Let’s revisit the “Suddenly It’s 1960!” generation of Chrysler products through these vintage images. Many words have been devoted on this site and elsewhere to these products, in many ways the apex of the postwar Jet-Age fascination. As many have said, the arrival of these Chrysler products in 1957 was a defining moment.
It’s also commonly known that their quality woes in their rush to production soured many buyers, leaving a starcrossed legacy. But before all that happened, the cars were an eye-grabbing presence on the roads, as these images will show.
At least one product of each of Chrysler’s divisions is featured in this gallery, either posing on their own or alongside some admirer. As known, the whole fin-age would quickly die after ’57-’58. But the impression they caused has remained with us ever since.
In the first picture, I wonder if thats Levitown PA where they were in a hurry to build the neighborhood and the last thing they did was pave the streets. Thats gravel.
Not Levitt houses.
The one with the yellow, “convert”?
Was “c/c ing” without my glasses again. Apologies. I read “first pic”, as “last pic”.
(and yes, “Mike” is right. Houses are not the “Levitown”, ones)
Fairless Hills, PA, I believe.
Sorry to say that the couple with the 58 Imperial look like they are going to a funeral 😬. THEIR OWN!
I couldn’t help but notice, too. In general on pix of this era older people tend to look very tern. I assume smiling for the camera was lost on this generation that made it through the depravations of the depression …
These people appear to be old enough to remember when it took minutes rather than seconds to take a photo. The early cameras required very long exposure times and rather bright “flash” photography to get the desired effect. As a result, folks rarely smiled while taking a photograph, as maintaining a smile is difficult for long periods of time.
Geo – Thank you for pointing that out.
Rick W….you’re right!!! They must be the descendants of that severe looking farmer couple you know the one where the guys holding the pitchfork? In this photo, with this couple, the formal, elegant, stately Imperial looks positively giddy!
Artist Grant wood’s “American Gothic”
Worse, I think they’ve just come back from it.
All that is missing as ornamentation on the hood is a fork like that of American Gothic Pioneer
We used to call one “elderly couple” on our street the models for this picture. More so “him”. The lady would have had much different hair, an inch or two less height.
They had one of those “51 Chevy”, fastbacks as their daily driver till “summer 67”.
A family friend bought a 1958 Chrysler. On the way home from the dealership the gas tank detached and partly fell off. He hiked to a pay phone and called the dealer. “Hi. The gas tank fell off the car you just sold me.”
The dealer told him “Oh, just bring it on in and we’ll fasten it back on again.”
“Um…I can’t bring it in– there’s no gas tank.”
They eventually agreed to send a tow truck.
These were such great-looking cars and probably the sleekest, most graceful 4-door hardtops of the era. Too bad about the body integrity issues.
The HUGE black Imperial didn’t look to be spreading JOY to it’s owner? 🙁 DFO
Nice, I love the big fins, Space age.
I recall my dads 58 Plymouth 6 cyl, 3-on-the-tree, when it rained and he hit a puddle, the engine would stall. He figured it out: it was a flathead six and water would fill up around the spark plugs. Let it sit for a minute or two and the engine heat would evaporate the water.
Good times!
I was 5 years old when these 1st hit the streets. Every other car on the road suddenly looked so dated. I was envious of a friend whose parents bought a ’57 Plymouth wagon. It was so cool riding in the wayback of their Plymouth with the window open. Unlike the Ford or Chevy wagons of the day, the Plymouth back window rolled down into the tailgate. I resolved to own one of these futuristic cars some day.
I’ll never be able to explain why I held such an irrational attachment to these cars but the urge to own one never left me. In 1976, I happened upon a 1958 Plymouth Belvedere sedan on the back row of a “We Tote the Note” lot on 11th street in Tulsa. The space age look was long outdated, but I finally had a chance to buy the car I dreamed of as a kid. Then my dream met reality.
A western Oklahoma car, the top of the car was well bleached and surface rusted from the sun. Foam in the upholstery was completely dead and the seats required several rolls of duct tape to hold what was left of the fabric together. The car reminded me of an aging beauty queen. Still wearing jewelry and perfume, the but the clothes were now rags and the skin tone was long gone. Body wise, these were never durable cars and age had not done my Plymouth any favors.
The mechanical components were the saving grace. The 318/TF was a stout powertrain that never gave me problems. The factory AC was easily made operational with a new set of clutch brushes. My 1st car with AC! The torsion bar suspension was sound. After I re-arched the sagging rear leaf springs and replaced the tie rod ends, the Plymouth drove and handled as well as most contemporary 1970’s full size American sedans. Not a high bar, but still impressive for such dated mechanicals.
