1894-1980
Automobile Architect

Artists.

In the 1920s, for the first time, styling became a focus for mass-produced cars. During the preceding two decades body design had been a significant concern for only the most expensive of automobiles. Often a grand-marque auto company would manufacture a chassis — the frame and working parts — and then turn it over to a custom coach builder, who would construct the body with the particular styling features specified by the wealthy customer (he would have to be extremely well-to-do, since in 1920 a custom-built automobile cost between $12,000 and $15,000 — the equivalent of $120,000 to $150,000 in 1995 figures). Among the great coach-building companies were Brewster, Healy, Judkins, and Derham, all of which enjoyed reputations for splendid work and all of which had moved into automobile- body construction and design when their original roles as producers of horse-drawn carriages had become obsolete. During the mid and late...