While on a brief Memorial Day drive to the north in search of summer camping sites, I happened to meander through the small town of Pisgah, IA (say: “pizz-guh”). After explaining the deep cultural significance of the Old Home Fill ‘Er Up and Keep On Truckin’ Cafe to my girlfriend, I spotted something interesting a few blocks east of the highway—a well-preserved ’61 Dodge. After expressing disbelief that I had 1) spotted the car from several blocks away and 2) correctly identified it as a ’61 Dodge (thanks, CC!), she was kind enough to snap a picture. Boy, the owner really likes that color, huh?
Someone made the comment on the thread about the New York Auto Show that modern designers who don’t use clay models have a hard time seeing what certain shapes will actually look like. The guys in Chrysler styling in around 1959 or so did not have that excuse.
I love these from a “wow, how strange is that” kind of standpoint. However, I will confess that I have just never understood the interplay of all of the curves, bulges, ridges, coves and the rest. This car is just a mashup of 100 different styling ideas. Drugs? Whatever the cause, this just doesn’t work. I will say that the color goes quite well with that house, though. Of course, I like copper cars in general.
The house washes out the color of the car a bit, but I’m pretty sure it is Roman Bronze—correct for ’61.
I think that there had to be some sort of LSD experimentation going on in the Chrysler styling dept.
I used to think that; when those things roamed the Earth.
Now, however, I think it’s just the ticket.
Why? That it harkens back to a more innocent time (such as, before kindergarten)? Too much drug use – on MY part?
No matter. I have no love for the big-sedan format; but I’d be on that like…like white on rice.
and here’s it’s in-bred cousin’s kid
I can’t tell from the photo, but if the car has the square steering wheel, all other weird design cues are forgiven!
This car didn’t have the square wheel—but compared to most of the other ’61 Chrysler products, I have to say this Dart looked downright subdued, bordering on stylish! The single-tone paint and minimal (for ’61) chrome actually helped it’s looks.
That grille looks a lot like the one on a Mk3Zephyr/Zodiac,The rest of the cars a bit strange looking especially compared to the Ford & GM opposition
Is this the Holy Grail of Brown Car A.s…. I was 2 when these came out. I always questioned the sanity of the Couple in The dark grey house that had a Matching 61 such dodge,. It was so ugly, I could never grasp who decided they should produce this as is. So cool to see a survivor. I can’t say the upscale Dodge looked any better with taillights coming out the side of the fins either. Even uglier, but would love to see the survivors. I’m curious as to how many of such cars are still capable of Moving on their own.
Aqua Please for me. This gold, copper is a strange aquired taste I guess. Maybe you have to like beer.
I can assure you that the stylists working on the ’61 Dart didn’t go directly to clay. The normal process was to create reams and reams of “wallpaper”, i.e., color renderings for the bosses to to pick and choose from. Rarely did a stylist have more that one quarter of of his/her concept selected for development. That’s why the front ends and rear ends on Detroit creations look as though they came from different stylists. Because they did!
According to Chrysler historian (and former Chrysler stylist) Jeff Godshall in an early 1990s article in Automobile Quarterly, the original proposal for the quarter panels of the 1961 Dodge/Dart consisted of the 1960 Dodge/Dart quarter panels, minus their fins.
He says that it wasn’t too bad, although I doubt that it was a beauty (no photos, unfortunately). But styling got into a dispute the Dodge Division general manager, and this car is somehow the result.
I can not wait to see all the gray/silver houses in the future to match their cars!
With gray furniture and gray carpet inside.
This picture reminded me of a family that lived down the street from us when i was growing up. They had a two-tone pink and grey 1956 Chevy (a popular paint scheme at the time), and their suburban rancher home was painted in exactly the same colours. Talk about branding your lifestyle!
It’s Don Draper’s car from “Mad Men” season 2, he crashed it while DUI.
It was a 4 door, but not sure if hardtop or post sedan. I’d know that sad front end anywhere,
Chrysler styling was just flailing by this time.
Exner’s fins were like the Macarena, everyone loved it for two years, then suddenly realized how stupid they looked, leaving Exner wondering what his follow up hit would be.
