The term evokes the prominent bosom of Dagmar, a buxom early-1950s television personality featuring low-cut gowns and conical bra cups.
[1] As originally conceived by Harley Earl, GM Vice President of Design, the conical bumper guards would mimic artillery shells.
The similarity of these features to the then popular bullet bra as epitomized by buxom television personality Dagmar was inescapable.
[2] In the early 1960s, American car designers shed both rear tailfins and prominent bumper guards.
GAZ-13 Chaika had similar designs until their discontinuation in the 1980s In 1974, British motoring press applied the name of statuesque British actress Sabrina to oversized pairs of protruding rubber bumper blocks added to MG MGB, MG Midget, Triumph Spitfire and Triumph TR6 sports cars to meet strengthened US auto safety regulations.