Curbside Find: Chrysler Sebring – The Flamboyant 1950s Meet The 1990s!

Photos from the CC Cohort by Atomic-ken. 

I don’t think anyone asked for this; late 1950s flamboyance squeezed through a 1990s filter? Ever wonder what that would look like? Well, here may be your answer. Attractive? Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Or not. Eyegrabbing? Undoubtedly! It’s a creation that almost gives retro Mitsuokas a run for their money.

Love it or leave it, this 1990s Chrysler Sebring droptop (I think that’s what’s underneath), speaks to the automotive exuberant spirit of the Space Age. And well, wasn’t the late ’90s and early ’00s the new age of retro?

Incidentally, Chrysler had their plethora of retro-inspired concepts in the 1990s. From the always-reinvented phaetons, to the hotrod influenced Prowler. That said, I sort of wish this creation had stuck to one corporate spirit. I mean, did it really need a Nissan Murano styling transfusion? And those 1960 Cadillac fins? Why not keep it all within the Pentastar?

After all, somewhere in automotive heaven, the soul of Exner is looking at this and wondering: Why not reach for the skies and stick on some true wings on this Sebring? Like the ones from his 1957 Chrysler 300 proposal?

But, look, I get it. Easier to glue on available leftovers from a Caddy. Plus, these lowered fins are a lot easier to live with than the 1959 ones, which according to none other than Chuck Jordan, always left you feeling as if you were being perpetually followed.

So, for practical purposes, I’ll ultimately forgive these Caddy wings. Now, what this truly needs is to ditch the rocket-shaped taillights and get itself some proper Imperial gunsight ones. That would truly complete this package.