I’m sure CC readers are familiar with Elwood Engel, VP for Design at Chrysler from 1961 to 1973. Engel began his career in the GM stylist apprentice program, but left to join George Walker’s independent design firm. When Walker was selected as Ford’s design head in 1955, Engel and Joe Oros came with him. With Walker reaching mandatory retirement age in 1961, Engel was his preferred replacement. But things were always political at Ford in those days and he was passed over in favor of Eugene Bordinat. Walker then helped orchestrate Engel’s move to Chrysler “under the table.” It was messy…
Engel is perhaps most remembered for his iconic 1961 Lincoln Continental – a car that encapsulated all of his design themes and preferences; three component “fill-the-box” styling, knife-edged fender tops with stainless steel accents, and flat slab sides. But unlike his predecessor at Chrysler Virgil Exner, Engel allowed his subordinates to pursue their own respective design ideas, and if they were good, he approved them. As a result, we got the beautiful 1968 Dodge Charger, with its flowing “coke-bottle” sides – very “un-Engel.” A good article on those responsible for the 68 Charger’s styling is here. Additionally, unlike Exner, Engel adapted with the times – and when slab sides were going out of style, he led Chrysler’s transition to its fuselage models.
There are many examples of Engel’s signature “style”; obviously the 61 Continental, but also the 63 Chrysler Turbine Car, the 64-66 Imperial, the 65 Plymouth Fury, etc.
But my choice for “peak-Engel-mobile” is a smaller car – one that posed more of a challenge to successfully pull-off the fill-the-box style – the 1967-72 Plymouth Valiant. I think this era Valiant captures all the “Engelisms.” Flat sides with thin accent lines along the mid and lower body, tall fender tops that go above the hood and trunk-line, and a clear square three-box style – all in a much smaller package. Some would call it overly conservative, but I like it.
Mitsubishi Debonair
Perhaps the best “tribute” Engel-mobile was one he didn’t design, but could surely appreciate.
What’s your favorite Elwood Engel-era styled car?
I appreciate what he did with the ’61 Continental with the “Less is More” approach. However, I also like the ’66 Imperial. By this time, Cadillac got religion and its reflected in the ’65 De Ville.
I think his true legacy is removing the extreme curves and folds in domestic luxury cars.
That is his true credit!!
I agree that the Valiant was the best example of the Engel style, now that you point it out. But I disagree that the small size made it more difficult to pull off. In fact, I think the Engel approach worked best at a small scale. In person, the rectilinear approach becomes somehow tiresome. The Continental and Imperial look ponderous and heavy up close, even though they look good in pictures.
My favorite would be the 65 Imperial. The 64-66 are all beautiful but the 65 combines the glass head light covers with the rear on the 64 so handsomely. He really did wonders with the body shell he had to work with and seeing that design evolve to the 67-68 models is great. Having owned a 65 for 20 plus years I can say there’s not a bad line on the car or anything I would change.
As a Certified Volvo Nut™, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the “boxy but good” Volvo 144 was introduced at the same time as the 1967 Valiant – which was also boxy but good!
Without looking it up, I suspect the Valiant was 2/3 of the price of the Volvo, and I probably would have bought the Valiant if I was shopping in 1967.
While the ’61 Continental is my all-time Engel favorite, over at Chrylser it is the beginning of the fuselage era with the ’68 intermediates, especially the Road Runner, so clean. On the other hand, I dont know what happened to create the ’67 Polara/Monaco under his watch, ugly.
My pick would be the Dodge Dart Swinger 2 door hardtop. I go back and forth on whether I prefer the 1970-72 facelift (which also included the Plymouth Scamp) or the original 1967-69 version. A 69 Dart Swinger photo is below.
From every angle the car has oodles of visual interest. From the front you get the peaked fenders, the sides feature a subtle kickup under the windows and a fascinating lower body line that drifts downward but bumps up over each wheel arch – which predicts the fuselage cars. The rear gives you that wonderful concave glass and the roof sculpting.
Runner-up would be the 1967-68 Chrysler with those concave sides.
The Dart hardtop isn’t a bad choice for peak Engel. Dodge was screaming for an A-body ponycar. What they got was the 1966 Dodge Charger (which used more than a few cues from the 1963 Studebaker Sceptre showcar) and the 1967 Dart hardtop (then called GT). The Swinger name didn’t show up until 1969.
No, it wasn’t a ponycar, but it got all the mechanical bits from the Barracuda, as well as a better looking convertible version. And the Swinger ended up outliving the E-body Challenger, too.
My pick……..the Turbine. Loved those, but never saw one in the wild.
The gorgeous 1961 Lincoln Continental is my pick. Then the 1965 big Chryslers.
Good pick; I was quite impressed with the ’67 Valiant and Dart when they came out. Simple, conservative but with good details. Most of all, it was a car of true international size and style, which particularly interested me.
