When the word ‘fin’ is dropped into a conversation, the majority of people will shiver a little at the thought, with visions of a triangular one sliding through the sea towards you, with the owner intent on you becoming his lunch. But being a petrolhead, that’s not the type of fin I was thinking about.

When it comes to doing things in a big way, no one does it like the Americans. In fact, back in the late 1950s and early 60s, they got totally out of control when it came to car design, with all the car manufacturers trying to outdo each other with the rear end looks of their cars.

Fins were in. Dodge came up with the Coronet Lancer and were even reduced to painting fins on the side of their pickup truck model to keep in fashion. Chevrolet tried a different approach and flattened the fins to the side on their Impala which I reckon kind of worked. On the other hand, Pontiac must have thought they were in the business of building boats and put a diving platform on the back as well, for the spare wheel.

1957 Dodge Coronet Lancer

Even the staid British Motor Corporation came up with the somewhat less flamboyant, by American standards, Austin Cambridge

On the subject of boats, the fin disease even spread across the Atlantic and the UK manufacturer of the Amphicar did their bit for the cause. Even the staid British Motor Corporation came up with the somewhat less flamboyant, by American standards, Austin Cambridge / Morris Oxford, but giving their customers the ‘wild’ option of alternatively coloured matching roof, boot and fins.

When things are popular, the film and TV industry have to be in on the act. The 1984 Ghostbusters movie featured the Ectomobile, a 1959 Miller Meteor Ambulance complete with fins. Of course there was also the Batmobile. Both the Adam West original in 1965 and even more recently the Van Kilmer one in 1995 sported huge fins.

1957 Pontiac Chieftain

The prize, however, goes to the American company Cadillac, misguidedly regarded in the US as their equivalent to the Rolls-Royce, who with their 1959 Eldorado pretty well eclipsed the competition. The design has made the model an iconic artistic legend and they are highly collectable, so much so, that a nice one will set you back in the region of €150,000, not forgetting the seven-litre engine only gives you seven miles per gallon and you will need two spaces together to park it.

1959 Chevrolet Impala

1966 Batmobile

Austin Cambridge

UK Amphicar