Fastback (pronounced fast-bak or fahst-bak)
(1) A form of rearward coachwork for an automobile body
consisting classically of a single, unbroken convex curve from the top to the
rear bumper line (there are variations of this also called fastbacks).
(2) A car having using such styling (also used as a model
name by both car and motorcycle manufacturers).
(3) A type of pig developed from the landrace or large
white and bred for lean meat.
(4) In computing, a product-name sometimes used for backup
software.
1960–1965: The construct was fast + back. Fast was from the Middle English fast & fest, from the Old English fæst
(firmly fixed, steadfast, constant; secure; enclosed, watertight; strong,
fortified), from the Proto-West Germanic fast,
from the Proto-Germanic fastu & fastuz (firm) (which was the source also
of the Old Frisian fest, the Old Norse fastr,
the Dutch vast and the German fest),
from the primitive Indo-European root past-
(firm, solid), the source for the Sanskrit pastyam
(dwelling place). The original meaning
of course persists but the sense development to “rapid, speedy” dates from the
1550s and appears to have happened first in the adverb and then transferred to
the adjective. The original sense of
“secure; firm” is now restricted to uses such as “hard & fast” description of
track conditions in horse racing but the derived form “fasten” (attach to; make
secure) remains common. Back was from
the Middle English bak, from the Old
English bæc, from the Proto-West
Germanic bak, from the Proto-Germanic
bakam & baką which may be related to the primitive Indo-European beg- (to
bend). In other European languages there
was also the Middle Low German bak (back), from the Old Saxon bak, the West Frisian bekling (chair back), the Old High
German bah and the Swedish and Norwegian bak;
there are no documented connections outside the Germanic and in other modern
Germanic languages the cognates mostly have been ousted in this sense by words
akin to Modern English ridge such as Danish ryg
and the German Rücken. At one time, many Indo-European languages may
have distinguished the horizontal back of an animal or geographic formation
such as a mountain range from the upright back of a human while in some cases a
modern word for "back" may come from a word related to “spine” such
as the Italian schiena or Russian spina or “shoulder”, the examples
including the Spanish espalda & Polish
plecy. Fastback is a noun; the noun plural is
fastbacks.
1935 Chrysler Imperial C2 Airflow (top left), 1936 Cadillac V16 streamliner (top centre), 1936 Mercedes Benz 540K Autobahnkurier (Motorway Cruiser) (top right), 1948 Pontiac Streamliner (bottom left), 1948 Cadillac Series 62 (bottom centre) and 1952 Bentley Continental R (bottom right).
Although it was in the 1960s the fastback became a
marketing term as the range of models proliferated, it was then nothing new,
the lines appearing on vehicles even before 1920, some of which even used the teardrop
shape which wind tunnels would confirm was close to optimal, as least in terms
of reducing drag although it would be decades before the science evolved to the
point where the importance of the trade-off between drag and down-force was
completely understood. To some extent
this was explained by (1) so many of the early examples being drawn from
aviation where shapes were rendered to optimize the twin goals of reducing drag
& increasing lift and (2) road vehicles generally not being capable of achieving
the velocities at which the lack of down-force induced instability to a
dangerous extent. Rapidly that would
change but there was quite a death toll as the lessons were learned. By the 1930s, streamlining had become one of
the motifs of the high-performance machinery of the era, something coincidently
suited to the art deco moment through which the world was passing and in both
Europe and the US there were some remarkable, sleek creations. There was also market resistance. Chrysler’s engineers actually built one of
their sedans to operate backwards and ran tests which confirmed that in
real-world conditions the results reflected exactly what the wind-tunnel had
suggested: it was quicker, faster and more economical if driven with the rear bodywork
facing the front. Those findings resulted
in the release of the Airflow range (1934-1937) and while the benefits promised
were realized, the frontal styling proved to be too radical for the time and
commercial failure ensued. People
however seemed to like the fastback approach (then often called “torpedo style”)
and manufacturers added many to their ranges during the 1940s and 1950s.
Ford Galaxies, Daytona, 1963 (top), 1966 Dodge Charger (bottom left), 1968 Plymouth Barracuda (bottom centre) and 1971 Ford Torino (bottom right).
