This Looks Like It Might Be a Pre-Tucker Lawson Design

[Tuckerfan1053]

Lawson, as you might remember, was the original designer of the Tucker Torpedo, though Preston choose to go with another design when he built the cars. This illustration dates from 1943, and while I don't know who the artist was, I couldn't help but notice the design of the "car of the future" closely resembles Lawson's Tucker concept.

[streamliner]

Actually, this is Tucker-related, in a round-about way. First, remember the Tucker automobile patent that referenced George Walker's Bohn-assigned bubble-top design (Tucker's Design Patent D154,192, Walker's Design Patent D139,636):



That car shows up in several of Bohn's ads predicting the future:



So, if I had to guess, I would think that Walker may have been commissioned to illustrate transportation in the future for Bohn Aluminum, and Bohn made an ad campaign showing where aluminum plays a role in getting there. Whether or not Walker actually did the illustrations for these posters, I don't know, but the car was his creation. Incidentally, many of these Bohn posters are available as reprints, since they are so representative of the past's future promises.

[streamliner]

[streamliner]

These Bohn campaigns and others exemplify why the 1940/41 Chrysler Thunderbolt's styling was so pivotal to automobile design for many, many years. Since Chrysler actually built several examples and used them in their public relations campaigns, featured them in auto shows, and exhibited them around the country, they were able to reach a tremendous audience worldwide. Each one also had its own unique eye-catching color combination at a time when most cars were basic black. It's also the reason why these cars now fetch well over a million dollars...

[Larry Clark]

These are more great posts. You are helping us get a much deeper knowledge of the role of and players associated with styling with the Tucker car. Again, great stuff. Thanks.

Larry

[Tuckerfan1053]

Okay, things are probably going to be getting really recursive at this point, but while poking around on my PC, I stumbled across some of GM's "Car of the Future" designs which clearly deserve to be mentioned here.







Not sure of the exact date, but it would have most likely been around the time Tucker announced the Torpedo, I think.

[streamliner]

I think I found George Walker's description for his car in the text of the following book, published in 1944. Both Bohn Aluminum and George Walker provided illustrations and commentary. George Walker's description of what the cars of the '60's will look like fits his Bohn design to a tee (the Bohn ad is from 1942, the patent filing from 1943). The description reads much like the Tucker ads, almost verbatim, from the rear engine to the rubber suspension, to the direct-drive rear wheels...


BETTER LIVING IN THE POSTWAR WORLD

By
NORMAN V. CARLISLE
and
FRANK B. LATHAM

New York

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1944



Material for this frontispiece is used by courtesy of:

Revere Copper and Brass Incorporated; Consolidated Vultee
Corporation; U. S. Stoneware Co., producers of Reanite; Bohn
Aluminum & Brass Corporation, Bohnalite & Bohnolly Prod-
ucts; L. C. Chase & Co., makers of Chase Velmo upholstery.

YOUR POSTWAR CAR will probably be made of light metals and
plastics and may therefore be around one thousand to twelve
hundred pounds lighter than 1942 models! This means a
smaller, "air-minded" motor designed to burn the high-octane
gasoline now used in fighters and bombers. You won't have to
bother with the gearshift at all, for the gears will be shifted
automatically as your car picks up speed. There will be no
fenders nor running boards on this "wingless plane-car." The
wheels will be enclosed by the streamlined body and the bot-
tom of the car will be airtight to protect the drive shaft, dif-
ferential, and other parts from dust and dirt. Doors will slide
back or roll up like a roll-top desk and will be controlled by
buttons instead of door handles!

Yes, this new car will be more livable and practical than
any you have been able to buy to date. Removing the fenders
and running boards will permit the inside of your car to be
more spacious, without greatly increasing its over-all length.
This will provide a back seat at least six feet wide, giving space
for a couch or bed. The driver's seat will be fixed (but adjust-
able, of course), while the other two front seats may be
moved around as you move your living-room chairs. And
there will be plenty of "living room" in your new car. Uphol-
stery will be of a fabric made of soy beans, or a cloth spun
from glass. These can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth.
The inside of the car will not be cluttered up with window
cranks, because the vehicle will be air-conditioned.

