Virgil exner was well known for his forward look designing. A must read for any auto historian, especially forward look period fans and all. Some 50 years after his design masterpieces wrested styling leadership away from general motors harley earl. Imperial history and production numbers, 19551983 allpar. Exner is famous for many things, including his forward look designs of 19551957, his classic 1970s stutz blackhawk, and his concepts for bugatti, duesenberg and mercer. His work there, including the forward look models of the 1950s, would change the course of automotive design. Virgil exner, the designer behind the clean forward look styling of chryslers 1955 models and the spectacular fins of the 1957 that caught. The windsor was the top of the line for chrysler in the years 1951 through the. See more ideas about plymouth, automobile and mopar. Rare 1950s plymouth forward look promotional cufflinks virgil. I only gave it four stars, as i expect there are some out there who have not drunk the forward look koolaid, but i loved the book. The 1957 dodge coronet the forward look auto museum online. To the most of us moparstyle kind of guys, virgil exner is most famous for his forward look years at chrysler.
This was a concept he developed for chrysler which can be seen in many of that companys products from the mid 1950s through 1963. The end of the exner era, the forward look, coincided with the leaving of tex colbert. Grist concludes the book with a look at another side of virgil exner, his beautiful. Information on the 300, 300b, and the 1955 forward look including the earlier chrysler styling efforts of virgil exner, sr. The official biography the man who brought his own personal style to the worl. The forward look was that of any production chrysler product, model year 1955 until the end of exners career with chrysler. Virgil exner, who was known for his forward look designs, is as influential as they come published.
Virgil exner, the father of the definitive automotive fins created a sensation in 1957 when they appeared on the allnew suddenly its 1960 models. For the 1955 model year, all plymouths received a major overhaul that included belvedere returning as the topoftheline model. Virgil exner joined raymond loewys industrial design firm, raymond loewy. Nov 09, 2015 if youre a fan of virgil exner, this is a five star read. Aug 09, 2014 spying exners forward look chrysler products behind a fence one day while on their lunch break, gm designers rushed back to their studio and hurried to try to update their own designs before production began. Vintage 1950s chrysler virgil exner forward look logo, employee service pin, jet age, rarein 1955, chrysler used whats known as the forward look logo, designed by virgil exner. Exner, who died in 1973, is the subject of a new book, virgil exner. Exner is famous for many things, including his forward look. Exner introduced the forward look at chrysler and was copied before the designs hit the road when gm. See the 2003 imperial eagle design concept by virgil exner, jr. The redesign took chrysler into the future, dropping the medallion in favor of the space age symbol with 2 chevrons superimposed on one another.
The official biography of virgil m exner, designer extraordinaire begins with a foreword by virgil m exner jr, himself a automotive designer but now retired. Reminiscence from the 1989 interview with virgil max exner, jr. Virgil exners forward look cars rocket upward in a down. An americanitalian hybrid, car collector october 1997, and the. Viewing a thread mopar styling info, 2010 carlisle headsup. Amazing history of a man that started the forward look for chrysler and has an. What highlights would you note about the history of the chrysler corporation if you were writing on the topic before the forward look got started.
In 1957, virgil exner s new forward look design theme, produced cars with much more advanced styling than chevrolet or ford. Imperials for 19571959 were the finest expressions of the forward look, virgil exners dramatic styling which was undermined by poor assembly quality during the introductory year. Exner was able to find financial backing to put his stutz blackhawk design into limited production. The following year plymouth style finally began evolving from those of the 1955 years look. Givanni savonuzzi was the engineer and designer who downsized the delegance and made the karmann ghia out of it. Plus a bio of exner from childhood to his untimely passing. Exner, who died in 1973, is the subject of a new book, virgil exner visioneer, by. What made him distictive was that he designed cars that were plugugly, and was paid for it. Robert ackerson, chrysler 300 americas most powerful car godmanstone, england. Virgil exner project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Virgil exner s forward look cars rocket upward in a down market the story goes that back in 1953, one of chryslers newest hires, designer virgil exner, said, lets try giving the quarter panel this treatment.
Subsequent models were improved, but sales never matched those of the flawed 1957 models. The aesthetic was dubbed the forward look, which set new design. The chrysler products were produced under the inspiration and leadership of virgil exner. Oct 21, 2007 although exners forward look cars transformed automotive design, sales started to fall off, partly because of problems with the cars quality, and by 1960 exner was on his way out. His amazing career was the subject of a book i recently viewed, modestly titled virgil exner. He enjoyed the left bank in paris and haunting various book shops and art galleries in. The official biography of virgil m exner, designer extraordinaire, a book by peter grist, an indepth look at the last of the great autodesigners of the 20th century, his glorious achievements and personal tragedies. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most. Although exners forward look cars transformed automotive design, sales started to fall off, partly because of problems with the cars quality, and by 1960 exner was on his way out.
