Among the first cars to feature this design trait were some
1949 General Motors 2-door cars, as well as the
1958 Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato and the
1961 Lancia Flavia Coupé. Despite its being used broadly across automotive makes, the term "Hofmeister kink" is generally used in reference to automobiles designed by BMW it later appeared in.
The first BMWs to feature it were the
BMW 3200 CS and the
BMW 1500 shown at the
Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1961
[2][3] and was later named after then-BMW director of design,
Wilhelm Hofmeister. In early models, the widened base of the C-pillar sometimes featured the
BMW roundel.
Apart from its stylistic effect, the Hofmeister kink is said by BMW to suggest that all BMW models have rear-wheel drive (or all-wheel drive biased to the rear).
Not unique to BMW models, similar C-pillar kinks have appeared on cars of other brands both before 1961 and since. For example, the 1951 Kaiser Deluxe Golden Dragon shows a considerable "Hofmeister kink" in its greenhouse design. Another instance is seen with the 1994 Chevrolet Impala SS, based on the 1991+ Chevrolet Caprice, which had a plastic C-pillar kink insert and unique quarter window added to its design for its debut year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofmeister_kink