Visibility for the driver will be increased by having his seat
far forward. Only about 25 per cent of the total length of the
car will be in front of his line of vision, instead of 50 per cent
as in 1942 cars. This will enable the driver quickly to spot
cars coming in from cross streets and eliminate a lot of nerve-
racking sharp turns and quick stops.

Your car's tough, transparent plastic nose, like the "green-
houses" on a Flying Fortress, will give you unbroken vision
all around. No more peeping from behind the center or corner
posts in the windshield. This plastic nose will not fog or frost
it would not be used by our high-flying, all-weather
bombers if it did.

Headlights could be made to throw a narrow, flat beam to
illuminate the road ahead without blinding an approaching
driver. Or a polarizing lens for headlights, plus a similar screen
for the windshield, would abolish glare. A lens of this type is
already widely used in our glare-eliminating sunglasses.

Your car may have rubber springs, which also serve as shock
absorbers. They will operate silently and reduce road noise.
Easier parking and steering will be obtained by having some-
what smaller wheels. But the tires may be larger, using lower
air pressure to give you smoother and longer service. Rayon
cord fabric makes military tires stronger. Your postwar tires
will be made of long-wearing synthetic rubber (mixed with
small amounts of natural rubber) and rayon cord. You should
get around one hundred thousand miles of wear from these
tires. A very tough, heat-resisting glass-textile fiber may prove
suitable for tire cord. If this fiber can be used, it will be pos-
sible to reduce the amount of rubber in tires.

A plastic "sky-view" top will give everybody in your car
a chance to enjoy the scenery as you explore new sections of
the country. Industrial designer George Walker explains that
the plastic top will permit the transmission of ultraviolet rays
(which are halted by ordinary glass) and "will give the pas-
senger a good tan without the discomfort of sunburn, due to
the elimination of the infrared rays." A lightweight Venetian-
type blind could control the amount of light desired, or a
polarizing device could be adjusted to shade off excessive sun-
light or glare. The plastic top also would insulate the car
against summer heat and winter cold.

An air-conditioning system will permit you to take your
climate with you no matter whether you are touring a desert
wasteland or the icy mountains. The air conditioner is located
under the snub-nosed hood in front of the driver the engine
doesn't live there any more. It is in the rear, installed in "pan-
cake" fashion (with the cylinders horizontal). The engine is
directly over the rear wheels, which permits the hooking of
the engine directly to the transmission system. This arrange-
ment reduces the loss in power resulting from the use of a
long drive shaft running from the front to the rear of today's
car.

The removal of the drive shaft makes it possible to lower
the floor of the car, thus putting the center of gravity so low
that on sharp turns at high speeds the car banks and doesn't
roll easily. You have seen this principle demonstrated by a
toy doll with a weighted base, which keeps it from being
knocked over. One airplane feature vertical fins like plane
rudders may be used by some postwar cars to give them
greater "roadability. " (One of Packard's designs for a postwar
car uses this idea.)

[streamliner]

One last caveat as far as the identity of the actual arist, though. It appears that another stylist by the name of Ted Ornas also worked with Walker on at least some of Bohn's artwork, and although the artwork had George Walker's name on it, they may have actually been done by Ornas.

"Ted did some glamour advertisements for Bohn Aluminum, which appeared in Fortune Magazine, albeit with Walker’s name signed to them. Walker had the Admiral account, and Eureka vacuum cleaners as well. Ted managed to design a low-slung vacuum cleaner which was accepted by Eureka, and resulted in the firing of their chief designer. Ted was still doing occasional work for IH, and still with GW’s name attached. Ted’s employment with George Walker ran from December, 1939 through 1945."

According to the interviews, Walker was one of Ted Ornas' major mentors. The complete interviews with Ted Ornas can be found at:

http://www.superscoutspecialists.com/store/t-TOinterview.aspx