Ford in 1962 inadvertently provided a case study of relative
specific efficiencies of rooflines. The sleek Starliner roof on the 1961
Galaxies used in NASCAR racing sliced gracefully through the air and while
sales were initially strong, demand soon slowed and the marketing department compelled
a switch to the “formal roofline” introduced on the Thunderbird; it was a
success in the showroom but less than stellar on the circuits, the buffering
induced by the steep rear windows reducing both stability and speed. Not deterred, Ford resorted to the long
NASCAR tradition of cheating, fabricating a handful of fibreglass hard-tops
which would (for racing purposes) turn a convertible Galaxie into a Starliner. Unfortunately, to be homologated for
competition, such parts had to be produced in at least the hundreds and be
available for general sale. Not fooled
by Ford’s mock-up brochure, NASCAR banned the plastic roof and not until 1963
when a “fastback” roofline was added was the car’s competitiveness
restored. Actually, it wasn’t really a
fastback at all because full-sized cars like the Galaxie had become so long that
even a partial sweep from the windscreen to the rear bumper would create absurd
proportion but the simple expedient of a sharply raked rear window turned out
to work about as well. Even on intermediates
like the Dodge Charger and Ford Torino the pure fastback didn’t really work,
the result just too slab-sided. The
classic implementation was when it was used for the shorter pony cars such as
the Plymouth Barracuda and Ford Mustang.
1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 Coupé (top left) & 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 (top right); 1971 Ford Mustang 351 Coupé (bottom left) & 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 429 Super CobraJet SportsRoof.
The fastback for a while even influenced roofs not
fast. The original Mustang coupé (1964) was
a classic “notchback” but such was the impact in the market that later in the
year a fastback was added, joining the convertible to make a three body-style range. The fastback’s popularity was bolstered by Carroll
Shelby (1923–2012) choosing that style for his Shelby Mustangs which over the
course of half a decade would evolve (or devolve depending on one’s view) from racing
cars with number plates to Mustangs with bling but it would also influence the
shape of the coupé. By 1971 the fastback
Mustangs (by then called “SportRoofs”) had adopted an even more severe angle at
the rear which was dramatic to look at but hard to look through if inside, the
almost horizontal rear window restricting visibility which made the more upright
coupé (marketed as “Hardtop”) a more practical (and safer) choice. However, such was the appeal of the fastback
look that the profile was fastbackesque, achieved by the use of small trailing
buttresses which made their own contribution to restricting reward visibility
although not to the extent of some, like Ferrari’s Dino 246 which in some
jurisdictions was banned from sale for just that reason.
1965 Rambler Marlin (top left), 1967 AMC Marlin (top centre), 1968 AMC Javelin (top right), 1969 AMC AMX (bottom left), 1974 AMC Javelin (bottom centre) and Lindsay Lohan in 1974 AMC Javelin (bottom right).
American Motors Corporation was (until the arrival of
Tesla), the “last of the independents” (ie not part of General Motors (GM),
Ford or Chrysler) and at its most successful when filling utilitarian niches
the majors neglected, their problem being their successes were noticed and
competition soon flooded the segments they’d profitably created. As a result, they were compelled to compete across
a wider range and while always a struggle, they did for decades survive by
being imaginative and offering packages which, on cost breakdown could be
compelling (at one point they joined Rolls-Royce as the only company to offer sedans
with air-conditioning fitted as standard equipment). Sometimes though they got it wrong, and that
they did with the Marlin, introduced in 1965 as a fastback based on their intermediate
Rambler Classic. Although the fastback
was all about style, AMC couldn’t forget their history of putting a premium on practicality
an accordingly, the roof-line grafted on to the classic also ensured
comfortable headroom for the rear-seat passengers, resulting in a most ungainly
shape. Sales were dismal for two seasons
but AMC persisted, in 1967 switching the fastback to the full-sized Ambassador
line which all conceded was better though that was damning with faint
praise. More successful was the Javelin
(1968), AMC’s venture into the then lucrative pony-car business which the
Mustang had first defined and then dominated.
The early Javelins were an accomplished design, almost Italianate in the
delicacy of their lines and the fastback was nicely balanced. Less balanced but more intriguing was the
AMX, a two seat “sports car” created in the cheapest way possible: shorten the Javelin’s
wheelbase by 12 inches (300 mm) and remove the rear seat. That certainly solved the problem of rear
seat headroom and over three seasons the AMX received a generally positive
response from the press but sales never reached expectations, even a pink one
being chosen as the car presented to Playboy magazine's 1968 Playmate of the Year not enough to ensure survival and when the Javelin was restyled for 1971,
the two seat variant wasn’t continued although AMX was retained as a name for
certain models. The new Javelins lacked
the subtlety of line of the original and the fastback part was probably the
best part of the package, much of the rest rather overwrought. The pony car ecosystem declined in the early
1970s and Javelin production ceased in 1974 although it did by a few months
outlive what was technically the first pony-car of them all, the Plymouth
Barracuda.
