Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Do You Remember These Ford Cars With Fender Skirts or Spats?

Fender skirts, known in Australia and the United Kingdom as spats, are pieces of bodywork that cover the upper portions of the rear tires of an automobile. They are typically detachable to allow for tire changes.

They are implemented for both aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons. Rather than air flowing into and being trapped in the rear wheel well, it flows smoothly over the bodywork. Automakers have also experimented with front wheel fender skirts, as on the 1950-1954 Nash Rambler, but with success limited by the fact that the front wheels must pivot for steering.

Fender skirts were first seen on the Chrysler Airflow and spread to many American cars in the 1940s. By the 1970s, they began to disappear. Fender skirts remained for some time longer on a few cars, particularly large American luxury cars.

They were often paired with whitewall tires. The extent of the skirt also varied, before the 50s it was common for all but the bottom inches of the rear tire to be covered, while by the 60s fender skirts only covered a few inches of the top of the tire and were largely absent afterwards.


1957 Ford T-Bird

1952 Ford Crestline Victoria

1957 Fairlane 500

1947 Ford

1963 Ford Galaxie 500 XL

1956 Ford Thunderbird

1948 Lincoln Continental

1953 Ford Crestliner Victoria Hardtop

1950 Ford Tudor

1949 Mercury Convertible

1941 Lincoln Continental

1950 Lincoln

1957 Ford Fairlane Custom

1954 Ford Convertible

1951 Mercury Tudor

1949 Murcury Tudor

1950 Mercury Sedan

1958 Ford Fairlane

Forties Ford Pickup

Lincoln Zephyr

1950 Ford Convertible

1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser

1951 Mercury Convertible

1955 Mercury Montclair Two Door Hardtop

1950 Ford

1950 Ford Custom

1956 Mercury Two Door Hardtop

1956 Ford Convertible

Ford Thunderbird

Ford Coupe

1957 Ford Ranch Wagon

1950 Mercury Tudor

1949 Mercury Tudor

1946 Lincoln Club Coupe

1952 Mercury Hardtop

1937 Lincoln Zephyr

1954 Mercury Sun Valley

1951 Mercury Tudor

1941 Ford Convertible

1950 Ford Tudor with skirts, wide white walls, flames and windshield visor

1949 Mercury Four Door Sedan

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