So, he tried to toilet seat rear deck.
Then he floating headlamps a-la-Cord.
Then he tried the floating rear braking lamps, a-la-Buck Roger’s space gun.
Then he tried the reverse fin over the rear fenders.
Then he tried the asymmetrical design, a-la-Dart show car.
Then he tried the pod instrument panel, a-la-Nash.
Then he tried the dash mounted rear view mirror.
Did any of this crap do a damn thing other than make the cars look different?
Was there a single function enhanced?
It isn’t surprising that after this period, Chrysler rediscovered honest designs again. I know the 1965-1973 Mopars are about as exciting as a Kleenex box, but after the 1957-1962 fiascos, you can’t blame them.
I seem to recall the Macarena lasted TWO MONTHS, not two years! Your point is well-taken, however.
The Macarena began in Europe in 1995, then came across the Atlantic to the States in 1996. I did the same.
HEY CHARLIE!!!! You nailed the fins on backwards!
That “face” has a rather sad, dejected look about it. I prefer the ’61 Plymouth. Bizarre beats plain ol’ ugly for me.
+1. Both are candidates for the worst looking cars ever to make it to production, but the Dodge also manages to look bland, sad, and homely, too.
At least with the outrageous, fifties’ bad ‘B’ science fiction movie look, the ’61 Plymouth front end had personality, and personality goes a long way.
The top-line 1960 and 1961 Dodges had some of the gaudiest steering wheels and instrument panels ever to come out of Detroit. I’d add a picture but my half-assed iso, HughesNet, is giving about 2400-baud service right now.
“Old Home Fill ‘Er Up and Keep On Truckin’ Cafe”…if the voice sounds familiar, it’s C.W. McCall, who hit the Pop Culture stratosphere in the winter of 1976 with this gem…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN4XpIbEY-Y
Bill Fries – a midwest version of Don Draper – wrote a jingle for Old Home Bread that became “Old Home Fill ‘Er Up and Keep On Truckin’ Cafe” when he landed a record deal with MGM and began recording under the stage name “C.W. McCall”.
MGM exited the record business not long after “Convoy”…
I’ve always preferred the ’61 Dodge to the ’60…the grill looks a little friendlier. The reverse fins look better on the shorter-wheelbase Dart.
The conveyance is much prettier than I am.
I’m truly sorry that this era of Mopar design has so many haters. I see an immense amount of beauty in it and I don’t do drugs.
How many here know the entire story about the infamous ’61 full size Dodge tail lights? Quite a story in just that one element alone.
Please share.
Without going into a Doctorial thesis, simply there were low mounted and high mounted tail lights depending on model. There were problems with the low mount tail light leading eventually to an extra-cost dealer add-on tail light. True anal-obssesed buffs know about it. The other 99.995% could care less. LOL
Thanks Stan, I agree .
I don’t do drugs either, and wish I had one of each Chrysler product from this era.
The hatred is flowing a bit.
Wow as a long time lurker here ,this seems very un- CC like.
+1
I actually like the front styling of this car with its concave grille and find it a much nicer execution than the Falcons of this period. The owner did a disservice by adding the extra license plate though.
Okay, agreed there’s too many “sour” comments regarding the design of these cars. Chrysler products from this period are not my idea of a handsome car, but compared to all of the look-alike cars of most any era you care to mention, these Chryslers go their own way and I appreciate them for that. Certainly not boring.
When I was a kid, there was a couple living in the house next to my grandparents with a white ’61(?) Dodge Dart. I think it was a Seneca – a plain car with no chrome trim that I can remember. And yes, it matched the house color.
Somebody fixed it. Front end of the Plymouth mated to the back end of the Dodge. I like it. I wonder if it really was as easy as swapping the front clip and all the body lines matched? Just don’t believe the story that goes with the pictures because it’s fake.
http://www.moparts.org/moparts/picture/oldweb/Garlick.html
EDIT: Apparently it really is that easy. Halfway down this page is someone else that swapped front clips between a 61 Plymouth and Dodge. Pictures of both cars are shown.
http://www.moparstyle.com/forums/showthread.php?13-Meet-My-Mopar