Chevron

Chevron (pronounced shev-ruhn (U) or shev-run (non-U))

(1) In heraldry, an ordinary in the form of an inverted V-shaped charge on a shield, one of the most ancient of the English ordinaries.

(2) An insignia consisting of stripes meeting at an angle, worn on the sleeve by non-commissioned officers (NCO) in the military, police officers etc, as a mark of rank (variously upwards or downwards), length or service or for other purposes (usually always upwards).  In casual use, the use to the display the NCO ranks are referred to as “stripes”.

(3) In interior decorating, an ornamental form in a zigzag pattern used often on moldings and also called a dancette; the design most historically most associated with romanesque architecture in France, England and Sicily.

(4) In the manufacture of fabrics, as chevron weave, the application of the shape (the herringbone a subset of this use).

(5) In road-traffic management (1) a pattern of horizontal black and white V-shapes on a road sign indicating a sharp bend (usually in the plural) or (2) one of the V-shaped markings on the surface of roads used to indicate minimum distances between vehicles (use varies between jurisdictions).

(6) In design, any V-shaped pattern or device.

(7) In language, an informal term for the guillemet, either of the punctuation marks “«” or “»”, used in several languages to indicate passages of speech (the equivalent convention in the English language the same placement of inverted commas (“_”).

(8) In language, as “inverted chevron”, an informal term for a háček, a diacritical mark resembling an inverted circumflex.

(9) In publishing, an angle bracket used both as a typographic and scientific symbol.

(10) In architecture, a rafter (a specialized type of strut or beam) of this shape, usually load-bearing and supporting a structure such as a roof and sometimes exposed, doubling as a decorative device.

(11) In aerospace, components fashioned in a saw-tooth patterns used internally (and externally (briefly) on exhaust nacelles as a noise-suppression mechanism) in jet engines.

(12) In anatomy, a bone of this shape.

(13) In entomology, the moth Eulithis testata.

(14) In geology, (1) a fold of this shape in layers of rock and (2), a sediment deposit in this shape across the surface.

(15) In pediatric medicine, as chevron nail, a rare transient fingernail ridge pattern seen only in children.

(16) In mathematics, as chevron plot, a technique of data representation.

(17) In computing, the informal term for the angle bracket when used in HTML (also sometimes called the “wicket” reflecting the English origins of HTML in the Conseil européen pour la recherche nucléaire (CERN; the European Organization for Nuclear Research)).

(18) In folk arts & crafts, as chevron bead, glass beads in this shape.

(19) A style of moustache in this shape.

(21) In music, a wavy line indicating a trill

(22) In the optical devices associated with ballistics, a symbol used in reticles in firearm scopes.

1300–1350: From the Middle English cheveroun, from the Old French chevron (rafter; chevron), from chévre (a goat), from the Vulgar Latin capriōnem & capriōn- (stem of capriō), ultimately from the Latin caper (goat).  The alternative spelling was cheveron which in commercial use is still used, presumably as means to achieve product differentiation.  Chevron is a noun & verb, noun, chevroned & chevrony (also as chevronny) are adjectives, chevroning & chevroned are verbs and chevronwise is an adverb; the noun plural is chevrons.

Late twelfth century doorway at Gradefes Convent, Spain.

The technical class into which architects classify decorative (as opposed to structural) chevrons is “inflected ornament” or, in the slang the “zig-zag” (or zigzag) and they were widely used in romanesque architecture in France, England and Sicily.  In this decorative mode, it’s though at least one inspiration for their use was the metal casings frequently seen in early wood columns.  The meaning of the word in French is said to be based on structural engineering, the reference the rafters of a shallow roof, the idea based on there being some resemblance to the rather angular hind legs of a goat, the Vulgar Latin capriōnem & capriōn being from the Classical Latin caper (goat).  This actually had echoes in the Latin capreolus (props, stays, short pieces of timber joined at angles for support) which translated literally as “wild goat; chamoix”.  However, some historians of architecture doubt the story about the hind legs, suggesting the image was more likely the horns of a butting goat and there’s some support for this in that the first use of the word in English was in heraldry when chevrons began appearing on shields, the horns of a charging beast presumably more appealing to the military mind than the beast’s back legs.

