Pontoon fenders are a type of automobile fender

Fender (automobile)

Fender is the US English term for the part of an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well . Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road spray from being thrown into the air by the rotating tire. Fenders are typically rigid and can be...

.


Originally the term referred to a design prevalent in the United States in the 1930s where front fenders encased a wheel and terminated in a teardrop point, remaining distinct from the running boards or the body of the car. Examples include the Cord

Cord Automobile

Cord was the brand name of a United States automobile, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937....

 810 and 812, the Auburn Speedster

Auburn Automobile

Auburn was a brand name of American automobiles produced from 1900 through 1936.-Corporate history:The Auburn Automobile Company grew out of the Eckhart Carriage Company, founded in Auburn, Indiana, in 1875 by Charles Eckhart...

 and several designs by French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Carrossiers, notably Figoni et Falaschi.

Subsequently the term pontoon fender took on another more prominent definition, derived from the wartime practice in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 of adding full-length tread armor along each side of a tank, attached primarily on the top edge — and resembling pontoons. As this roughly coincided with automobile styling trend where distinct running boards and articulated fenders became less common — with cars carrying integrated front fenders and full-width, full-length bodywork — the fenders took on the "pontoon fender" nickname.

The postwar trend of the markedly round, slab-sided designs became itself known as ponton styling

Ponton (automobile)

Ponton or Pontoon styling refers to a 1930s-1960s design genre — ultimately the precursor of modern automotive styling. The trend emerged as distinct running boards and fully articulated fenders became less common and bodywork began to enclose the full width and uninterrupted length of a car...

 — with many postwar Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 models informally nicknamed the "Ponton

Mercedes-Benz Ponton

The Ponton was Daimler-Benz's first totally new Mercedes-Benz series of passenger vehicles produced after World War II. In July 1953, the cars replaced the pre-war-designed Type 170 series and were the bulk of the automaker's production through 1959, though some models lasted through 1962.The...

".

The British assumed the latter definition, using it in such works as the Beaulieu

Beaulieu, Hampshire

Beaulieu is a small village located on the south eastern edge of the New Forest national park in Hampshire, England and home to both Palace House and the British National Motor Museum.- History :...

 National Motor Museum

National Motor Museum

The National Motor Museum is a museum in the village of Beaulieu, set in the heart of the New Forest, in the English county of Hampshire.- History :...

Encyclopedia of the Automobile.