Sharknose had bite, but still starved

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This article was published 06/03/2009 (6364 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Graham-Paige Motors called the styling of its new 1938 car the Spirit of Motion, but the public took one look at the protuberant beak and immediately dubbed it the Sharknose.

Apart from the lovely but short-lived Cord-bodied Graham Hollywood, the Sharknose would be Graham’s last gasp at car manufacturing, except for a brief association with Kaiser-Frazer after the Second World War.

The Graham name went back to the end of the First World War when brothers Joseph, Robert and Ray Graham began building trucks in Evansville, Ind. They became associated with Dodge, which ultimately bought the business in 1926.

The Grahams still wanted to build motor vehicles, however. So, with the truck company proceeds, they bought the faltering Paige-Detroit Motor Car Co. of Detroit and changed the name to Graham-Paige.

Graham-Paige introduced new six- and eight-cylinder models at the New York Automobile Show in January 1928. The first year was very prosperous with more than 73,000 sales, but the 1929 stock market crash and the subsequent Great Depression dealt Graham-Paige a heavy blow. By 1930, sales were down to 33,560.

The name of the cars was changed to Graham for 1931, and, by offering some stylish models, albeit some with Reo bodies, six- and eight-cylinder engines and the first moderately priced supercharger, the company struggled through the worst of the Depression. The 1932 Blue Streak Graham, largely the work of famed stylist Amus Northrup, set a new styling direction with its valanced front fenders, slanted grille and nicely integrated lines.

As the 1930s progressed, Graham-Paige continued losing money. Sales dropped to less than 11,000 in 1933, and president Joseph Graham knew the company needed another breakthrough design like the Blue Streak. Supercharging was added in 1934 to create some excitement, and eight-cylinder models were dropped in 1935 to save money.

Model changes were minor over the next few years. The 1936s were carried over for 1937, while work began on the new 1938 Spirit of Motion, also mostly Northrup’s design — although he would die before it was completed.

When the 1938 Graham appeared, it was both different and controversial.

Dominated by the prominent hood that swept forward and a backward slanted grille, its Sharknose nickname came naturally. The grille was set off by four horizontal chrome strips, the top one continuing to the rear of the car and incorporating the door handles. The trunk was smoothly integrated into the body.

Once past the unusual prow, the Sharknose was quite attractive, with a nicely rounded body and square headlamps faired into the fenders. Rear fenders were fully skirted with the taillamps mounted just below the corners of the rear windows.

The daringly styled Sharknose was greeted more enthusiastically in Europe, particularly France, than it was at home, and it won several styling awards there.

All 1938 Grahams were four-door sedans. There was one engine offered — a Continental side-valve, 3.6-litre six-cylinder — that came in normally aspirated 90-horsepower form or as an optional 116-hp supercharged version.

Despite its new styling, 1938 was a dismal year for Graham — most customers just didn’t accept the car’s new look, and only 4,139 were sold. Short of cash, Graham-Paige had no choice but to carry the Sharknose into 1939, little changed except for the removal of the running boards. Two-door sedan and coupe models were added, but only about 3,600 1939s found buyers.

The 1940 Sharknose became the Graham Senior, but, after sales of only 1,000 or so, it was discontinued. Although the Sharknose was mechanically sound, its futuristic styling doomed it to the same sales fate as the aerodynamic 1934-’37 Chrysler/DeSoto Airflows.

Graham-Paige’s last gasp was the beautiful Cord-bodied Hollywood, which carried the company on for a few more months before it finally gave up on the car business late in 1940 and went into military work. It had survived in the automobile business longer than many marques, but it finally succumbed to the financial woes of the Depression.

In 1944, Joseph Frazer, who had been president of Willys-Overland, gained control of Graham-Paige. After the Second World War, Frazer teamed up with ship and construction magnate Henry Kaiser to form a new car company called the Kaiser-Frazer Corp. The auto building assets of Graham-Paige became part of the enterprise.

The non-automotive part of Graham-Paige Motors soon dropped the Motors part of its name and became a holding company. Among its investments was Madison Square Garden, which counted among its prized holdings the New York Rangers hockey team.

— Canwest News Service