1938 Citroën 11B Traction Avant Coupé (sometime referred to as the Faux Cabriolet) with the company’s distinctive double chevron emblem in the radiator grill.

Designed by French engineer André Lefèbvre (1894-1964) and Italian industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni (1903-1964), the Citroën Traction Avant was introduced in 1933 and was the machine which more than any other legitimized both unitary construction (ie no separate chassis) and the front-wheel-drive (FWD) configuration (Traction Avant translates literally as “front traction”) in mass-produced cars.  Although a great success and in production until 1956 (with severe disruptions during wartime occupation 1940-1944), the costs incurred in its development and the tooling needed for volume production meant that by 1934 the company was compelled to declare bankruptcy, taken over by Michelin, the most exposed creditor by virtue of having for some time supplied tyres on the basis of “delayed payment”.  Although total Traction Avant production exceeded 760,000, there were only 15 coupés, all from the pre-war years and of these, only four were built in 1938.

1935 Citroën TA22 Traction Avant prototypes, cabriolet (left) and saloon (right).  To mark the installation of a V8, an appropriate numeral adorned the double chevron.  Unfortunately, because the chevrons weren’t inverted, the chance to make a “V8” statement was missed.  Perhaps the French found such a thing vulgar.

Another genuine rarity among the Traction Avants was the TA22, an intended top-of-the-range version equipped with a 3.8 litre (232 cubic inch) V8 created by joining two of Citroën’s 1.9 litre (116 cubic inch) four-cylinder units in a common crankcase.  Apparently 20 were built but the combination of the financial turmoil of bankruptcy and Michelin’s subsequent rationalization saw the project abandoned and although there are many stories about the fate of the prototypes, eighty years on none have ever surfaced so it’s reasonable to assume none survived (at least not with the unique power-train) although there have been some privately built (partial) recreations, most using some variation of the contemporary Ford Flathead V8 including the 2.2 litre (136 cubic inch) version which was used in Europe or the later 2.4 litre (144 cubic inch) unit built by Ford’s French operation (the tooling for which was sold to Simca which, in small volumes, offered V8 cars between 1954-1961.

Daimler SP250 (1959-1964).  Citroën’s double chevron remains their corporate emblem even though they no longer produce interesting or innovative machinery, their range in recent decades dreary and derivative.  Many others however use chevrons and inverted chevrons from time to time, sometimes as part of emblems as Cadillac has done and sometimes as a decoration.  Quite what the designers thought a chevron added to the Daimler SP250’s catfish-like face isn’t recorded but opinion seems to remain divided because some owners appear to have removed the embellishment.  Daimler didn't take advantage of the chevron to add an "8" either, even though that the time their marvelous little hemi-head 2.5 litre (155 cubic inch) V8 was a unique selling point.  They may have thought the splendid exhaust note was a sufficient advertisement.  

Boeing 747-8 with chevrons in the engine nacelles.

Not all exhaust notes were as pleasing as those emitted by the Daimler V8s and for some years Boeing produced passenger airliners with chevrons cut into the engine nacelles, a trick which reduced the blast noise by up to 15 decibels on the ground and in the forward cabin, the engineers referring to this as “fan-tone” adjustment.  Boeing defined and patented the technology as part of its second Quiet Technology Demonstrator (QTD2) program in 2005 and it was adopted (regardless of whether the installed engine was supplied by General Electric, Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney or CFM) for the 787 Dreamliner, 737 MAX aircraft and even the 747-8, the last generation of the old workhorse.  One benefit of a lower fan-tone was that Boeing was able to reduce the mass of sound deadening fitted to the fuselage by some 600 lbs (272 kg), something which made a measurable difference to the rate of fuel burn.  The QTD2 programme was conducted in conjunction with General Electric and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), using a Boeing 777-300ER as a benchmark device, a notable choice given it was already the quietest in its class.

Lindsay Lohan in chevron themed ensemble with gladiator sandals, Ibiza, Spain, July 2014.

