He was immediately successful, his new “Forward Look” designs were sexy and exciting, and sales improved dramatically. Exner left Studebaker in 1949 to join Chrysler’s design studio, ultimately to become Chrysler’s styling chief, and a member of the board.Įxner rightly assessed that Chrysler’s early post-WWII cars were staid and boxy, and went to work revolutionizing their look to be more in step with the post-war jet age. Exner was dismissed by Loewy in 1944, only to join Studebaker directly, even though Loewy gets much of the credit for Studebaker’s fresh post-war designs, much of that effort should be more equally attributed to Exner. As a young design phenom and protégé of GM design boss Harley Earl, Exner ran the Pontiac styling department, before leaving to join Raymond Loewy and Associates in 1938, there working primarily on Studebaker projects. He began his career as an advertising illustrator. Exner, Sr., used a different name – he called them Idea Cars, because to this visionary designer and design department leader, the power of good ideas was everything. Today most people refer to them as “concept cars.” By “them” we mean those one-off dream machines, mockups, design studies and turntable toys intended to dazzle us at auto shows, give potential customers and the media a hint at specific vehicles or automotive design language that’s coming in the near future, and possibly even gauge reaction to the same. Myth: A Famous (or Infamous) Chrysler Concept car sunk to the bottom of the ocean aboard the Andrea Doria cruiseliner.
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