In the “Story Ideas Bank” Stewdi offered a topic that got me thinking: What are the most successful facelifts of all time? The power was out at Indie Auto’s world headquarters for most of the day, so I’m going to narrow the question enough to post a quick response: What were the five most successful facelifts among American cars during the postwar era (1946-1979)?
What do we mean by “facelift”? I would define it as redoing the front and/or rear of a car but keeping some of the side sheetmetal. In contrast, a reskinning gives the entire car new sheetmetal even though the underlying body is carried over. Thus, I would define the 1963 Plymouth as a reskinning rather than a facelift.
What do we mean by “successful”? I take into consideration whether the facelift improved a car’s aesthetics, but it also seems important that the redesign made the car more competitive in the marketplace. That doesn’t necessarily mean higher sales, e.g., if the facelift came out during a recession.
With that, here is my initial take. What does your list look like — and, most importantly, why?
1979 Pontiac Firebird: Teaching an old bird new tricks
I am including the 1979 Pontiac Firebird partly because I think that designers did a particularly good job of refreshing what had become one of the oldest bodies on the market. This generation was introduced way back in 1970 1/2 and had not even been given a full reskinning since then.
In previous facelifts the Firebird became an early adopter of swept-back fascias. This deviated from Detroit’s typical practice of vertical fronts. Breaking away from this practice would make it easier to improve aerodynamics.
For 1979 the Firebird kept the swept-back look and took the next step of moving the grille into the bumper area. Aside from sports cars such as the Chevrolet Corvette, this was a rare move by a US automaker during the 1970s.
In addition, the Firebird did an exceptionally good job of masking the bulkiness of the federally mandated 5-mph bumpers. Part of what worked so well was the use of body-colored bumpers and two-tone paint.
The TransAm was also noteworthy for styling details such as full-width taillights with a cool, black-out lens.
1968 Ford LTD: Settling on the right brougham look
I would argue that Ford didn’t quite get the brougham look right on the LTD until 1968. A big reason why was that adding hidden headlights helped to distinguish the top-end Ford from more plebeian models.
I think it also helped that the two-door hardtop switched from a semi-fastback to a notchback. This is not to suggest that that I dislike the 1967 two-door models. Ford came up with a clever solution to the need to offer both sporty and luxury versions of the semi-fastback. On the LTD a vinyl roof filled in some of the rear-quarter windows, thereby giving the greenhouse a more intimate look. That could have worked okay if it had been carried over in 1968 (as it was on the top-end Mercury Marquis), but a notchback better fit the part.
In 1968 the LTD took the sales lead over Chevrolet’s top-of-line Caprice. I suspect that the facelift played a meaningful role in that shift (go here and here).
1970 Dodge: An improvement that didn’t sell better
The Dodge Polara/Monaco were arguably the weakest of the Chrysler Corporation’s 1969 “fuselage” redesigns. So for 1970 they were given a rapid-fire facelift to fix their biggest problems.
The 1969 models suffered from short-hood, long-deck proportions and overly plain front and rear ends. So for 1970 the front end was extended with a donut-shaped bumper and a more horizontal look. Meanwhile, the deck was given a higher-mounted, wrap-around bumper with enclosed taillights. The overall effect was both richer looking and better balanced.
Alas, the facelift didn’t actually help sales. However, that could be blamed more on a recession and over-production the previous year than lack of buyer acceptance of the facelift. The 1971 models, which were only modestly changed, saw a meaningful sales increase (although the big Dodge didn’t fully recover until 1972, when it received a reskinning).
1960 Rambler: Finally getting it right on the third try
I would argue that one of the postwar American cars that was most improved by a facelift — both aesthetically and competitively — was the 1956 Rambler. The original design was admirably space efficient and offered an interesting early take on the “fuselage” look, but it wasn’t executed all that well. Part of the problem was the weird inboard headlights, but I would also argue that the C-pillar was too thick.
The 1958 facelift improved the front but didn’t fix the C-pillar — and tacked on some ill-fitting tail fins. That’s why I would propose the 1960 facelift as the more effective facelift. The greenhouse got a much airier look and the rear end was given a backward tilting shape that would become one of the automaker’s most long-lasting styling cues.
