(first posted 4/20/2015) Came across some interesting creations from the Chrysler Corporation while researching for Wagon Week. First up is the Plymouth Cabana II from 1958. Can’t tell you much about it, but that frontal treatment is certainly not in the prevailing style emanating from the pre-pentastar at the time. The pillarless look keeps the (relative) clutter to a minimum.
Those fins don’t look out of place at all in the Forward Look scheme of things, however. The bubble rear is beautifully shaped, if it is actually a bubble. I can’t see a roof or rear window, nor can I figure out how they would meet if they were indeed retractable.
The Cabana seems to be a short-lived set of wagon concepts. This 1956 sketch, from John Samsen with its 1957 body cues, is the first of the ‘series’, but I’m not sure if it was produced. For any fans of Chrysler Corp.’s styling from this period, forwardlook.net has a thread here where Samsen joins the discussion about his time in the various styling studios. It’s a great read, with some rare drawings and pics.
This DeSoto bears the same C-pillar as the Cabana, and is also a pillarless wagon. Don’t know anything about this picture or car.
There’s that C-pillar again. This time it’s on the Chrysler Plainsman from 1956. This one’s got an interesting history. It was brought to Australia and driven on the road after its owner put a 440 (!) in it. There are various accounts online that place this car in Cuba as well, but I remember reading about this in a ‘Whatever happened to’ type of story in a reputable Australian motoring mag. It was rediscovered in the US, and sold last year for $175,000.
We finish with a few more images from the forwardlook.net thread. That straight wingline from the front to the rear is extraordinary, mostly in the fact that it seems to actually work. Interesting D-pillar detailing. Those portholes in the C-pillar found even stronger expression…
…here.
The wagon in the bottom pic is weird, big time. What’s up with those portholes?!
Looks like the perfect vehicle to transport illegal midgets across the border… At least they can see where they’re going, looking thru those things.
It looks like the official vehicle of the movie Yellow Submarine.
Except for the Desoto, most of these wagons look like someone from Ford styled them from the windshield forward while someone from Chrysler did the rest.
While I realize these names rarely make it into production…a Cabana anything, be it Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler or Desoto just seems wrong. Was this going to be a “top-line” model to compete against the Nomad and Del Rio?
I so want to own a 2 door hardtop wagon….I think Mercury was the only brand that built them (aside from the Nomad), and make it a 59, please.
If I recall correctly, the Cabana’s greenhouse design was considered for a potential Nomad competitor.
The second photo shows a taillight treatment that looks a lot like the one used on the 1969 Mercury Marquis.
What’s interesting about the fourth wagon is that it’s a hodge-podge of divisional parts – a DeSoto front bumper, Plymouth headlight-parking light ensemble and front fenders, and Dodge quarter panel, taillights and fins (on the passenger side).
If you look through the windows at the fin on the driver’s side, it appears to be a 1957-58 Plymouth fin.
Agreed; I think the Cabana II and Plainsman have strong Ford overtones ahead of the windshield. The final car screams Pontiac around the headlights/grille.
the first car has a front grill thats a dead ringer for the t-bird of that age.
My impression of the Plymouth (first picture) is someone used a time machine to visit 1964 and brought back drawings of the front clip of a 1964 Mercury. Interesting!
Reminds me of a ’59 Pontiac.
That 1956 Samsen sketch looks to me like the start of a Plymouth Plainsman updated with 1957 Forward Look styling.
That C pillar treatment that was tried on so many concept cars was adapted to the 1960-62 Valiant station wagon, but with an extra piece of glass instead of the extra thick C pillar that would have had suburban moms backing into things left and right due to inability to see.
Also, that Cabana II looks to me to have a retractable rear roof panel (in glass or steel) that would mate hardtop-style to the rear window that comes up out of the tailgate. Maybe this was one more thing that Studebaker cribbed from Chrysler in some way.
That’s what I was thinking, but if you look at where they would theoretically meet, its actually a ‘curved’ join rather than an ‘angled’ one. Still has me scratching my head.
I’ve seen the Cabana concept before – simply beautiful. Equally attractive is the DeSoto. The Chrysler Plainsman doesn’t do it for me.
The last one reminds me of this:
+1 I’m glad I read this thread, as I was thinking the same thing. D’oh!
The last wagon looks like something that SpongeBob would drive around Bikini Bottom.
The nose on the Cabana looks like a combination of ’61-’63 T-Bird and ’64 Mercury.
The ’65 Chrysler lifted its tail lights right off the Plymouth Cabana II. I love how that little C-pillar window rolls down and continues the pillarless theme beyond the rear door.
