Classic Cars

Restored Chrysler Airflow

The first streamlined cars were made in the 1930s to look like airplanes instead of boxes on wheels.  The Chrysler Airflow was one such, a design said to have been based on wind tunnel testing with the assistance of Orville Wright. Although the car wasn't a marketing success, it led the way to the sleek cars we saw at the end of the century.

Boys in the mid-20th century commonly spent hours dreaming of their first car, ogling beautiful machines on the highways, and drawing them in the backs of their notebooks. In those days we drew hot rods, mostly, but sometimes one of the new, sexy assembly-line cars like the Corvette or the Mustang made it into our dreams.

"Bugatti," digital drawing, 2018

Carrying on that tradition, as part of my daily digital drawing routine I sometimes draw vintage cars from the 1930s. The drawing, left, of a 1935 Bugatti is a typical example of one of my studies. The drawing was done in Sketchbook with a coppery background. The car itself was one of the early streamlined models, this time from France, despite the Italian name. The car in the drawing is a 1935 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante. The Type 57 was introduced a few years after the Airflow. Unlike the Chrysler, which is actually a transitional form between boxes on wheels and aerodynamic, the Bugatti simply looks like a fast, graceful car. This design with variations sold through the beginning of World War II.

"1958 Corvette," digital, 2018

During the 1950s, American auto makers produced the Corvette, the Thunderbird (originally a sports car), and eventually the Mustang. Our love affair with fast, streamlined cars became an obsession during the 1960s and 70s, and the car designs show it. The drawing to the right is a 1958 Chevrolet Corvette, one of the cars my generation of boys lusted for. This one is also a digital drawing, done with Sketchbook. The Corvette is still made, of course, but the newer designs don't attract me.

"1954 Isetts," digital, 2018

This final drawing is an Isetta, a quirky but streamlined, egg-shaped microcar that has been manufactured in many countries. It was originally an Italian design. Built for economy, it had three wheels, a quirky, front-opening door, a motorcycle engine, and achieved more than 75 mpg. When it was introduced in the early 1950s it was a sensational addition to the automotive world, and an immediate success.

Autos are one of the important human artifacts of the last century and a half. It makes sense to sketch them.

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