A “ride in luxury” isn’t always what a person might think it to be, depending on the era of automobile transport. Today, riding in ultimate luxury conjures visions of a personal driver, extreme roominess in the rear compartment, privacy, overstuffed seating and ultimate electronic and personal amenities. Indeed, there were elements of these attributes in the distant past, but perhaps not exactly as perceived today.
Buyers of ultra-luxury cars, particularly in the 1930s, chose cars as a statement of the owner’s importance and prestigious position in business and society. In the present era, that tends to be reflected in the rare, expensive and limited-production sporty cars of high cost often made in Old World countries such as Italy and England. Not so in the 1930s. Although a segment of high-level buyers with deep pockets stuffed with cash did buy such exotic cars back then, the majority wanted their autoMOBILE (as they often emphasized with a nasal echo) to reflect their class, their good taste and their exclusivity in the upper stratosphere of society.
It wasn’t that “bigger was better,” although a percentage of Americans opted for that. Nay, the vast majority wanted coachwork of rare breed (meaning limited production) by a “house” (establishment) of renown in the American northeast (where coach makers began the special-order trend when horses ruled the roads). Such motorized conveyances visually bespoke the arrival of high-class individuals as though a herald were rushing ahead to announce the arrival of a great person. This was quiet elegance projected well before the rear compartment door was opened by a chauffeur in order for the main passenger to alight from the lap of luxury.
Often the most “snobbish” body design chosen by persons of importance was labeled the town car. In the 1930s, that nomenclature meant the rear was exclusively the mobile domicile of the monied car owner who hired a uniformed driver (doubling as mechanic and body guard) to escort and otherwise assure the classy, safe and timely arrival of the main occupant. The chauffeur rode on leather seating up front with no radio or pleasantries in place (unless the owners were generous and wished those to be installed by special order). The driver’s compartment was open, but allowed for the ready unveiling of a canopy to defend against adverse elements. We may think the protection was intended to protect the driver. No doubt there was reason behind that, since applicants for that hired-hand position would more readily apply and accept if they knew they would not be freezing up front or be at the inclement whims of nature.
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Think deeper. In the final tally, the car owner wanted a spiffy, well-groomed, neat and perfectly uniformed driver to be evident. Imagine how that driver appeared before the public eye of the wealthy if he (yes, they were nearly exclusively men) stood at attention with a drenched uniformed disheveled and sagging by rain. This being a negative impression slammed against the owner, it became common to show how kind the owner was to provide the shield of the canopy over the front compartment.
Additionally, a canopy to cover the driver’s compartment also protected the instruments and upholstery in that part of the car, and thus protected the owner’s investment.
Other owners opted for what became the prevailing luxury versions in enclosed form — the partitioned (and longer) limousine and five- or six-passenger formal sedan. The latter still reflected a bit of the town car design by having a leather covering over the entire top, minus the open front.
Progress continued as the 1930s aged. Lesser sales were registered for custom-bodied town cars, but the reason was strange. Never had the automobile industry faced such a challenge as the Great Depression of the 1930s, which was far worse than the severe recession-depression of the early 1920s and even that of 1907-1908 which, in themselves, were severe enough to knock the industry into a reel. What sent the town car format on a road to oblivion was the reaction of the poor public. Men, women and children affected by the family’s loss of income during the depression came to occasionally toss pebbles, stones, bits of junk, rotten tomatoes and bad eggs at the town cars as they motored by. When slowed by a mass of humanity, pounding on the car was not unheard of. Some individuals today may claim that such Depression antics caused the body style to die. Perhaps. But ultimately, it was the fading away of automotive custom design houses and the practical shift in public opinion, plus a need for security and a change in signs of wealth, that may have been bigger causes.
Spend time when a town car shows up at a vintage or classic car show. Study the driver’s front compartment and compare against the rear enclosure. Appreciate the design of old, reflective of a bygone era.
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