Curiously, given they were dealing with the same physics Airbus never used the chevrons on the nacelles of their airplanes and according to them, Boeing’s patent had no effect on their decision.  Airbus say they detected no advantages when testing the chevrons but there was a penalty because fuel consumption increased.  Instead, Airbus developed what they call a “zero splice” acoustic inner barrel to lower the fan-tone, the combination of new-generation insulation materials and the zero-splice’s “high-bypass” technology achieving a similar outcome, without the additional weight and fuel burn induced by the chevrons.  Boeing too has recently announced development of the chevrons would not continue and despite the early publicity shots of the 777X being built with the chevrons, the production versions have appeared without them.  That attracted some comment and Boeing released a statement which indicated the change was part of normal product development and that while the chevrons were at the time a way to achieve noise reduction, ongoing research has found a method which achieves that without the associated costs in drag, weight and thus fuel burn.  The essence of the new system appears to be the application of a honeycomb acoustic treatment in strategic areas of the exhaust ducting, the drilling of thousands of holes in the composite skin to disperse and capture noise in the core.  It’s noted however chevrons, for many reasons, remain an essential part of many internal components in jet engines, as they’ve been since the early days of the technology in the 1930s.

Cat

Cat (pronounced kat)

(1) A small domesticated carnivore, Felis domestica or F. catus, bred in a number of varieties.

(2) Any of several carnivores of the family Felidae, as the lion, tiger, leopard or jaguar.

(3) A woman given to spiteful or malicious gossip (archaic).

(4) In historic Admiralty jargon, the truncated term for the cat-o'-nine-tails, a whip used to administer corporal punishment on ships at sea.

(5) A contraction of generalized use in words staring with cat (category, catboat, catamaran, catfish, catapult, catalytic et al).

(6) In nautical use, a tackle used in hoisting an anchor to the cathead.

(7) A double tripod having six legs but resting on only three no matter how it is set down, usually used before or over a fire.

(8) In medieval warfare, a movable shelter for providing protection when approaching a fortification.

(9) In aviation, the acronym for clear-air-turbulence.

(10) In medical diagnostics, the acronym for computerized axial tomography.

(11) In computing, the acronym for computer-aided teaching and computer-assisted trading

Circa 700:  From the Middle English cat or catte and the Old English catt (masculine) & catte (feminine).  It was cognate with the Old Frisian and Middle Dutch katte, the Old High German kazza, Old Norse köttr, Irish cat, Welsh cath (thought derived from the Slavic kotŭ), the Russian kot and the Lithuanian katė̃; the Old French chat enduring.  The curious Late Latin cattus or catta was first noted in the fourth century, presumably associated with the arrival of domestic cats but of uncertain origin.  The Old English catt appears derived from the earlier (circa 400-440) West Germanic form which came from the Proto-Germanic kattuz which evolved into the Germanic forms, the Old Frisian katte, the Old Norse köttr, the Dutch kat, the Old High German kazza and the German Katze, the ultimate source being the Late Latin cattus.

The prefix meaning “down, against or back,” occurred originally in loanwords from the Greek (cataclysm; catalog; catalepsy) and on the basis this model, was used in the formation of other compound words such as catagenesis or cataphyll.  The source was the Greek kata, a combining form of katá (down, through, against, according to, towards, during).  A most active prefix in the Ancient Greek, in English it’s found mostly in Latin words borrowed after circa 1500.  As applied, the meanings from the Greek attached to the constructs: down (catabolism), away, off (catalectic), against (category), according to (catholic) and thoroughly (catalogue).  In Byzantine Greek, spelling was katta and by circa 700 the variations were in universal European use, the Latin feles almost wholly supplanted.

In the literature, a Latin root is cited because it’s documented but, linguists suggest ultimate source was probably Afro-Asiatic, noting the Nubian kadis, and Berber kadiska, both of which meant "cat" and the Arabic qitt (tomcat) may be from the same source.  Despite that, in English, meaning extended to the big cats (lions, tigers etc) only after circa 1600.  In the early thirteenth century, it was used as a term of disapprobation for women, used sometimes as a synonym for prostitute.  In African-American use, it was a way of referring to one’s own or other cohorts while the application to jazz musicians or their audience emerged in the 1920s, both being adopted as part of the language of the counter-culture in the 1960s, the latter phase without the earlier racial specificity.

Phrases associated with the cat o’ nine tails

The cat o’ nine tails ("the cat" in the vernacular), was a short whip used to administer corporal punishment in the British military, most notably by the Royal Navy.  Used as a judicial punishment in many countries, there are references to in police reports as early as 1691 but the term became more widely used after 1695 when it was mentioned in the script of a play, the Admiralty adopting it somewhat later.  The cat is widely believed to be the source of a number of sayings but among etymologists, opinion is divided.  Although the British Army formerly abolished flogging in 1881, it the navy it was only ever “suspended” although it's said no sentences have been imposed since 1879.

