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Chrysler Concept Cars 1940-1970 (Chrysler) (Chrysler) | 
 enlarge | Authors: David Fetherston, Tony Thacker
Publisher: Car Tech
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $12.46
You Save: $12.49 (50%)
New (17) from $12.46
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 139583
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 144
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9 x 8.9 x 0.6
ISBN: 1932494707
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.222
EAN: 9781932494709
ASIN: 1932494707
Publication Date: January 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New; Excellent condition! Clean crisp tight copy, no marks,could have some minor shelf wear. Email Notification, Satisfaction Guaranteed,Direct from our warehouse.
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Product Description
From World War II through the muscle-car era, Chrysler s innovation and experimentation took center stage, quite literally, in the form of its concept cars. These concept cars hinted at future production vehicles and explored new and unproven technologies.
Chrysler Concept Cars 1940-1970 follows the design, development, and creation of almost 50 Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth concept cars during the automotive industry's golden postwar years, when Chrysler set the Detroit style. Readers get an inside look not only at the styling of the cars, but also at performance developments and engineers unique ideas.
The book delivers many never-before-published vintage black-and-white and color photos located during hundreds of hours of research in the Chrysler Historical Archives, the Henry Ford Museum, the Detroit Public Library, and other private collections. While writing this book, veteran automotive writers David Fetherston and Tony Thacker enlisted the help of more than 10 Chrysler designers, engineers, technicians, and librarians over three years. The book is the definitive edition on this subject, as a book with such detail specializing in this period of Chrysler s history has never been produced.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent historical review of concept cars April 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an excellent historical review of Chrysler's concept cars. I had seen most of them, but not all in the same book. The text was quite interesting, too.
 A great book March 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
What a great book! Packed with information I've never read
and photos I've never seen. This is a totally indispensable
book for anyone who loves Chryslers or concept cars. Fantastic!
Future Perfect March 3, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
While I think Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell were two of the greatest masters in terms of American automobile design contribution, the third within a trimvirate of greatest designers would have to be Virgil Exner. Mr. Exner's work elicited people to engage in and be challenged by elevated design consideration and critical conversation.
In my mind, there was a direct link from Carl Breer to Virgil Exner, and that link most defined Chrysler's character apart from General Motors and Ford sensabilities. Chrysler was willing to take chances! I say this from a layman's perspective, as I have no background in engineering or automobile design. I am a student of what attracts me, and often in a common way. That said, I believe that Chrysler and DeSoto Airflow's of 1934 set Chrysler on a path that led to the remarkable hiring of Virgil Exner in 1949/1950. The combination of Chrysler's engineering emphasis and advanced sheetmetal was defining. Once the Airflow was born, and despite its failure at the box office/showroom, it set in motion a spectacular path of memorable achievement. When Chrysler hired Virgil Exner they redeemed the Airflow! The Airflow put on Chrysler's side of the ledger, if anyone is counting, one of the most recognized and famous automobiles in history! It is almost surprising that it did not sell well for all the celebration of the streamline emphasis of its time, and its proud grill was probably bested only by Rolls-Royce in terms of proud recognition! The Airflow was something for which to be proud!
Chrysler's obsession with advanced engineering was endemic, and complemented by European continental sophistications, where power and style were strongly associated, under Exner. Italian designs were among the most beautiful, historically. Virgil Exner made sure his footing was secure before he stepped too far into truly advanced concepts, but his K-320 and C-200 demonstrated he understood sheetmetal and how to honor the essence of the automobile in romantic ways. He romanced the classic and welcomed the future, stylistically, using new materails and applications. With techology, Chrysler's forte, at his side (and under the hood and elsewhere) Exner shaped designs that moved American culture forward in dramatic fashion. He adopted the best of two worlds, engineering and design, as the essence of Chrysler. Often thrilling, sometimes provocative and controversial, Exner brought WOW to the marketplace and to the driveways of average Americans. No longer were the thrills of great design the entitlements of the wealthy! He brought sophisticated design to the average man! You could hardly be around an Exner product and not notice, note, and discuss it! His work was as interesting as the best architecture or advances in music! He was a great artist who happened to work in sheetmetal! He was Wagner in steel bodies! He wrote an American myth of romanicism and heroicism on the assembly line! He documented his efforts with tail fins, microphone tail lights, grills that referenced radiators, and celebrated the wheel and its circle as one of the greatest contributions of man! He put spare tire, circular, references on rear decks and made them stylistic and sexy contributions to the rear body work! He chose colors associated with Greek myths; replete with symbolism; Athenian bronzes and golds, wholesome whites, sexy blacks, and fiery, tempting reds! He used anodized grills and hubcaps as if to adorn chariots and shields. Mylar stitching was put in fabrics! Crowns were embossed on seatbacks and Adventurers adorned hood medalians; DeSoto Adventurers! Imperial Crowns! Were these the chariots of Gods? No, they were vehicles designed to celebrate American culture, a culture that put ideas and concepts into production lines and into the ownership of kings queens of American households! "Chrysler Concept Cars 1940-1970" offers a special glimpse behind the scenes and into the studios and minds of those that helped create the successes of dream machines of the golden age of American automobile design. What a great book! Too bad it isn't in hardback! Posterity, you know!
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