The Norton Commando was produced between 1968-1977. All Commandos initially used the distinctive tail section which, like the fuel tank, was made of fibreglass and the slope of the molding instantly attracted the nickname “fastback”, an allusion to the body-style then becoming popular for sports cars. It was the first British motorcycle built in volume of “modern” appearance but, apart from the odd clever improvisation, much of the engineering was antiquated and a generation or more behind the coming Japanese onslaught which would doom the local industry. In 1969, as other models were added to the Commando range, all of which used more conventional rear styling, the factory formally adopted Fastback as a model name for the originals which remained in production, upgraded in 1970 (as the Fastback Mark ll), fitted with much admired upswept exhausts. With minor changes, after only four months, it was replaced with the Mark III which served until 1972 when the Mark IV was released, the most notable change being the fitting of a front disk brake.
One interesting variant was the Fastback Long Range (LR) which, although in production for almost two years during 1971-1972, only around 400 were built, most apparently exported to Australia where the distance between gas (petrol) stations was often greater than in Europe or the US. Although there were other detail differences, the main distinguishing feature of the LR was the larger capacity (in the style of the earlier Norton Atlas) petrol tank, a harbinger of the “Commando Interstate” which became a regular production in 1972 and lasted until Commando production ceased in 1977 by which time it constituted the bulk of sales. Fastback production ended in 1973 and although some were fitted with the doomed 750 “Combat” engine, none ever received the enlarged unit introduced that year in the Commando 850.
1965 Ford GT40 Mark 1 (road specification) (left), 1967 Ford GT40 Mark IV (J-Car prototype) (centre) and 1967 Ford GT40 Mark IV, Sebring, 1967.
Impressed by Ferrari’s “breadvan”, Ford, this time with
the help of a wind-tunnel, adopted the concept when seeking to improve the
aerodynamics of the GT40. Testing the
J-Car proved the design delivered increased speed but the resultant lack of down-force proved lethal so the by then conventional fastback body was used instead and it proved successful in the single season it was allowed to
run before rule changes outlawed the big engines.
1966 Fiat 850 Coupé (top left), 1970 Daf 55 Coupé (top centre), 1974 Skoda 110 R (top right), 1972 Morris Marina Coupé (bottom left), 1972 Ford Granada Fastback (later re-named Coupé) (bottom centre) and 1973 Coleman-Milne Granada Limousine (bottom right).
The Europeans took to the fastback style, not only for
Ferraris & Maseratis but also to add some flair (and profit margin) to
low-cost economy vehicles. It produced
some rather stubby cars but generally they were aesthetically successful and
the Skoda 110 R (from Czechoslovakia and thus the Warsaw Pact’s contribution to
the fastback school of thought) lasted from 1973-1980 and as the highly
modified 130 RS gained an improbable victory in the 1981 European Touring Car
Championship against a star-studded field which included BMW 635s, Ford’s RS
Capris & Escorts, Audi GTEs, Chevrolet Camaros and Alfa Romeo GTVs. It was a shame comrade Stalin didn’t live to
see it. Generally, the Europeans were
good at fastbacks but the British had some unfortunate moments. In fastback form, the appearance of the Morris
Marina was from the start compromised by the use of the sedan’s front doors
which meant the thing was fundamentally ill-proportioned, something which might
have been forgiven if it had offered the practicality of a hatchback instead of
a conventional trunk (boot). A dull and
uninspiring machine (albeit one which sold well), the Marina actually looked
best as a station wagon, an opinion many hold also of its corporate companion
the Austin Allegro although the two frequently contest the title of Britain’s
worst car of the 1970s (and it's a crowded field). Even Ford of England
which at the time was selling the well-styled fastback Capri had a misstep when
it offered the ungainly fastback Granada, many made to look worse still by the
addition of the then fashionable vinyl roof, the mistake not repeated when the
range was revised without a fastback model. Compounding the error
on an even grander scale however was coach-builder Coleman-Milne which,
bizarrely, grafted the fastback’s rear on to a stretched Granada sedan to
create what was at the time the world’s only fastback limousine. Although not entirely accurate, there are
reasons the 1970s came to be called “the decade style forgot”.