It’s unclear as to how much the new styling helped sales, but the senior Rambler sold very well despite the arrival of more modern compacts from the Big Three. Although some may consider the car frumpy looking in comparison, its unusually tall and roomy body was a refreshing alternative to the lower, longer, wider trend that all too often placed aesthetics ahead of practicality.
1955 Packard: Making an old car look refreshingly new
I have criticized the 1955 Packard as being too derivative (go here), but I still think that it was an admirable effort to give an aging body a more modern look.
Perhaps the most important feature was a fascia with a thin, high-mounted bumper and wrap-around horizontal trim that made the car look lower. On top-end models a thick horizontal band with an inset courtesy light was a deft touch. Meanwhile, “cathedral” taillights gave the rear end a very different — and much more contemporary — look from the previous year.
High-end, two-door models were also moved to the five-inch-longer wheelbase used by the Patrician four-door sedan. That’s one reason why the above-shown 1954 Pacific two-door hardtop looks shorter than its 1955 successor, the 400.
Of course, the tragedy of the 1955 Packard was that its successful facelift was undercut by mechanical gremlins and sloppy assembly due to a switch to a new plant. This goes to show that nice styling can’t save a car if it has other problems that undermine customer satisfaction.
Those are my top five — what are yours?
NOTES:
Production figures were calculated from the auto editors of Consumer Guide (2006) and Gunnell (2002).
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Auto editors of Consumer Guide; 2006. Encyclopedia of American Cars. Publications International, Lincolnwood, Ill.
- Gunnell, John; 2002. Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975. Revised 4th Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
ADVERTISEMENTS & BROCHURES:
- oldcaradvertising.com: Pontiac Firebird (1978, 1979)
- oldcarbrochures.org: Dodge Polara (1969, 1970); Ford LTD (1967, 1968); Pontiac Firebird (1978, 1979); Rambler (1957, 1960)
I believe the 1960 Studebaker Lark meets your makeover criteria. Chopping off about two feet from a standard size 1958, Studebaker created the “entirely new” Lark compact from something old. The undercarriage and the fuselage were carryovers from 1953. The Lark allowed Studebaker to enter the compact segment, an entirely new market at the time, opposite of the Rambler American. Studebaker had been loosing market share and profitability for years prior to the relatively successful launch of the Lark, and for a brief time, Studebaker sales and profits were up. However, as the big 3 launched their own compacts, the Lark soon faltered in the marketplace. A 1962 facelift by Brooks Stevens finally relieved the Lark of its 1953 fuselage and resulted in a modest sales boost but alas the recovery was again short lived. With high expectations, Stevens modernized the look of the 64 models but sales cratered and Studebaker management quickly changed course after Sherwood Egbert’s departure by shutting down South Bend production and paring models.
It comes down to how tightly one holds to my proposed definition of a facelift. Although the 1959 Lark carries over the front-door sheetmetal from the previous year, the car’s length was radically cut. The wheelbase appears to have been reduced in front of the cowl and behind the B-pillar, and both the front and rear overhangs were slashed. That required new greenhouse sheetmetal even for the wagons, and for other body styles you couldn’t just swap out the front and rear sheetmetal from the previous year. So while this strikes me as an exceedingly clever way to create a compact, I wouldn’t describe it as a facelift. A 1956 or 1962 Studebaker would better fit the definition.
However, if we did categorize the original Lark as a facelift, I would be ambivalent about giving it a top award. The Lark did revive Studebaker sales in 1959-60, but the car’s output collapsed in 1961. I have previously argued that a key reason why was that Studebaker made some mistakes in the car’s styling and market positioning that hurt them once the Big Three introduced its more modern compacts (go here).
A conspiracy theory floating around the Internet is that Studebaker designers saw what the 1960 Plymouth Valiant would look like and “stole” its styling. I suspect that this did not really happen, but if they did get a sneak peak I find it odd that the designers didn’t borrow a key feature which would have given the Lark more staying power — thin, high-mounted bumpers that would have made the car look much less stubby and old fashioned (go here).