I drove that Plymouth all over the country from Key West to Wisconsin to SoCal. I was really sorry to have to sell it when I drew my 1st overseas assignment in the Army.
Had an uncle that bought a new Chrysler in the early sixties and it had two bolts holding the front chrome bumper. One was a flat chromed bolt and the other was a regular rusty bolt and he worked at their factory in Indy.
I’ve never seen this photo of what was planned for the Forward Look next–this appears to be a 1960 De Soto proposal:
Too bad that didn’t happen. That may very well be the best looking car of the Forward Look lot. My favorite two cars of this generation were the ‘57 DeSoto and the ‘60 Dodge.
Of course, I don’t have to sell you on the latter, Stephen. 😉
For all of the faults I’ve heard described about these cars I am still totally drawn to them, particularly the Plymouths and strangely the lower trim Savoys and Plazas. If/when my Euromillions ticket comes in a low trim 57 or 58 Plymouth four door will be one of my first indulgences. Having had a pilarless coupe, not a Plymouth I am permanently cured of them.
Don’t know if it was intentional, but I think the lead photo is of a 1959 Plymouth.
It was not intentional. The image has been updated.
The guy in the photo has a bit of a Jack Kerouac look to him. And he doesn’t seem totally happy in that suburban setting. 🙂
The guy in the lead picture is making the rounds of the old car blog sites … he was on the TheOldMotor site two weeks ago.
My mom & dad bought a ’57 New Yorker 4-dr htp like the car in Picture #6 … ours was white over blue. It was in the family until 1966. I always liked the tail lights on the ’57 Desoto.
Arguably it was GM’s 1959 cars that made the public think maybe ‘1960’ wasn’t what they wanted after all. And then, suddenly, it was 1961.
I am laughing as well as the happy couple with the Imperial. What did those two eat for breakfast? As for “Suddenly It’s 1960,” the irony of this promotion for the 1957 models in 1956 is that astronomers had turned back the astronomical clock and determined that in 4 B.C. there was a confluence of stars in the sky shining over the Bethlehem area such that a great star shone in the sky” which guided the Wise Men. So, it really was 1960 just as now is really 2028. Great photos. I like the Mopars. Have you ever seen a 1957 Plymouth with the available six-cylinder? It is lost in the engine compartment!
That’s what I said about that “68 Fury”, hearse the other day. lol
Both of our big “Chevy’s”,(“65”-“68”) were six cylinders.
Remember all that “ground” when looking under the hood.
My brother’s “74, Pontiac” had the same motor. Looked way bigger, when that hood went up.
Sounded the same though. (buzzzzzz)
These are so flamboyant, I love them .
-Nate
For me it has to be the New Yorker 4DR hardtop. The colour, the house, those stupid twin antennas.
My father was a Dodge-Plymouth dealer during the “Suddenly It’s 1960” era. I was in High School and spent a lot of time at his dealership. As a result, I became quite familiar with Dodges and Plymouths from 1957 thru 1960. My favorate Plymouth year was 1958 — the ’57 rust problems were, at least partially resolved, and the styling was the best looking. The lack of the dual headlights in the ’57 Dodge and Plymouth models just didn’t look right and the ’59’s had far too much chrome and looked heavy and bloated. My favorite Dodge of this era was the ’60 Dart, with the ’58 as the runner up.
These cars and the growing suburbs of that time were made for each other. Many of those suburbs with their big lawns and wide streets are still with us, but now they are quite old too. They certainly outlasted the big flashy finned cars.
Lordy, if the fins and their attendant aerials (on the pink car in photo seven) aren’t nearly the height of the mid-century modern house itself.
As they all followed Chrysler’s 1960 with 1958 and 1959, and cars got lower, longer and wider, their tails rose in inverse proportion, such that the ’59 Caddy got beyond the level of public taste, after which they lowered their tails themselves to more modest outlines.
They all of them remind me of the late, great George Carlin, riffing about the fact that if you pat a cat’s back too near the tail, you’ll, WHOA, hit The Ass Button, whereupon the kitty goes from low and happy all along its length, to huge n’ high at the end.
This is the epitome of Mid-Century modern.
The mindset of architects at this time was that the design of a house could have influence over its occupants. I would imagine Virgil Exner had the same opinion with drivers of his Forward Look cars.
It was full speed ahead once Sputnik and the Space Race came into play.
