Wishes on Wheels - Chrysler Forward Look
539,993
Published 2013-03-26
When Exner joined Chrysler, the company's vehicles were being fashioned by engineers instead of designers, and so were considered outmoded, unstylish designs. Exner fought to change this structuring, and got control over the design process, including the clay prototypes and the die models used to create production tooling.
300C
Production 1957
After seeing the P-38-inspired tailfins on the 1948 Cadillac, Exner adopted fins as a central element of his vehicle designs. He believed in the aerodynamic benefits of the fins, and even used wind tunnel testing at the University of Michigan—but he also liked their visual effects on the car. Exner lowered the roofline and made the cars sleeker, smoother, and more aggressive. In 1955, Chrysler introduced "The New 100-Million Dollar Look". With a long hood and short deck, the wedgelike designs of the Chrysler 300 letter series and revised 1957 models suddenly brought the company to the forefront of design, with Ford and General Motors quickly working to catch up. The 1957 Plymouths were advertised with the slogan, "Suddenly, it's 1960!"
A Mopar oil filter from the late 1950s bears the Forward Look logo
Fins soon lost popularity. By the late 1950s Cadillac, Chrysler and many other marques had escalated the size of fins until some thought they were stylistically questionable, and they became a symbol of American excess in the early 60s. 1961 is considered the last of the "Forward Look" designs. The 1962's were referred to as "plucked chickens" by Exner.
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All Comments (21)
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Ahh, the good days of America. Wish a person could jump into the video and stay there. Those cars were a work of art.
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I worked for Chrysler for over 35 years and not once did I ever hear happy music while the cars went down the line 😃
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Hard working folk's and they took pride in their work. They definitely earned that paycheck back then.. I love watching these old production videos it gives us a look into how things where made back then. Thanks for sharing this with us.🙏
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No eye, hearing, or head protection...wear whatever you want..gotta love it!
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In those days, cars were made to order, dealers didn't have a large inventory of new cars on hand but they had demos. All new cars were built to order based on what the buyer wanted e.g, color, trim, power steering, radio, seat patterns-color, etc. Radios didn't come with the car you had to order it. The cars on the assembly line and at the end of this film were all custom ordered.
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It takes patience and lot of stress to be doing that day after day on an assembly line. These guys deserve all the pay they get.
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I worked for Chrysler Fenton, MO from 65 to late 69. First night (Cassius Clay fought Floyd Patterson on the radio, 22 Nov, 1965) I was put on the bumper buildup line placing heavy chrome bumpers onto a rubber jig and installing 4 frame brackets with an air ratchet. Holding that ratchet wrong could get you a smack in the jaw when the nut went to torque. I was wearing my street pants (light black cotton) and the unfinished sheared edge of the bumper would cut into the fabric and cut my upper thighs as I lugged them from the shipping pallet to the build jig. I was bloodied and beat up worse that Patterson was when I went home that night. The next night I got transferred to the line I was hired in for, Body in White spot welding. I couldn't do the first job they gave me (it was really a simple job) so after about an hour of screwing that up they moved me up the line to a three gun line. This was done in order to give me the final knockout punch. The idea (and the game) was to keep pushing the newbie until he gave up and walked off the job. I WAS NOT GOING TO WALK OFF THIS JOB. Not after all that I had been through to get it. The fellow showing me the ropes asked me to sit and watch for a few minutes-get to know the ebb and flow of the machines, the car movement, and the rhythm of the welding sequence. My first attempt at this new and more complicated job was the same as the first position, a disaster, but by lunch time I had it down enough that the foreman took the guy away and it was all mine. I was TERRIFIED. But, no use in getting scared, them Dodges and Plymouths kept coming down the line and each one had to be welded up. I later moved to the lead grinding booth where the lead seams on the connecting body parts was ground to profile. All them slick bodies were the result of a lot of finished grinding. We (8 of us) were in a sealed booth with a suite of industrial overalls and a plastic half bodied hood and a fresh air hose attached. Fine ground lead particles filled the air in all directions as each worker attended to his own piece of craft. 60 cars an hour came by and my job required about 20-25 seconds of work. The rest of the time I read the newspaper. Getting a break was a very refreshing thing as you got to breath in all that good factory production air for about 15 minutes…then it was back to the mine. But damn, the money was good for a 19 year old. One other thing, we were required to report to the shop floor nurse every 60 days for a mandatory blood test to insure we were not getting any toxicity to the lead.
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Something to consider: This base model car sold for about $3,200. The average family income in 1955 was $5,000. The average house cost $11,000, and the average rent was $88.00. Having an automobile like this in your driveway back then meant you were doing pretty well. Oddly enough, most of the people working in this film couldn't afford the very car they were building.
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I miss the old days... They always had the greatest voices and Chrysler always the most beautiful cars. Even their dashboards were beautiful and unique.
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I've seen tons of automobile production line videos from the 20's - 50's and I have to say that THIS was the most DIVERSE ones I've ever seen, ESPECIALLY for those days!!! Made my heart smile. The sad part is that most of those jobs were lost due to "robotics". We've shot ourselves in the foot with that. Grrr.
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It's amazing that the assembly of the cars was well organized and perfectly timed. The operation was complex for the 1950s but the workers got the job.
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Exner was THE guy who influenced styling of the whole American car industry during the 50s , early 60s. His designs still invoke beauty today!!. Chrysler 300, Plymouth Fury, The Imperial! Exner was the MAN!!!
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My grandpa worked for Chrysler from before the war to some time in the 80s I think. He started as an apprentice lathe operator and was a full on engineer when he retired. Engineering schools today would do well to look at that model, every mechanical engineer should be able to machine.
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I am a 4th generation autoworker im 24 years in at chrysler im a repairman now but it was some hard work being on some of those assembly line jobs you earn every penny and those good benefits i see some new hires that come in they have the look of a boxer who just got a first jab of an opponent that they underestimated some leave at the first break but most have heart and get that assembly line dance and do fine its a good living and makes ya proud to be a part of a tradition in motown
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This presentation aired on WXYZ T.V channel 7 Detroit on Wed. May 25, 1955. Dave Kilgour the narrator worked for the Plymouth division. It aired in other markets as well and was shown at the University of Pittsburgh. David Kilgour died March 4, 1963, he was born in Glasgow, Scotland. There are some newspaper articles on him and the credits at the end list some info.
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What a beautiful time! Everything was made better and here in the U.S.A!
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Excellent! My `57 DeSoto also had to "build from the scratch", it was rotten in the forest about 25 years after some serious crash... It took about 1000 hours to get it back on it`s wheels and it still needs some fixing but it has been a daily summertime driver for 10 years :)
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fascinating...from the springs to the crank..most of us take for granted the thought and skill involved..i would like to see a modern film to compare how things have changed...thanks for posting this film
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those are nice cars. love the line "If you have no business here, don't go away mad, just go away"
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I think if people were present to see their custom ordered car being assembled, they might take much better care of them over the years.
