Hello again to all...
> According to several books, in Chrysler Corporation during the 50's-60's
> and 70's, the stylists had a lot LESS control and the engineers had a lot
> MORE control than in GM & Ford. That was in part why our Imperials handle,
> perform, and stop better than say a Lincoln, Cadillac,
I would strongly agree here.
> On the other hand, the marketing was not quite as
> good as the other 2 of the "big 3".
Strong agreement here too.
I recently read a book called "A century of auto design" (or something
similar). This was an excellent, fact-filled book that I had trouble putting
down. However, their coverage of post-Exner Chrysler styling was predictably
brief and dismissive. Even the Exner chapter was a bit light compared to the
in-depth coverage of the various GM studio heads.
If you can believe it, there was no mention of the ground-breaking (IMHO) '69
fuselage cars, nor the '70 E-bodies & '71 B-bodies. I suspect it may have been
because all three were the work of lesser known designers (John Herlitz on the
E & Bs) rather than actual studio heads. I does appear that Engel wasn't very
happy at Chrysler and managed from a distance (according to the book). I spoke
personally to John Herlitz in 1996, and he didn't seem to have any real
fondness for Engel.
I'm sure many of you have heard the story of Engel ripping hunks of clay from
the Charger-like sail panels of the '69 Polara proposal?
How I would love to see some of the fuselage concept sketches! I'd also love to
know how over-the-top the baroquoe '74+ Chrysler C-body & '75 Cordoba might
have been. I've heard of a concept "great-gatsby" Cordoba that used custom
WHITE tires!
Carmine F.
'61 LeBaron
'73 LeBaron Coupe
'70 Dart
'72 Polara Wagon
'73 Dodge D-200 Adventuer
'75 Duster
'76 Newport Custom W/highlander interior
'89 Fifth Ave
'89 LeBaron Convertible
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