An exciting time in America!!
Yes Chrysler Corp. Got GM to get out of the Harley Earl style and, into Bill Mitchell’s design. The problem was the Chrysler line of car where junk in 1957. They cost Chrysler a million customers years later.
No funeral… just older people
Had a 57 Dodge, 2dr HT. Every time it rained, it wouldn’t start. Those were the days.
Great pics! It’s good to see these vehicles sans rust!
Loved the the red Lancer with boat! I had a black 58 custom royal lancer in high school.Class of 79′. 350 engine . Got it because friend of my dad had it under tree for 2 yrs and said he would sell it if his son didnt graduate from college. We got it needless to say. Had cracked piston in engine,pit damage on trunk. Rebuilt the engine and electrical. Went to start by just turning key nothing happened towed to dealership didnt realize was a neutral starting button(push button tranny) . No reverse in high school sr yr went out in friends driveway! Flintstone power for awhile out of driveway.MISS THAT CAR!!
The elderly couple might’ve been thinking about how time had taken a toll on their appearance, and how less attractive they look in photos in old age. In our youth-oriented culture, especially, such feelings are understandable.
Fast rewind to see their snapshots from 40 or 50 years earlier and you might see a young couple who helped make the ’20’s roaring.
Also, need to give this couple credit for they lived thru the Great Depression. Many large homes (like the one in the background) were subdivided just for the rental income. And it was all hands on deck for WWII; women went to the factories so that men could fight in the conflict. The gentleman could have served as an reserve officer in the service.
The Imperial could have been the reward for all the struggle.
My Dad’s first car was a ’56 Plymouth Plaza no options (well, maybe a heater?) bought new…so he predated the “suddenly its 1960” models by a year.
It’s a mistake to put relative things like dates into descriptions of most things, if you don’t want them to be confusing or dated…in 1957 the year 1960 seemed in “the future” and the 1957 MOPAR cars were the first US car line (at least full sized cars) to appear low and wide, which became true for most non-trucks in succeeding years. But 1960 would come and go, and though lots changed in 1960, things continued to change thereafter. I recall when my company was talking about products to come out in 2004, which seemed very far in the future at the time, but of course now 2004 is 20 years in the past and what seemed pretty advanced at the time now seems pretty dated.
I own a 2000 VW Golf (bought new) which at the time was described as the “new” Golf (I guess because it was on the same platform as the 1998 Beetle, which hadn’t been in the lineup for 20 year so was way different than its predecessor. My car is 24 years old this month and probably now would be described as an old Golf, especially since you can no longer buy one in the US (to my regret, since I’d like to replace it with the same, just newer and with automatic as no one else in my family can drive my car; as I age that can become more of an issue.
The 1957 and after MOPARS started a styling change that looked undeniably good, but at the expense of practicality…the prior cars were more upright and took less road space for equivalent passenger room. To get an upright vehicle you need to go crossover or SUV (or truck) nowdays. I’m a maven for efficient packaging, so I regret the emphasis of styling over practicality, but maybe that’s the point…in 1957 people were looking forward more to style than mere practicality, though it seems that priority has changed with emphasis of fuel economy, but cars themselves seem to be going away, something that would have been inconceivable in 1957. But style (and lots of options/features) helps sell cars, so I guess it is foolish to expect otherwise….what we’re being sold is a reflection of us at a given time, which seems always to be in flux.
My Dad owned 2 more MOPARS after his ’56, both Dodges (an ’80 and ’86); he soon moved on to Rambler (which at the time probably seemed to be a forward looking choice, as hard as it is to believe now in retrospect). Partly it was due to my Mother (Dad hadn’t yet met my Mother when he bought the ’56) who struggled with manual transmission; the Rambler was bought with an automatic, but also was a wagon (probably more of a concession to me and my sister being born and needing lots of stuff to go along with us while we were young,
My Dad was a Chrysler guy, my uncle was a dodge guy. Dad bought used, uncle john would buy new, he was a manager at his shop… Dad was a grunt in a sweat shop… Remember both of their finned mopars clearly. Dad had a dark green with white 57 Windsor sedan, then traded that in on a 60 sky blue Windsor sedan… Such cool cars when I was a Kid.. I have pics of he, my mom and my oldest brother in various shots with his 39 Chrysler Royal he purchased after returning home from Europe when wwll ended… Have more pics of his damaged 53 Chrysler I was sitting in the back seat of when a dump truck backed out of their driveway into the back door next to me…