On New Year's Eve, the club heard from none other than Virgil Exner, Jr.,
who wrote into the website with the following message:
"I appreciate your sustaining this article on your great site. I've
picked it up on my site. Father would be flabbergasted and very proud of
you all and Mr Katz.
Happy New Year!
Ex, Jr.
http://community.webtv.net/X-isle/XJRDesignExcitement";
How cool is that!? Many of us fans are very familiar with that name, and
have read quite a bit about our fin-designing hero, and have even engaged on
this list in good-natured partisan discussions about the merits of Exner vs.
Engel styling, etc. For those who don't know who Virgil Exner or his son
are, though, and are interested, please take a look at the article that
prompted Ex, Jr.'s comments:
http://www.imperialclub.com/ImpFormativeArticles/Exner/index.html
or this one, about the 1953 Chrysler Ghia Special:
http://www.imperialclub.com/ImpFormativeArticles/Special/index.htm
Now Mr. Exner, Jr. has cordially offered to allow me a telephone "interview"
next week, and I'd like to solicit questions that anyone might like to ask.
I will try not to waste his time with generic questions that have already
been answered in books and articles, but here is our opportunity to ask
those burning questions--like the recently-discussed "was cross wind
stability REALLY a design factor when tailfins were developed?" ;-) --that
we'd like to know about our wonderful Imperials and other Chryslers, or
about Ex, Jr.'s own career, etc.
Please let me know if you have a specific question for Mr. Exner.
Best Regards,
Mike Trettin
1956 Imperial Sedan, Turquoise
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