Cat got your tongue?:  Said to refer to those about the be punished often being somewhat lost for words at the sight of the whip, some linguists point-out it wasn’t seen in print until the 1880s and suggest its most likely the invention of children.

Bell the cat:  At sea, a bell would sound prior to floggings being administered.  A more prosaic explanation is the practice of attaching collars with bells to domestic cats to (1) make them easier to find and (2) protect birds and other small creatures.

Let the cat out of the bag:  To avoid the leather of the tails becoming brittle or stiff, when not in use, the cat was kept in a bag filled with sea-brine.  It’s also suggested it’s a variation of “pig in a poke (bag)”; a way of cautioning folk not to buy animals in bags given worthless felines could be substituted for valuable piglets.  Letting the cat out of the bag disclosed the trick.

Not enough room to swing a cat:  The sailors’ informal term for decrying the small spaces below deck.  This was long-thought to reference the dimensions required to use the cat as intended but some sources, noting the phrase pre-existed the Admiralty’s use, suggest, perhaps speculatively, it must refer to manhandled felines.  In this case, the naval connection is preferred.

While the cat’s away, the mice will play:  Nothing specifically naval, a general reference to cats and mice, the simile extending to what the untrustworthy get up to in the absence of figures of authority.

Rubbing salt into the wound: When the punishment was complete, the wounds were usually cleaned with especially salty brine or seawater, a basic and sometimes effective precaution against infection.  The modern meaning of the phrase is derived from the additional pain caused rather than the primitive infection control and is thus a variation of “adding insult to injury” (or really, adding injury to injury), the notion of gratuitously or vindictively adding to existing pain.

Lindsay Lohan clad in cat theme for Halloween party at the Cuckoo Club, London, October 2015.

Catfish

Catfish (pronounced kat-fish)

(1) Any of the numerous mainly freshwater teleost fishes of the order or suborder Nematognathi (or Siluroidei), characterized by barbels around the mouth and the absence of scales, especially the silurids of Europe and Asia and the horned pouts of North America.

(2) A wolffish of the genus Anarhichas.

(3) In casual use, any of various other fishes having a fancied resemblance to a catfish.

(4) In slang, a person who assumes a false identity or personality on the internet, especially on social media, usually with an intent to deceive, manipulate, or swindle.

(5) To deceive, swindle, etc., by assuming a false identity or personality online.

(6) In casual use, any piece of machinery having a fancied resemblance to a catfish (and applied mostly to cars). 

1605–1615: The construct was cat + fish.  Dating from circa 700, cat was from the Middle English cat or catte and the Old English catt (masculine) & catte (feminine).  It was cognate with the Old Frisian and Middle Dutch katte, the Old High German kazza, Old Norse köttr, Irish cat, Welsh cath (thought derived from the Slavic kotŭ), the Russian kot and the Lithuanian katė̃; the Old French chat enduring.  The curious Late Latin cattus or catta was first noted in the fourth century, presumably associated with the arrival of domestic cats but of uncertain origin.  The Old English catt appears derived from the earlier (circa 400-440) West Germanic form which came from the Proto-Germanic kattuz which evolved into the Germanic forms, the Old Frisian katte, the Old Norse köttr, the Dutch kat, the Old High German kazza and the German Katze, the ultimate source being the Late Latin cattus.

The noun fish was from the pre-900 Middle English fish, fisch & fyssh, from the Old English fisc (fish), from the Proto-West Germanic fisk, from the Proto-Germanic fiskaz (fish).  It was cognate with the West Frisian fisk, the Dutch vis, the Old Norse fiskr, the Danish fisk, the Norwegian fisk, the Gothic fisks, the Swedish fisk and the German Fisch, the ultimate source probably the primitive Indo-European peysḱ (fish) & pisk (a fish) although there are etymologist who speculate, on phonetic grounds, that it may be a north-western Europe substratum word.  It was akin to the Latin piscis, the Irish verb iasc, the Middle English fishen and the Old English fiscian, cognate with the Dutch visschen, the German fischen, the Old Norse fiska and the Gothic fiskôn.  The verb fish was from the Old English fiscian (to fish, to catch or try to catch fish).  It was cognate with the Old Norse fiska, the Old High German fiscon, the German fischen and the Gothic fiskon.  The plural is fishes, but in a collective sense, or in reference to fish meat as food, the singular fish generally serves for a plural, thus the noun plural of catfish tends to be catfish but zoologists and other specialists, especially when referring to two or more kinds or species, will tend to prefer catfishes.