This book is a dream for all of us interested in automobiles, their. Jul 30, 2014 virgil exner, who led chrysler design for much of the 1950s, was the featured designer for this years concours. This is the story of a man that brought his own personal style to the world of industrial design, from automobiles to powerboats. Johns concours celebrated virgil exner designs and jet. May 11, 2020 automobile stylist virgil exner and the plymouth, dodge, desoto, chrysler and imperial automobiles he designed between 1955 and 1962. Exner introduced the forward look at chrysler and was copied before the designs hit the road when gm designer chuck jordon spied exners hidden 1955 chrysler lineup, prompting bill mitchell, head of general. See more ideas about cars, plymouth and classic cars. Virgil has 647 books on goodreads with 215980 ratings. Riva italy, buhler turbocraft indianapolis, indiana design of motor trend.
Collecting cars 1957 chevrolet auto design the new. Grist concludes the book with a look at another side of virgil exner, his. Virgil exner design at concours delegance of america. New models advertised in chryslers forward look campaign that were designed by virgil exner, the automakers chief designer, were trumpeted as three years ahead of their time.
And he waved his hand through the air in an upswinging arc. Mario boano at ghia, and the spectacular forward look production cars. Virgil exners vision of the stutz blackhawk was realized as a stylish, highperformance grand touring coupe, using americansourced components in an exclusive, coachbuilt italian suit, the dealer notes. He helped studebaker become the first american car company to produce a postwar automobile in 1946. Exner s career in automobile designing spanned several companies. Rare 1950s plymouth forward look promotional cufflinks. This is 1 of only 16 surviving exnerdesigned blackhawks. His first production cars for chryslerthe 1955 forward look lineboasted the.
Exner is widely known for the forward look he created for the 19551963 chrysler products and his fondness of fins on cars for both aesthetics and aerodynamics. Curious beauty the cars of virgil exner chris on cars. With a straight face, exner then claimed they were rooted in aerodynamics and highly functional. Chryslers new 1955 models were so popular, sales doubled over the previous year. Virgil exner, noted chrysler designer who shook up 1950s styling, is.
Chrysler corporation takes on that topic in 1955 in the story of chrysler. He is known for his forward look design on the 19551963 chrysler products and his fondness of fins on cars for both aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons. Stutz, the copper development association, and renwal models design of powerboats. He is known for his forward look design on the 1955 through 1961 chrysler products and his fondness of fins on cars for both aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons.
Pre forward look virgil exner worked in the companys design department prior to wwii, helping on 1939s highly successful champion model. Vintage 1950s chrysler virgil exner forward look logo. Chrysler, chrysler 300b, chrysler hemi, chrysler windsor, forward look, virgil exner the mercer cobra by virgil exner april 25, 2017 by mike gulett 5 comments. The new look that the 1957 coronet had was the work of virgil exner. Double click on the arrow below to go to full screen. Standard catalog of chrysler 19241990 isbn 0873411420 the complete history of chrysler corporation 1924 1985 isbn 0881762008 chrysler isbn 0760306958 must have.
September 24, 1909 december 22, 1973 was an automobile designer for numerous american companies, notably chrysler and studebaker. There are not many photographs of exner, he wasnt realy photogenic, he had a unibrow. Southern sweden sturko island dave, the standard catalog of 1950 chryslers is very nice, but theres some errors nice to have. I just finished reading virgil exner, visionary, by peter girst. The younger exner, who till lives in south bend, earned degrees at notre dame in the 1950s, and briefly designed for studebaker before going on to work for gm. Exner would go on to reach the position of styling chief for chrysler. The finned land yachts were the product of exners forward look. His work there, including the forward look models of the 1950s, would.
These included chrysler, studebaker and general motors. The official biography of virgil m exner, designer extraordinaire begins with a foreword by virgil m exner jr, himself a automotive. Tagged as 1958 crown imperial, 1958 crown imperial limousine by ghia, chrysler, ed meurer, forward look, ghia, virgil exner 30 comments receive updates on the best of. An interesting character well recalled, and we learn much about other wellknown designers of the time. S, scott callan comments and observations speaking of automobiles and formula one and design the forward look virgil exner defines automotive design for the 1960s duel on the salt the story of how aviation history wrote the powered the land speed record pebble beach spotlight taking a look at american performance in its formative stage.
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