by Don Kincl
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: 1960 Chrysler
– Posted on August 18, 2020
by Don Kincl
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When a Chrysler was a viable, if not superior, alternative to a Mercury or Oldsmobile.
Love it! It would be hard to find two mainstream American sedans of that day that provided more contrast than a 59 Ford and a 60 Chrysler.
Arguably the ’60 Chrysler may have been Virgil Exner’s best work. Wasn’t the toilet seat optional as well?
Agree that the 1960 Chrysler (particularly the mid-level Saratoga) was the best Forward Look car. Somewhat ironic considering how miserable the ’60 Plymouth (with its strange front fender ‘coves’) came out.
And, yeah, if the toilet seat was a delete option, it would be the way to go. In fact, the lower trim cars might not have had it, anyway, and would definitely be a better looking car.
1960 Plymouth “miserable”? Pshaw. Maybe a closer look is in order –
I love Charles Phoenix! There should be a special CC article about him.
“I KNOWWWW!”
Totally agree. Minus the toilet seat. Never went for the canted lights and inverted trapezoid that followed.
I recall Exner, in his career had two stying themes in his head that kept manifesting themselves . One was ‘Pure Automobile ‘ that we saw in this earlier show cars, large egg crate grilles, full wheel openings and vaguely 1930s style themes made modern.
The second was ‘the Wedge’ themes, as we see in the 1957 and later cars, big fins and a swept, dart-like profile, very different than Pure Automobile.
Both themes worked but they were very different, and probably shouldn’t be mixed.
Imho this toilet seat deck looks so odd because its a Pure Automobile style theme slapped on a Wedge car, resulting in an unfathomable style mismatch.
From this angle it looks like a handicapped toilet seat, with the fins acting as grab bars and the tail lights as grab handles.
The tail lights as what you aim between?
the 1960 New Yorker is just about my favorite Chrysler, not just the gorgeous body but that Astradome electroluminescent dash and boomerang taillights
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/astradome
the Exner tour de force
+1!
+2. Possibly Ex’s best?
Popular Mechanics: “Each body is given three metal-cleaning baths, seven anti-corrosive dips, seven spraying operations and seven external paint finishing operations.”
Do these have any special reputation–sixty years on—for rust resistance? (This one looks pretty solid.)
The 1960 300F was without a doubt my favorite Chrysler. And I’m a GM guy.
Yay! Love that ‘toilet-seat’ trunk-lid!
Happy Motoring, Mark