The catfish seems to have gained its name early in the seventeenth century following the practice adopted for the Atlantic wolf-fish, noted for its ferocity, the catfish picking up its moniker apparently because of the "whiskers" although the "purring" sound it sometimes makes upon being taken from the water has (less convincingly) been suggested as the origin; most zoologists and etymologists prefer the whiskers story while noting the correct name for the appendages is barbels.

The modern term catfishing describes a type on nefarious on-line activity in which a person uses information and images, typically taken from others, to construct a new identity for themselves.  In the most extreme examples, a catfisher can steal and assume another individual’s entire identity, enabling the possibility of using the fake persona to engage in fraud or other illegal activities.  Catfishing attacks may be targeted or opportunistic and have long been common on dating sites.  One niche activity is where only a few (or legally insignificant) elements  are involved (usually in an attempt to tempt younger subjects on dating sites) and there is no attempt to engage in illegal activity; this has been called kitten fishing.

There is nothing new in the concept of catfishing, cases documented in the literature for centuries, the ubiquity of the internet just making such scams both easier to execute and easier to detect.  The term in this context is derived from the 2010 American documentary Catfish, which concerned a 26 year old man who, thinking he was building an on-line relationship with a 19 year old woman, discovered his digital interlocutor was actually a married women of 40.  The documentary (and thus the on-line behavior) gained the name from a mention the woman's husband made when comparing his wife’s conduct to the myth that it was once the practice to include one or more catfish in the tank when shipping live cod, the rationale said to be the cod would remain active in the presence of codfish whereas if shipped alone, would become pale and lethargic, reducing the quality of the flesh.  The source of the myth was the 1913 psychological novel Catfish by Charles Marriott (1869-1957), the fanciful story repeated that same year by Henry Wooded Nevinson (1856-1941) in his political treatise, Essays in Rebellion.

Etymologically unrelated (although not wholly dissimilar in practice) was the earlier internet slang phishing which described a kind of social engineering in which an attacker sends a deceptive message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information or induce them in some way to install malicious software such as key-stroke grabbers or ransomware.  Phishing is a leetspeak variant of fishing which compares the digital activity to actual angling, the idea being the casting of lines with lures in the hope there will be bites at the bait.  The first known reference to phishing dates from 1995 but there was apparently an earlier mention in the magazine 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, the word coined following the earlier phreaking.  Phishing has for years been the most common attack performed by cybercriminals.

Catfish and some cars they inspired.

First seen on a few eccentric examples during the 1930s, the distinctive, if not always pleasing “catfish look” emerged on volume production automobiles during the 1950s.  Even then the look was a stylistic curiosity but it was an age of extravagance and among the macropteric creations of the era, the catfish cars represented just one of many directions the industry could have followed.  Nor was the catfish look wholly without engineering merit, the low bonnet (hood) line improving aerodynamic efficiency, the wide, gaping aperture of the grill permitting adequate air-flow for engine cooling with headlamps able still to satisfy regulatory height requirements.  Classic examples of catfish styling includes the original Citroen DS, the Packard Hawk and the Daimler SP250.

Daimler SP250 (1959-1964)

The Daimler SP250 was first shown to the public at the 1959 New York Motor Show and there the problems began.  Aware the little sports car was quite a departure from the luxurious but rather staid lineup Daimler had for years offered, the company had chosen the pleasingly alliterative “Dart” as its name, hoping it would convey the sense of something agile and fast.  Unfortunately, Chrysler’s lawyers were faster still, objecting that they had already registered Dart as the name for a full-sized Dodge so Daimler needed a new name and quickly; the big Dodge would never be confused with the little Daimler but the lawyers insisted.

