The photo of the '59 Plymouth XNR also shows the major theme Exner was moving toward after the Forward Look, "the long hood and short deck". The cowl of these new cars was designed to resemble the cowl on a speedboat. 1962 was supposed to be a complete overhaul for the entire Chrysler stable, from Imperial to Plymouth. Almost all of the Forward Look design cues were gone from these new designs.
Instead of a completely redesigned fleet, a recession hit ('60/61, I believe) and the plans were scrapped in favor of cost cutting. Chrysler also guessed wrong that Americans wanted smaller cars at this time. All the full sized Plymouths and Dodges were downsized, DeSoto was retired and the remaining full sized cars including Imperial were given face lifts. The only mandatory thing the face lifts had to include was the removal of fins. Exner departs in '61; he referred to the '62's as plucked chickens. Collectible Automobile ran a great article titled "The '62's We Never Saw". I'm not sure the issue as I do not have in front of me now, it's in my place upstate.
1964 finally saw the redesign of Imperial, with the introduction of the first Engel design. But, look closely and the '64 has more in common with the Exner Imperials than not. ( I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers here guys.) '64 has the same cowl and greenhouse as the '57 thru '63's. The first really all new Imperial wouldn't arrive until 1967, although the rest of Chrysler got all new models in 1965. We all know the rest...
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