A turning point
In 1961, Chrysler threw Virgil Exner out on his ear. The designer had simply never done what the carpet-floor executives expected of him. But that’s the way it is with creative minds: managers will never understand them, because these warmongers lack exactly what they hire designers for: imagination. Exner had been hired as head of the Advanced Styling Studio in 1949. He was already a star at the time, having previously worked at GM under Harley Earl, with Raymond Loewy, and having revamped Studebaker. And what he created for the Chrysler Group in the 1950s not only completely changed the design language of the group, but also the role of designers in the automotive industry: they were now allowed to have a say at the very top. When Virgil Exner had to leave, he was Vice President of the Chrysler Corporation.
Virgil Max Exner, born in 1909, had studied art. And that was probably why his horizons were a little broader than those of the engineers, who had mainly determined the look of Chrysler vehicles before he joined the company. Like Harley Earl at GM, Exner was fascinated by aeroplanes and experimented with tail fins early on, which would soon become a defining design element in American car design. Exner also looked to Europe, knew what the Italians were doing and was good at combining the various influences. However, it is not entirely clear what led him to seek close collaboration with Ghia in Turin – it was probably simply personal relationships, as he and Luigi Segre were close friends (see picture below).
In 1951, Exner created the first concept car in a long series of such design experiments, which later became famous as ‘idea cars’. The K-310 was designed in Detroit in the Advanced Styling Studio and then realised in Turin at Ghia. The Italians had the craftsmanship that Exner lacked in the US at the time. So he sent the chassis of a Chrysler Saratoga across the pond, and Ghia then created the body with its soft yet aggressive forms. The K-310 was an astonishing 5.6 metres long – and significantly more elegant than anything previously seen in the US. The K in the designation was a thank you to the then Chrysler boss K.T. Keller, the 310 was intended to be a reference to the brand new Hemi engine that worked under the long bonnet, even if the 310 hp were probably on the very optimistic side. Exner also dreamt of a small series of this K-310 (pictures above), but the funds for this were not available. The open-top version presented in early 1952, known as the C-200 (pictured below), was also a one-off.
But Exner was not beaten so quickly. And chance also helped him a little. For the Paris Motor Show in October 1952, he and his team had developed another exhibit, the ‘Special’, which was based on a shortened Saratoga chassis. Even more than the K-310, this vehicle displayed Exner’s new ‘Forward Look’; everything was calmer, cleaner – and Ghia once again did an excellent job of implementing it. The ‘Special’ was definitely the star of the show – and the French Chrysler importer Ladouch asked Chrysler’s export manager, Cecil Beaton ‘C.B.’ Thomas, whether a small series could be produced. Thomas was able to convince Detroit, and he himself received his own ‘Thomas Special’ (on a shortened wheelbase, see picture below) as a thank you.
And Ghia built 18 more ‘Special’, but this time on a normal New Yorker platform. Six went to Ladouch, and Ghia itself sold 12 – the ‘Special’ were reserved exclusively for European customers. Below we show chassis number #7232631, a vehicle that was delivered by Amag, the Swiss Chrysler importer at the time, and remained in Switzerland until the 1970s. The ‘Special’ was then owned for a long time by ‘Dream Car’ collector Joe Bortz, who did a lot to ensure that this ‘Special’ and, above all, Virgil Exner were not forgotten.
We have more, even if we know almost nothing about the vehicle below, not even the chassis number. It was on display at the Blackhawk Museum in California for a long time – and was auctioned by RM Sotheby’s in 2023 for $500,000.
The vehicle below is one of the French ‘Special’ models, chassis number #7231533. The first owner was Leon Coulibeuf, a wealthy Frenchman who also competed in the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hours together with José Behra in a Maserati 200S. RM Sotheby’s sold this gently restored example in 2014 for 336,000 euros.
It is said that Exner developed 28 ‘idea cars’, 24 of them together with Ghia. That means there will be more stories. More rare US cars can be found at ‘Numbers’, otherwise there is the archive.
“In 1961, Chrysler threw Virgil Exner out on his ear. The designer had simply never done what the carpet-floor executives expected of him. But that’s the way it is with creative minds: managers will never understand them, because these warmongers lack exactly what they hire designers for: imagination.” This is completely made up baloney. The reason Chrysler fired Virgil Exner was that Chevrolet created some fake market research (this would have been around 1956). This market research said that the American Public, by 1960 would be demanding smaller cars in every category… full size cars needed to be smaller, intermediate cars needed to be smaller and compact cars needed to be smaller, all by 1960. Car makers have to “freeze” new car designs in June, 3 years before production starts in order to have body panels, interior fabrics, nuts, bolts and ever item needed to assemble the new cars by September before their model year. So the real deadline for making all the cars smaller would have to be June of 1959. A Chrysler exec who had randomly become acquainted with a Chevy exec at some point went to a dinner with the Chevy exec where the Chevy exec passed him the fake market research saying that GM and Ford were both aware of this and it wasn’t fair to leave Chrysler out. So the Chrysler exec brought the fake study to Chrysler were a corporate meeting of all officers was held. Everybody at Chrysler “bought” the fake study as being real. Except Virgil Exner who argued strongly that it was bogus and should be ignored. Exner was ordered to change the design of every Chrysler model for the next 3 years and he was given just 90 days to finalize and freeze designs of the 1960 models. He was told to remove 3-inches in overall length from each model line without changing the wheelbases. By the time 1960/1961 had rolled around, it was obvious to Chrysler that they had been DUPED by Chevrolet. At that meeting, because Exner was the smartest man in the room–he was fired. Because being the smartest man in the room made him the primary candidate to become President of Chrysler. To protect their jobs (because Exner knew they were all dumbasses for believing the planted study), they fired him. S0 Exner could have been available to design the Dual-Ghia 2 if Eugene Cassarole had been aware. That is the TRUE story of how Exner exited Chrysler. It also explains why Chrysler styling was so unusual/different/strange in the 1961-1963 models. You don’t just remove 3 inches from a fully designed car–it never looks right if you try something that sounds simple. And with only 90 days to revise the 1960 model-year cars, Exner did the best he could in 90 days.
OOPS, no “edit” option for my previous post. In my original post, I typed that the design-freeze of the 1960 model-year cars would have to be June 1959… that’s not right. June 1959 is when Pilot Production starts… that is the process where they setup a temporary assembly line in buildings set aside for that purpose purpose. During pilot production they make one of every model of car… one station wagon, one 2 door, 1 4 door, 1 convertible, but also 1 of every model has to be built. For Pontiac that would mean a Catalina, a Star Chief, and a Bonneville… but a wagon, convertible, 2 door and 4 door of each. And they try to paint a car with each color of primer and top coat to make sure the paint performs as expected. But for everything to be ready to go for pilot production in June of 1959 for the 1960 model-year cars, the design of the 1960 model-year cars has to happen 3 years before June of 1959, That would be June of 1956 in this case where Chrysler thought every 1960 model needed to be smaller. Sorry for any confusion.