Using one of his trademark outdoor settings, Norman Parkinson (1913-1990) photographed model Suzanne Kinnear (b 1935) adorning a Daimler SP250, wearing a Kashmoor coat and Otto Lucas beret with jewels by Cartier.  The image was published on the cover of Vogue's UK edition in November 1959.

Imagination apparently exhausted, Daimler’s management reverted to the engineering project name and thus the car became the SP250 which was innocuous enough even for Chrysler's attorneys and it could have been worse.  Dodge had submitted their Dart proposal to Chrysler for approval and while the car found favor, the name did not and the marketing department was told to conduct research and come up with something the public would like.  From this the marketing types gleaned that “Dodge Zipp” would be popular and to be fair, dart and zip(p) do imply much the same thing but ultimately the original was preferred and Darts remained in Dodge’s lineup until 1976, for most of that time one of the corporation's best-selling and most profitable lines.  The name was revived between 2012-2016 for an unsuccessful and unlamented compact sedan.

1961 Daimler SP250.

Daimler’s SP250 didn’t enjoy the same longevity, the last of the 2654 produced in 1964, sales never having approached the projected 3000 per year, most of which were expected to be absorbed by the US market.  The catfish styling probably didn’t help, a hint being the informal poll taken at the 1959 show when the thing was voted “the ugliest car of the show” but under the skin of the ugly duckling was a virile swan.  The heart of the SP250 was a jewel-like 2.5 litre (155 cubic inch) hemi-headed V8 which combined the structure of Cadillac’s V8 with advanced cylinder heads which owed much to those of the Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle engine.  Indeed, the designer, Edward Turner (1901–1973), owned a Cadillac and was responsible for the Triumph heads so the influences weren’t surprising and the little engine had an interesting gestation.  It was Turner’s first car engine and so tied was he to the principles which had proved so successful for his motorcycles that the original concept was air-cooled and fed by eight carburetors.  Automotive reality however prevailed and what emerged was a compact, light (190 KG (419 lb)), water-cooled V8 with the inevitable twin SU carburetors, the project yielding also an only slightly bulkier (226 KG (498 lb)) 4.6 litre (278 cubic inch) version which would be tragically under-utilized by a British motor industry which could greatly have benefited from a wider deployment of both instead of some engines which proved pure folly.  The Daimler V8s are notable too for their intoxicating exhaust notes, perhaps not a critical aspect of engineering but one which adds much to the pleasure of ownership.

Daimler SP250, winner of the 1962 Bathurst 6 Hour Classic (Leo Geoghegan & Ian Geoghegan).

Under-capitalized and lacking the funds needed to revitalize their dated range, let alone develop new high-volume models, the SP250 was created on a shoestring budget, the body built in the then still novel fibreglass, not by deliberate choice but because the tooling and related production facilities could be fabricated for a fraction of the cost had steel or aluminum been used.  It also lessened the development time and promised a simpler and cheaper upgrade path in the future but also brought problems of its own.  New to the material, Daimler’s engineers were confronted with many of the same problems which Chevrolet encountered during the early days of the Corvette, issues which even with the vast resources of General Motors, proved troublesome.  Other than the fibreglass body, the SP250 was technologically conventional, using a chassis little different from that of the Triumph TR3, built in a 14 gauge box section with central cruciform bracing.  The chassis was designed to be light and that was certainly achieved but at the cost of structural rigidity, again an issue of the use of fibreglass, the engineers (in pre-CAD times) under-estimating the stiffness which would be demanded in a structure without metal panels further to distribute the loadings. 