The DeSoto wagon looks great. The small grille is well done, but the DeSoto control tower fins would integrate better than the Dodge treatment.
I wonder if any of these prototypes still exist?
The clay with the continuous fin from front to back reminds me of the 1958 Chrysler Dual Ghia Coupe prototype, or the 1956 Chrysler Dart concept, before the fins were cut down to turn it into the Diablo. The front end on the clay says “Pontiac” to me though.
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z10044/Dual-Ghia-400.aspx
http://www.carstyling.ru/en/car/1956_chrysler_dart/
I just realized, that the “C” pillar is the same as that used by Lincoln in….58 (?) and also Mercury, but not on any Ford/Mercury wagon. It looks quite a bit like the roof treatment on “Breezeway” hardtops.
Really like those Cabana models–I think the blue/white sketch could have been a very credible Nomad competitor for ’57. Shame it didn’t see production!
That final one with the giant portholes is truly bizarre. It also seems to be wearing a ’59 Pontiac nose treatment.
The Desoto appears to have 57 Dodge tail fins. The Cabana II’s front end treatment looks like it belongs on an early sixties Mercury.
Wow; eye openers on Monday morning. The last one has a Pontiac front end, before Pontiac used it.
I love wagons but these are all a fail in my eyes!
DeSoto were in big trouble in 58 (you know it’s bad when Edsel outsells you).59 would see the last wagons and convertibles before the plug was pulled,thanks for a great read Don
Wow….a wagon with portholes in the side panels….
To me the Cabana II looks like the car which should have replaced the Forward Look cars in 1960 or 61. That styling was were they should have stopped. It was far less cluttered than the crazy cars which came out and would have lent itself to being “plucked” a lot easier when the time came. Moreover, it is only one step away from the fuselage look – had they had it in that style for 64, I think it would have been a sensation and could have been a big success for Chrysler.
Why does the front of that first one remind me of a ’64 Mercury?
It does look like a Mercury but these prototypes were built by Chrysler first. Who knows, there might have been some spying involved?
Fantastic assortment here Don; nice!
The DeSoto “wagon” appears to be a combination of a ’57 Dodge 4dr hdtp body center section with wagon quarter panels and tailgate. The only truly unique portion of this car is the roof extension from the rear of the car body roof to the tailgate window. There is some experimentation with grille features, but I would guess this car was an attempt to test the waters for incorporatng the stepped roof of the Plainsman into a producible vehicle.
I enjoyed this lots, Don–plenty that I didn’t know or hadn’t seen.
You probably also had this Cabana II photo (no need to post all three); here it is, in case anyone hasn’t seen it:
Sally, I’ve been wanting to corner you on a subject. You keep coming up with amazing images, and I read recently about a guy putting historic images on twitter and garnering massive numbers (#historyinpics IIRC). Have you considered putting some of your more interesting finds on CC as outtakes or capsules?
@Don A: Thanks sincerely for the compliment. I greatly enjoy auto-sleuthing in various image collections online (that one was from Henry Ford Museum, BTW; their online images aren’t at all exclusively FoMoCo, which surprised me). Myself, I’m not a Twitter-er yet, but suppose I’ll fall into it sooner or later. Meanwhile, Paul could give you my e-mail address (he knows my real identity–it’s fine with me, Paul!), and maybe we could collaborate on a column or something? Warmest regards, “SS”
Sally. Paul forwarded your email to me (the one with the repeating name) and it’s bounced back as undeliverable. If you’ve changed it, could you let Paul know? Cheers, Don.
@Don, I sent a note to Paul this a.m., to [fingers crossed] straighten this all out. He’s a busy guy, but I’ll hope he can get *the* correct e-mail address to you soon. Looking forward to hearing from you!
After its show life, the Plainsman was shipped to Cuba where it was used by the manager of the Chrysler assembly plant there. He and the car were secretly shipped out of Cuba when Castro took over. The car stayed with the family, saw use in Australia (where it was converted to right hand drive). I believe it was also used in Japan. Then it returned to the USA and lived in California for many years – and was reconverted back to left hand drive. In later years its been on the auction circuit. I interviewed the man who was head of the Chrysler Cuba plant and owned the car all those years.
The Valiant wagon was almost there with the roof line. Just close in the vent window on the rear doors and add a crown to the roof – more or less. I like the look – it brings out the original space age design. My simple and crude handy work once again.
Or better yet – in hardtop form.
And a little more body work to get it to be a 2 door hardtop. If I had Jay Leno’s money – I would build one! Red interior too, and with maybe a reverse wrap around rear seat!