Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
Good post. I know a high stagnation line was popular back then, my first car was a bullet-nose Studebaker. But modern practice is to shroud the front and sides of the underbody.
What made the difference? Was it previously a holdover from nautical practice?
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No, it was styling intended to evoke aircraft design, where incidental lift was a good thing. We have also had strong trends aping the appearance of supersonic aircraft with their sharp leading edges. It took a long time for engineers to figure out underbody flow and how to avoid lift. Now, we still get styling copied from racers that maximize downforce, not streamlining, and leave the bottom rough for easy service.