Knudsen nose

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The Knudsen Nose ( English Knudsen Nose ) was a popular in the early 1970s design element of car design . The term describes an exposed formation in the area of ​​the front of the vehicle, in particular the radiator cowling. The name goes back to the American manager Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen , who established this design element especially in the models of the Ford group. The Knudsen nose is primarily found on US cars; At times, however, there were also less pronounced forms in European vehicles.

Just like the earlier tail fins and Dagmar bumpers and the later Coke Bottle line , the Knudsen nose is an icon of a certain design era.

history

Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen

The trained engineer Semon Knudsen, whose father temporarily headed the automotive company General Motors (GM), worked for the Pontiac brand, which belongs to the GM group, since 1939 . In 1956 Knudsen was promoted to Vice President and General Manager of the brand. Under his leadership, Pontiac developed a decidedly sporty image. In 1965, Knudsen became Vice President of General Motors.

Although he was not a trained designer, Knudsen repeatedly influenced the design of passenger cars. On his initiative, among other things, the division of the radiator grille by means of a vertical strut went back, which had been a characteristic feature of all Pontiacs since the late 1950s. This later developed into a protruding radiator grille. When Knudsen moved to the competing Ford group in February 1968, he took the idea of ​​an accentuated radiator mask with him. At Ford, too, he made decisions about detailed vehicle design issues. It is thanks to Knudsen that Ford and its sister brand Mercury gradually introduced this design element in all models from 1969 onwards. Although Knudsen was dismissed by Henry Ford II in September 1969 after only 19 months in office , Ford kept the Knudsen nose as a central style element until 1975.

development

The beginnings: vertical radiator partition (Pontiac Catalina 1964)
The vertical bar becomes part of the radiator (Pontiac Parisienne 1969)
Protruding radiator grille (Pontiac Catalina 1970)

The term Knudsen nose is understood to mean a clearly shaped radiator grille that protrudes over the front line of the bonnet. The contemporary German-language literature described it as a "wedge-like protruding cooler nose."

There is broad agreement that the Knudsen nose is a stylistic development of the vertically divided front fairing of the Pontiacs. Initially, the radiator grille was only divided into a left and a right half by a painted metal brace. As early as 1965, bulges had been incorporated into the hoods of some Pontiac models that pointed towards the vertical cooler division. In the 1968 Pontiac models, the radiator grille was then integrated into the vertical division for the first time. In a further step, the radiator division was finally developed into a protruding radiator mask.

At General Motors, the above cooler was not widely used. Clearly it was only available from Pontiac. Other GM brands took up the topic only sporadically, for example Cadillac in the first front-wheel drive Eldorado designed by Bill Mitchell in 1967 . Ford, on the other hand, used the Knudsen nose from 1969 across all brands and in all vehicle classes; only the top brand Lincoln pursued a different front design. The development came to a standstill from 1973, as all newly registered cars now had to be equipped with heavy safety bumpers, which made individual and above all above design solutions in the area of ​​the radiator grille difficult.

Manifestations

The characteristics of the Knudsen nose are different. In some models from the early 1970s, it was limited to a simple bulge in the radiator grille with a corresponding increase in the bonnet. Other models, in particular the sporty Mercury Cyclone and the Ford Thunderbird from 1970, had clearly shaped bonnets with pointed radiator openings in the center of the vehicle front. One of the most extreme variants of a Knudsen nose is the wide, strongly protruding radiator grille of the AMC Matador in the version built from 1975.

Outside the USA

Knudsen noses were mainly found in US cars. The most famous car made in Germany with a Knudsen nose is the Ford Taunus TC presented in 1970 , the front design of which goes back to a direct influence of Semon Knudsen. Even contemporary German-language literature used the term Knudsen nose in connection with this vehicle. Today the term is so established that the Taunus TC is commonly referred to as Knudsen-Taunus. The English sister model Cortina Mark III also had a Knudsen nose.

The Australian subsidiary of the Chrysler group manufactured the Centura from 1975 , a version of the French Chrysler 180 , which had a clearly protruding grille in the style of the Knudsen nose. In this case, however, this form of front design was not chosen for stylistic reasons; rather it was due to technical reasons. The extension of the front end was necessary to accommodate the Australian inline six-cylinder engines, which are much longer than the French engines.

Meaning and criticism

The design scientist Paolo Tumminelli assigns the Knudsen nose to the New Baroque . The nose of the vehicle, which tapers out of the bonnet, cites the classic vertical radiator grille that shaped the pre-war design.

The accentuated nose especially of the Ford models was often criticized at the time. On the occasion of the presentation of the Knudsen-Taunus, the designer Luigi Colani spoke of “Knudsen's ridiculous nose tick” and saw it as an expression of “department store taste”.

Gallery: manifestations of the Knudsen nose

  • Pontiac Catalina Wagon (1968)

  • Mercury Cyclone (1970)

  • Ford Thunderbird (1970)

  • Ford Gran Torino Coupe (1972)

  • Ford LTD (1972)

  • Ford Galaxie 500 (1974)

  • Mercury Comet (1975)

  • AMC Matador (1978)

  • Ford Taunus (Germany; 1971)

  • Ford Cortina (Great Britain; 1972)

  • Chrysler Centura (Australia; 1975)

  • Stutz Blackhawk III (1974)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980 . Beekman House, New York 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 , p. 589.
  2. ↑ a b c d Christian Steiger: Rheingold . Model history of the Knudsen-Taunus in: Oldtimer Markt, issue 6/1995, p. 11 ff.
  3. ^ Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980 . Beekman House, New York 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 , p. 593.
  4. ↑ John Holusha: Semon Knudsen, 85, Dies; What Prominent Auto Executive ; Obituary in: New York Times, July 9, 1998.
  5. ↑ a b N.N .: Knudsen's nose. Automobiles / New Ford Models. In: Der Spiegel from August 17, 1970.
  6. ^ History of the Knudsen nose on the website www.carstylecritic.blogspot.de (accessed on November 2, 2016).
  7. ^ A b Paolo Tumminelli: Car Design . teNeues, 2004, ISBN 9783823845614 , p. 62.
  8. ↑ a b Dirk Ramackers: Vanishing Point Cologne-Kalk. Purchase advice Ford Knudsen-Taunus . In: Oldtimer Markt, issue 6/2007, p. 40 ff.
  9. ^ Christian Steiger: Rheingold . Model history of the Knudsen-Taunus. In: Oldtimer Markt, issue 6/1995, p. 8 ff.
  10. ^ Description of the Knudsen-Taunus on the website www.autobild.de (accessed on November 2, 2016).