached with care. Indeed, brands with well-developed niches may not necessarily need them.


RE:SOURCES

  • Halberstam, David; 1986. The Reckoning. William Morrow & Co., New York, NY.

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This is an expanded version of a story that was originally posted June 1, 2018.

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