--- Acarpel@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Are there any biographies out there on Virgil Exner?
> How did he go from VP to pariah in such a short
> amount of time? I've seen brief chapters here and
> there but not a whole book. Anyone know?
Hi, Andy,
The Exner story is a sad one, marred by office
politics, bonehead decisions by folks outside the
styling department, serious illness, and a terminal
lack of understanding from the folks upstairs.
The downfall probably started about '58 or so, when Ex
had a major heart attack and was basically out of the
loop on a number of decisions for about a year.
Because of the long lead times between styling
approval and production, this affected the '61 models
more than any others. Since Ex wasn't able to handle a
his usual workload, Chrysler hired the outside firm of
Wm. Schmidt & Associates as uncredited styling
consultants. Familiar names with the Schmidt firm
included former Lincoln-Mercury and Studebaker-Packard
design head Bill Schmidt and former Packard-Clipper
Division design head (and future VP of AMC styling)
Dick Teague.
At least one story I've heard suggests that the choice
of '61 designs was dragged out longer than it should
have been because of this situation, and when it came
time to decide on a final design, they went with what
was on the drawing board at the time. Apparently Ex
had some input with the '61 Imperial, particularly the
freestanding headlights, and with the Valiant and
Lancer, but his involvement with the rest of the '61
line was not what it could have been. The '61 Chrysler
and DeSoto restyle appear to have been done by
Schmidt, who also did the conceptually similar '57
Lincoln and is believed to have come up with the
angled headlight layout seen on '58-'60 Lincolns and
'61-'62 Chryslers & '61 DeSotos. It's unclear who
oversaw the '61 Plymouth and Dodge, but what mattered
at the time was that public reaction to them was not
good. If that wasn't enough confusion, Schmidt was
under the impression that he was to take Ex's job if
Ex didn't come back. The end result of this was that
the '61s were basically done by two different styling
staffs who are said to have been at least somewhat
hostile and resentful toward each other.
Ex was back for the '62 models, which were originally
planned as a restyle of all five makes. As we know
today, only the Dodge and Plymouth were completely
new, and these were smaller than originally planned.
This happened as a result of a chance comversation
short-term Chrysler president William Newberg
overheard which led him to believe the '62 Chevy was
going to be a much smaller car than what GM was then
producing. Today, it's believed what he overheard was
a reference to the Chevy II/Nova, which made its first
appearance in '62.
The fullsize Plymouth and Dodge were downsized as much
as possible while keeping the original design as close
to what had already been approved as possible. At one
point Styling was expected not only to shrink the
existing designs but to work on replacements for the
then current Valiant & Lancer that would have shared
windshields and other parts with the new fullsizes. Ex
protested these moves vigorously, feeling the original
design had been compromised to the point of no
commercial viability, and insisting that Styling not
be held responsible for the results. Lynn Townsend
promised that Styling would not be held responsible,
only to renege on that promise when the '62s appeared,
and those dealers who did not resign their franchises
on the spot called for Exner's head on a stick.
The tragedy of this is that Ex and his people were, if
anything, more conscious of the shortcomings of the
'62 styling than anyone, and were well on their way to
making lemonade out of the lemons they had been
handed. When Ex's successor, former Lincoln stylist
Elwood Engel, made his first trip through Styling and
got his first look at the plans for '63-'64, his
response was "You've got some great looking cars
already approved. I don't see what the problem is."
More information can be found by reading articles
long-time Chrysler designer Jeff Godshall has written
on the early '60s MoPar lines. Several of these have
turned up in Collectible Automobile and should be
considered required reading for any who want to know
just what happened.
=====
Mike Sealey, San Francisco CA
'57 Plymouth Sport Suburban
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