Engel’s most influential car was of course the ’61 Conti; it was the sharp-edged knife that finally killed the self-indulgent excesses of the ’50s. Nothing he did after that was nearly as influential.
While the big ’69 fuselage cars are amusing and lovable in a way, they were really off in certain key respects. But he corrected those for the 1971 B-Body coupes, and at least for today I’ll nominate the 1971 Plymouth Sebring Coupe as the best, although I seriously doubt he had much to do with it personally. But he approved it, and that counts.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1971-plymouth-satellite-sebring-plus-with-a-tip-of-the-hat-to-virgil-exner-and-marcello-gandini/
Great looking car, but you have to admit he at least peaked at Virgil Exner’s XNR show car.
I nominate the 1965 Chrysler — elegant from any angle and it has a beautiful instrument panel. I know some here prefer the 1966-68 facelifts, but I like the original 1965 design.
I do love the 1961 Continental and the Turbine car, but too would go with the Valiant if for no other reason that I’ve spent a lot more time in one of those than either of the other two. A ride in a Turbine car would be fun though…
Best photo of the bunch though is the 1965 Fury, where apparently the owners are trying to find their dropped keys on the beach.
So many good looking cars it’s hard to choose one .
My favorite of those early to mid 1960’s Lincolns has always been the ’65, I’ve owned ’63, ’64 & ’65 .
The “it was messy” link led me to a photograph of the proposed ’64 Lincoln styling buck taken in 1961, it shows…… looped bumpers on the MK IX Lincoln that never saw daylight .
I too liked those Volvo 144’a but I preferred the Valiants .
-Nate
It’s hard to pick a favorite of his designs, so I’ll pick a few.
The pictured “Kennedy” Continental and that Imperial are of course very beautiful cars.
The ‘68 Charger (actually, I prefer the ‘69), as well as the ‘71 Cuda are personal favorites too.
But here’s one I like that no one here may mention… the 1969 Dodge Polara. Those long and lean fuselage lines make that big car kinda sporty.
I agree with you on the ‘69 Polara…mine is a red over black convertible; a joy to drive and the perfect Sunday afternoon cruiser! (Tried uploading a pic, but it didn’t work.)
Try reducing the size of the picture. It should work.
It’s gotta be the ’65-’68 Chryslers. They carry all the Engel hallmarks. Longer, lower, wider? Check! Sharp folds and creases? Check! Longitudinal chrome strips, fastidious attention to detail, and gorgeous chrome bumpers? Check, check and check! What more could you want?
And of those, my specific pick would be the 1966 Newport 4-door hardtop. I like the grille a bit better than the New Yorker, and the taillight treatment is my favorite of the years cited. To me, it checks all the right boxes for peak Engel.
I agree on the Valiant, and on Jonathan’s take. It’s easier to style a smaller car than a big one because it’s harder to screw one up. The space utilization and cost constraints rule out excess and the proportions prevent simplicity from looking like huge unadornedness. That’s why the fuselage C bodies only look really good as 4 door hardtops, wagons or convertibles with the top down while the Hillman Avenger pulls the look off in all its forms.
I liked the mid to late 60s Valiants or Darts as they were called, but peak I’m not too sure, the 61 Lincoln stands out because previous models were just ugly while Engels is pleasing to look at and the brand milked it for years plus the cues that filtered down through the Ford ranges helped them all, thats whats iconic about that that model not the car itself.
There really is so many I like, but if I can only pick one it will be the 1968 Plymouth B body coupe, a true transitional car that bridged the lean boxy earlier styles to the later smooth, full bodied, heavier looking cars.
I never get tired of looking at these, not a single line out of place, not one thing I would change,
A good test of a cars style, is that the cheaper versions look as good as the premium ones. Peak automobile for me.
I think Engel’s talents were best exemplified in the 1970 Cordoba del Oro concept, which perhaps more than any other design showcased his preference for clean, smooth surfaces and dynamic shapes with captivating movement. He was a true champion sculpture.
https://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/threads/1970-cordoba-del-oro-concept.14331/
My favorite Engel-led production car is the 1971 Dodge Coronet. Because it was mid-size, there was enough volume to work the surfaces in a way that was not possible with compacts. And yet, it did not suffer from the bloat that came with full-sized cars that had to seat three comfortably across. My only issue is that it lacked skirts, which would have fully developed the body sides. Have shown this pic before but will do so again so that you can see what I am talking about.
My favourite Engel is that ’61 Continental. It has so much subltety that passes under the radar – the curved side glass, the windows cut relatively high into the roof, the subtly curved side panels (mercifully not flat), and that beautiful ’61-only front end which somehow splits the difference between prestige and sporty and (to my eyes) works better than anything that followed. Net result is a car that doesn’t look specifically American (unlike a Cadillac or Imperial), just impressively large, nicely-proportioned and tasteful. In any company.
Agree 100% and the front end is similar to the ’61 T Bird
Is that an original promo style kit? Jealous