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Hi

My '34 Twelve Sport Sedan design concept developed a bit over a decade ago. But I've had to tinker with proportions and details on and off since, giving myself time to see it again with "fresh" eyes. Finally decided it was as prefected as I could make it, took the plunge and rendered it.
While it looks much longer than an 1108 is, only the rear fenders have been swept and lengthened to balance the front fender sweep. So, with grateful credit to Dietrich, LeBaron, Brewster, Darrin, Gubitz, Macauley et al. Enjoy!

Steve

P.S. The intent was to develop the most flamboyant, extroverted styling, definitely not for everyone.

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I like. No outside spare tires. The lines just flow.

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Very, very nice indeed. While the difference in size between the front doors and the rear, and the shape of the rear side windows compared to the rear of the roof are perhaps a bit imperfect, that's just a subjective opinion. In any case, there are numerous felonious acts I would perform to own it.

I like it a lot; let me know when it goes in production. From a practical point of view; the rear door might be a little small and the fact that tje runningboard doesn't go all the way to the rear fender it might be hard to get in.

Hi

Thanks for the compliments, practicality was never a consideration with this design. The proportions of the side windows/roof quarters is in the 3-2-1 concept that Ray Dietrich identified as one device to add visual interest. To achieve it, one has a wide front door, lesser rear door, tight rear quarters. The rear seat would be very intimate.

The roof quarters and rear door window shape is taken from the Rolls-Royce Derby Speedster phaeton and Sport Sedan AJS289, both by Brewster. The generally triangular shape setting on a narrow base is to create visual tension. The body construction would be the same as a convertible sedan so all the windows would wind down and the B-pillar unlatched and stored, giving an open car 'hardtop' look and feel.

The fenders are completely custom, sweeping longer and more gracefully to complement the full-length hood. Deleting the sidemounts and stowing the rear spare in the small space in the rear deck keeps it all very clean. The abbreviated runningboard is one of Darrin's tricks to separate the rear fender, give a more sporting look. In line with the '30's Art Deco ethic are the smooth chrome disk covering the wire wheels.

Steve

Wonderful Steve! Your beautiful artwork lends much to the allure of the design, talents that could have been put to great use back in the day. Maybe Santa will bring you a time machine this Christmas, though he'd probably ask that you also travel back a bit further to help with early sleigh designs!

The greenhouse and doors are certainly items that LeBaron would have had practice with, in fact everthing in your proposal stays within 1934. Very clever. And I like the fact that you operated on the running boards, am recalling the wonderful designs that Darrin came up with for Hispano-Suiza. Also love those wheel disks; the car would not be as striking without them. Perhaps one nicety that might have been possible back then, but only in 1935 or later, would have been a retrofit of the grill to make more slanted similar to what Packard did with one of its aerodynamic coupes.

Congratulations!

Paul

Hi

Thanks Paul, knew you'd appreciate and understand the proportions and coachbuilder/designer details I brought together to create it. Keeping all within the correct period is the key to making the design look legitimate.

I'm thinking we need a look at a '35-'37 Twelve sport sedan in this vein too. Just need to find the right large layout of a '36 1408 to get it rolling. I love the imposing look of the sloped grille/full fender frontal design of those years, as well as the more integrated overall aspect throughout.

My rendering technique emulates that of a master, Roland Stickney who created those masterpieces for the LeBaron Salon catalogs. He had a far finer hand than I but we give it a try and am pretty happy with the results. Art Fitzpatrick is another influence, although he uses an air brush for the most part, his understanding of the reflections and shading is unmatched.

Steve

Regarding Santa: I'd take that timemachine, set the dial for 1932 at 1580 East Grand Boulevard, Detroit, then see what I could do to change the course of history!

Steve what was the base for your creation? Did you start with Dietrich's sport sedan?packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/modelinfo/viewmodel.php?model=709

Did you do this on a computer or are you an artist that does it by hand?

Hi BDC

Here the anatomy of how this design came to be. I had already developed a '32 Deluxe Eight 904 Sport Sedan design (rendering is on here), so the '34 Twelve was to be the next iteration. Inspiration and influences came directly from the '34 Twelve Dietrich sport sedan and V-windshield convertible sedan, LeBaron sport phaeton and the Rolls-Royce Brewster styles pictured below. Initially, sketches were developed from a photo of the LeBaron as you can see from the pontoon fenders. Somehow, it didn't appeal as much as a more swept version of the factory fenders. Doing so immediately highlighted the need to lengthen and sweep the rear fenders more for balance.

Along the line, I had photographed the '34 Twelve convertible victoria from the Bahre collection at Hershey and had it enlarged to a size more suitable for rendering. I like to render larger car images which allows one to include more detail to give a real look and feel. First, the line drawing was developed directly off that enlargement, then an iteration with all the custom coachbuilder features and details incorporated until it looked the way I imagined.

I've yet to learned how to use a computer to create art, so next transfer the line drawing onto illustration board. Then, gather photo references for details, shading and technique, decide on the color, wet up the watercolors and have at it. I use various transparent techniques such as building up, glazing, wet-on-dry, wet-on-wet, dry brush, masking, etc. to develop shading, shaping and highlights. When opaque is necessary, either gouache or acrylics work well to heighten hot spots or just cover a multitude of mistakes. While it's a time-consuming process and at times frustrating (watercolor has a mind of its own), it's very satisfying to do and when they come out the way I imagine something to be proud of. Sooner or later I might try a computer rendering program but for now the age-old methods, however slow, works well for me. Hope this give you some insight into how these rendering are done.

Steve

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