A study of the Art Deco styling elements of streamlined car designs, describing their development, commonality, and unique aeronautical names. It also portrays British streamlined production cars made between 1933 and 1936. This unique account of a radical era in automotive design is illustrated with both contemporary and colour photographs.
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.
The story of British car streamline styling
Identifies the influence Art Deco had on automotive design
Thumbnail biographies of 1930s British automotive designers collected for the first time
Contemporary illustrations
High quality photographs of the surviving cars, many previously unpublished