1962 Daimler SP250 prepared for competition in British Racing Green (BRG) with factory hardtop and Minilite wheels.

The lack of sufficient torsional rigidity meant the SP250s were beset with the same teething problem as the first Corvettes: the fibreglass panels could become crazed or even crack and, most disconcertingly, doors were prone to springing open during brisk cornering and the bonnet (hood) sometimes popped open as the body flexed at high speed.  The SP250 was a genuinely fast car so these were not minor issues.  Still, there was much to commend the SP250.  Wind-up windows and the availability of an automatic transmission sound hardly ground-breaking but they were an innovation unknown on the MG, Triumph and Austin-Healy roadsters of the time and the V8 was unique.  The suspension was conventional but competent, an independent front end with upper and lower arms, coil springs, and telescopic shock absorbers while the rear used semi-elliptic leaf springs with lever arm shock absorbers.  The unassisted cam and peg system steering lacked the precision the Italians achieved even without using a rack and pinion system but, aided by a larger than usual steering wheel, it offered a reasonable compromise for the time although at low speed it was far from effortless.  More commendable were the brakes.  The four-wheel discs had no power assistance but the SP250 was a light car and the servo systems of the time, lacking feel and impeding the progressiveness inherent in the design of the early discs, meant unassisted systems were preferable for sports cars although, efficient and fade-free though they were, an emergency stop from speed did demand high pedal effort.  One curiosity in the configuration was the bumper bars.  Considering the issue bumpers would become in the 1970s, that they were once optional is an indication of how different the regulatory environment was at the time. The A spec SP250s had no bumpers as standard equipment but were fitted at the front with what are sometimes mistakenly called nerf-bars but are actually “bumperettes” although the English seem to like “whiskers”. At the rear were over-riders attached to nerf-bars. The B spec models didn’t include these but, like the A spec, the full bumpers were an optional extra and this setup was continued for the C spec. The SP250s used by the British Metropolitan Police as high speed pursuit cars always had the optional bumpers because of the need to mount the warning bell and auxiliary spotlight.

1960 Daimler SP250 (automatic) in UK police pursuit specification.

So, developed to the extent possible with the resources available, production began in 1959, shortly before the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) announced the sale of Daimler to Jaguar.  Jaguar, attracted by Daimler’s extensive manufacturing facilities and its skilled workforce regarded most of the Daimler range as antiquated but allowed some production to continue although their engineers decided the chassis of the SP250 needed significant modifications to improve rigidity.  The strengthening was undertaken and the revised cars became known as the “B” models, the original 1959-1960 versions retrospectively labeled as A-Spec.  The changes were actually not extensive, a steel box section hoop added to connect the windscreen pillars, two steel outrigger sill beams along each side of the chassis, complimented with a couple of strategically placed braces.  The stiffer structure solved the problems and improved the driving experience, the B-spec cars produced between 1960-1963.  A subsequent upgrade, dubbed C-spec included some features such as a cigar lighter and a heater/demister and in this form, the cars remained in production until 1964.

Daimler SP252 prototype (1964)

Unfortunately, Jaguar was never enthusiastic about Daimler except as a badge which could be used on up-market Jaguars sold at a nice profit.  However, whatever the opinions of the catfish styling, the SP250 had proved itself in motorsport and, capable of a then impressive 122 mph (196 km/h), had been used as a high-speed pursuit vehicle by a number of police forces, interestingly usually with an automatic transmission, the choice made in the interest of reduced maintenance, a conclusion rental car companies would soon reach.  For that reason, the potential was clear and Jaguar explored a way to extend the appeal with a restyled body.  The result was the SP252, rendered still in fibreglass but now more elegantly done, hints of both the MGB and Jaguar E-Type (XK-E) while the rear owed some debt to Aston Martin’s DB4.  Aesthetically accomplished though it was, economic reality prevailed.  The factory was tooled-up to produce no more than 140 of the V8 engines each week, demand for which was already exceeding supply since it had been offered in the Jaguar Mk2-based Daimler 2.5 (later 250) saloon and Jaguar lacked the production capacity even to make enough E-types to meet demand.  Given that and the engineering resources it required to devote to the new V12 engine and the XJ6 saloon for which it was intended, another relatively low-volume project couldn’t be justified.

Produced between 1955-1975, the Citroën DS, although long regarded as something quintessentially French was actually designed by an Italian.  It was offered as the DS and the lower priced, mechanically simpler ID, the names apparently an deliberate play on words, DS in French pronounced déesse (goddess) and ID idée (idea).  The goddess nickname caught on though idea never did; a curiously configured version built exclusively for the UK market was called the DW which appears to have meant nothing in particular.  The frontal aspect, combined with the efficiency of the rest of the body, delivered outstandingly good aerodynamics but the catfish look was tempered a little because the low, gaping grill associated with the motif wasn’t adopted, reputedly because the ancient engine, a long-stroke and agricultural relic of the 1930s, produced so little power there wasn’t enough surplus energy to induce overheating, the need for a cooling flow of air correspondingly low.  That’s wholly apocryphal but later progress in design anyway softened the catfish effect.  It was most obvious on the series 1 cars (top) which were made between 1955-1962.  The Series 2 changes (1964-1967; centre) were effected further to improve aerodynamics and permitted also some increase to the airflow ducted for interior ventilation; the changes in appearance were said to be incidental to the process.  The catfish look vanished entirely when the series 3 cars (bottom) were introduced in 1967.

