styled unstyled

yep, a real newbie question... thought i would eventually figure it out:

so "styling" is similar to "streamlining" - rounded edges?  no mechanical changes?

Kinda like some of us, some are stylin, some are not, and some are both!!!  

The unstyled versions of the WC - flat tops - came out from 1933 - 1938.  In 1938 there were two versions of the WC one unstyled and one styled.  Interesting, Fred Wilke has one of each in his collection.
The flat top WC has a special place in my heart since it is the first AC tractor my father sold.  Would love to find it.  Saw it once and it was painted blue.  Really upset me.
This post reminds me of the first carload of styled WC's with electric equipment - starter and lights - was unloaded Thanksgiving day 1938.  Pop and Uncle George left the dinner early to unload.  Did not want to pay rail road day charge.
Electric Starter!  Even though it did not have the starter rod - they came later for some reason - we thought we were in heaven.
Good Luck!
Bill Long



Edited by Bill Long - 18 Apr 2012 at 6:20am

Just for clarification. The terms "styled" & "unstyled" were never official A-C terminology but have been almost universally adopted by old tractor hobbyists of all makes to differentiate between the older styling versus the more modern "streamlined" versions. In the A-C line the only models that this applies to are the WC & WF, as they are the only post 1937-38 models that recieved this stylizing/streamlining treatment of an existing model with very few other changes.. For example the U and UC just soldiered on with the same old look and when the B was launced in 1938 they set the pattern for A-C styling for the next 20 years. Also unlike John Deere & possibly some other makes who continued to offer the option of either styled or unstyled versions of the same model during this period of time, once Allis-Chalmers updated these models in late 1938 they never looked back.

One could say that the 'era' of industrial designing came about as a result of the appearance of industrial designers like Raymond Loewy, Harley Earl, Virgil Exner, and a bunch of others, but my opinion is that it wasn't so much the appearance of visual designers that made 'styling' appear in any product of industry, as it was the ECONOMIC ABILITY of manufacturers to employ processes that made the realization of stylistic lines possible for stylists to employ.

Prior to the advent of 'styling', a machine was functional, and any aesthetic attention had to do with fit, finish, polish, paint, and pinstripes.

But one thing is certain-  as soon as manufacturers felt that it had an effect on their ability to make sales, they adopted anything they could to be 'on top'.

I have a particular liking for 'unstyled', as the machine's heart and soul is right there for the world to see... not hidden under cosmetic work... but one of the very important parts of industrial styling was the involvement in ERGONOMICS.  Industrial designers would have a vision for the lines and look, but also would imagine the layout of controls, and illustrate such things oriented so that an operator would have convenient access and ability with everything.  Some of these concepts didn't come to immediate fruition, but it was, nonetheless, an advancement of the product... to make it such that the finish and form from the observer's point-of-view, was matched by an equally important look and feel from the operator's perspective.

Unfortunately, some industrial design concepts go too far, and we wind up with cars that look like tennis shoes, and tennis shoes that look like cars....  (sigh)