At the time, I didn’t view the 1979 Firebird as an improvement over its predecessor, and that view holds today. The 1978 Camaro was a much more successful facelift. It made the car look sleeker and more contemporary. The basic shape of the second-generation F-bodies was quite good, and, in my opinion, the 1978-81 Camaros were the ultimate evolution of that body style. That Camaro was one of the best-looking cars on the market at the time – foreign or domestic.
The 1968 Ford LTD works, but Ford made the Galaxie and lesser full-size Fords so plain and generic that they look as though they were designed to be police cars and taxi cabs (and encourage people to buy an LTD). If ever a car was worth a “few dollars a month more” to give the prospective buyer better looks and more prestige, it was the 1968 LTD.
The 1970 Dodge Polara/Monaco were an improvement over the 1969 model. The front treatment reminds me of the 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix, minus the beak and hidden headlights. Unfortunately, the facelift couldn’t cure the main problem with the fuselage cars, which this site has highlighted. Namely, they didn’t look that good as two-door hardtops. They were fine as four doors (sedans and hardtops), wagons and convertibles. But the two-door hardtops were awkward, and there were still a sizable number of buyers who wanted a full-size, two-door hardtop during this era.
The 1960 Rambler was definitely an improvement, and I would say that the 1961 model, with its new front, was even better. The 1962 model was not – even though it ditched the small fins and color sweep. The revised back made the car look tall and stubby, and eliminating that color sweep only aggravated that issue. The all-new 1963 senior Ramblers arrived in the nick of time.
I always thought that the changes Oldsmobile made to the 1969 F-85/Cutlass were an improvement over the 1968 car. The front, with the divided grille and relocated turn signals/parking lights, was cleaner, and I still love the simple, vertical taillights.
The other successful facelift was the 1968 Chrysler. It was an improvement over the 1967 model – the taillight treatment was cleaner, and the entire front ensemble was better integrated, and even set the tone for the 1969 model with its loop front bumper. A 1968 New Yorker four-door hardtop is quite a handsome car – what a Chrysler should be.
That strikes me as reasonable list. Know that I initially included the Camaro because I thought its facelift was less gimmicky than the Firebird’s but switched to the latter because moving the grille down to bumper level was a more substantial styling advancement.
Some honorable mentions might go to the 1970 Plymouth Fury who got an improvement with the loop bumper bonus points if you have hidden headlights available with the Sport Fury over the 1969 models or the 1970½ Fury Grand Coupe who added more “pizzazz” to the 2-door sedan.
The 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan who have 4 headlights available.
The stackhead headlights for the 1981 Chevrolet light pick-up trucks line-up which include the Suburban and the Blazer was also a nice facelift.
How about this one: the ’68 VW Beetle!
The styling changes (especially the new bumpers) and made the car much cleaner and cuter(!?) without the tubular bumper guards and separate back-up lights such as the ’67s had. The ’68s were more “attuned” to the late ’60s – if that’s possible with a Beetle and you know what l mean. There was a deserved sales boost.
Also, you HAVE to know that l’d mention the transformation of the ’61 Studebaker
Hawk into the ’62 Gran Turismo Hawk – yes, the car that caused even the automotive press attending its introduction to break out in applause!!!
Beyond front and rear changes, I think that the windshield modifications in the cited Rambler & Packard examples did a lot for their respective face-lifts. The Rambler backed off of its wrap-around windshield to be more in line with the 60s direction. The Packard adopted a wrap-around windshield to get out of the early 50s look. Changing A pillars and associated cowl pieces is more than a simple facelift in my book.
My favorite facelift is the 1955 to 56 Chevy front end. Also, off of the top of my head, would be the 1954 to 55 Olds, 50 to 51 Chevy, 55 to 56 Desoto. None of these were major, but they all had nicer faces. The 1968, 69, and 70 Olds Cutlass Supremes kept getting better too. I also like the 1965 Comet a lot better than the 64. The 1962 Studebaker Hawk GT, as mentioned above, was transformative.
We could also discuss where a facelift was dictated for the new model year, but it hurt a car. Here I would nominate the 1958 Ford, 1964 Rambler Classic, 1962 Chevy, 1959 Plymouth & Imperial, for starters!