Now with four headlamps mounted behind glass canopies, the shape of which was integrated into the front fenders (top left), the arrangement was noted for the novelty of the inner set of lens being controlled by the steering (top right), the light thus being projected “around the corner” in the direction of travel, swiveling by up to 80°.  It was a simple, purely mechanical connection and the idea had during the 1930s used with auxiliary driving or fog-lights and the central (Cyclops) unit on the abortive Tucker Torpedo (1948) had been configured the same way but the DS was the first car to use adaptive headlights in volume.  Both the covers and the turning mechanism fell afoul of US regulations (lower left) so there the lens were fixed and exposed.  Another variation was in Scandinavian markets were miniature wipers were fitted.

1958 Packard Hawk

Fittingly perhaps, the gaping-mouth of the catfish style was applied to what proved one of the last gasps for Packard, a storied marque with roots in the nineteenth century which in the inter-war years had been one of the most prestigious in the US and it had been the sound of the V12 Packards which inspired Enzo Ferrari (1989-1988) to produce his own.  After spending World War II engaged in military production, notably a version of the Merlin V12 aero-engine built under license from Rolls-Royce, Packard emerged in 1945 in sound financial state but found the new world challenging, eventually in 1953 merging with fellow struggling independent, Studebaker.  Beset with internal conflicts from the start, things went from bad to worse and after dismal sales in 1958-1959 of the final Packards (which were really modified Studebakers and derided by many as "Packardbakers"), the Packard brand was retired with the coming of 1959.  The Studebaker-Packard Corporation in 1962 reverted to again become Studebaker but it was to no avail, the last Studebaker being produced in 1967.   

1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk.  Whatever the criticism of the catfish-like Packard, the car on which it was based was perhaps even more ungainly.

The origins of Packard’s swansong, the Hawk, lay in a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk 400 which was customized in-house for executive use.  The front end and bonnet (hood) were rendered in fiberglass, eliminating the familiar upright grille and small side inlets which were replaced with the low, wide air intake so characteristic of the catfish look.  Covering all bases, for those unconvinced by the catfish look, a pair of modest dagmars were added.  Because the engine was supercharged, like the Studebaker, the hood included a bulge but because of the lower lines, it rose higher on the Packard.  Lacking the funds to create anything better, the Hawk was approved for production as a standard 1958 model but it was from the start doomed.  It was expensive and its debut coincided with the recession of that year when all auto-makers suffered downturns but, with the rumors swirling of Studebaker-Packard's impending demise, Packard suffered more than most and only 588 Hawks were built.

1958 Packard 

Packard’s rather plaintive swansong was another set of cobbled-together Packardbakers, available as a two-door hardtop and a four-door sedan or wagon.  In 1958, fins were a thing at the rear but what really exited the stylists was that quad headlamps were now permitted in all 48 states.  Unlike the majors however, the corporation had no funds to re-tool body dies to accommodate the change so hurriedly, fibreglass pods were created which when fitted, looked as tacked-on as they really were.  Also tacked on were the new fins which sat atop the old although these were at least genuine steel rather than fibreglass.

1958 Chrysler Royal (AP2) and 1960 Chrysler Royal (AP3) (Australian)

They were also definitely always standard equipment on all the Packards, unlike the 1958 Australian Chrysler Royal (AP2) which featured similar appendages grafted to pre-existing fins, Chrysler listing them as an optional extra called "saddle fins".  However, no Royal apparently was sold without saddle fins attached so either (1) they were very popular option or (2) Chrysler changed their mind after the promotional material was printed and decided to invent mandatory options, a marketing trick Detroit would soon widely (and profitably) adopt.  In 1960, the Australians also solved the problem of needing to add quad headlamps without either a re-tool or plastic pods, changing instead the grill and mounting the lights in a vertical stack, an expedient Mercedes-Benz had recently used to ensure their new W111 (Heckflosse) sedans satisfied US legislation.