Introducing Mr Virgil Exner

["M Turner" <tminjesu@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thank you for this wondeful message!  I am not familiar with Tremulis, but
Lowey, Mitchell and Engel are names I do recall.

I recall from some of car mags I had in the mid to late 1950's the designs
from Chrysler that were "totally awesome" (not a phrase we used in the
fifties!)  Some of the Ghia concept cars were beyond the pale in beauty of
design.  Again, two of my favorite Chrysler Imperials of all time are the
1955 and 1956 models.  As for GM, the 1953 Buick Skylark and the 1957
Eldorado Biarritz convertible and the Eldorado Brougham are also favorites
of mine.  For what it's worth, I bought a 1954 Packard Cavalier with factory
air two years ago that will start "major surgery" this coming October -- a
two-year restoration project to see completion in 2006.  In the meantime, I
am looking at and for a 1955 or 1956 Imperial that runs and looks halfway
decent (or, better!) so that I can enjoy it from the get-go.
Vince T

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B.A. Samoila" <fift8imperial@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 1:15 PM
Subject: Re: IML: Introducing Mr Virgil Exner


> My own personal musings on this topic:
> True, the world of automotive design has had its
> greats:
> Alex Tremulis, Raymond Lowey, Bill Mitchell, Mr.
> Engel, and Mister Earl just to name a few of the more
> famous ones of the mid 20th century when in my humble
> opinion was the height of this art.
> And then there was Mr. Exner who, again in my opinion,
> surpassed them all. He was the only one who had not
> only an eye for futuristic design, but the ability and
> the presence of forethought to actually take what was
> a dream car and have it put into production. Just look
> at the dull styles of the early 50's that he had to
> work with and how, with very little resources in '53
> and '54, he was able to soften their lines and attempt
> the silk purse out of the sows ear. ( sorry you early
> '50's guys) And then the magic started to flow in '55
> and '56 when Chrysler's sedate outdatedness took on a
> modern look, and sales began to indicate that "we
> might just have something here."
> I believe that Mr. Exner reached the zenith of his
> abilities in the '57 lineup when even the famous Mr.
> Earl (a man by the way that I truly admire for all his
> flamboyance as well as talent) had to stand up and not
> only take notice, but admit that he'd been one upped
> by the competition. We've all heard the story of the
> GM corporate styling department meeting when Mr. Earl
> came in, threw down a photo of a production '57
> Plymouth and began to go down his team's collective
> throat.
>  The fruits of Mr. Exner's talents caused GM to
> scramble  through their one year offerings for '58,
> and I guess in a roundabout way ( this is a bit of a
> stretch here) had something to do with their '59
> lineup causing the here-to-fore style leaders to play
> the game of catch up. ( I still love '59 Chevys
> though).
> Just look at his '57-'59 models...don't they still
> look fresh today...45 years later? Now that's staying
> power.
> Mr. Exner, I thank you for your products, I admire you
> for your talents, and I truly acknowledge your genius.
> Again...IML...thank you for letting me have these few
> minutes to expound.  BAS
>
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