Editing Virgil Exner (section)

==== Forward Look design program ====
[[File:Forward_Look.jpg|thumb|right|The Flookerang, the logo for the Chrysler Corporations "Forward Look" design program]]

When Exner joined Chrysler, the company's vehicles were being fashioned by engineers instead of designers, and so were considered outmoded, unstylish designs.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} 

After seeing the [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning]]-inspired [[Car tailfin|tailfins]] on the 1948 [[Cadillac]], Exner adopted fins as a central element of his vehicle designs. He believed in the aerodynamic benefits of the fins, and even used wind tunnel testing at the [[University of Michigan]]—but he also liked their visual effects on the car. Exner lowered the roofline and made the cars sleeker, smoother, and more aggressive looking. In 1955, Chrysler introduced "The New 100-Million Dollar Look". With a long hood and short deck, the wedgelike designs of the [[Chrysler 300 letter series]] and revised 1957 models suddenly brought the company to the forefront of design, with [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] and [[General Motors]] quickly working to catch up. The 1957 Imperial also featured compound curved glass, the first to be used in a production car. The 1957 [[Plymouth (automobile)|Plymouth]]s were advertised with the slogan, "Suddenly, it's 1960!" In June of that year, Exner and his team were awarded a Gold Medal Award by the Industrial Designers Institute (IDI). In 1958, Chrysler's Forward Look was the sponsor of the groundbreaking ''[[An Evening with Fred Astaire]]'' TV special.

[[File:1955 Imperial.jpg|thumb|1955 Imperial, one of the first Exner-styled Chrysler vehicles]]
[[File:1956 DeSoto Adventurer.jpg|thumb|1956 
[[DeSoto (automobile)|DeSoto]] Adventurer]]
[[File:1957 Chrysler 300-C (36274792365).jpg|thumb|Exner's 1957 [[Chrysler 300 letter series#Second Generation|Chrysler 300C]] had a lasting impact on car styling in Detroit]]
[[File:Customroyalfin.jpg|thumb|Tail fin of a 1959 [[Dodge Custom Royal]]]]

In 1956, during the design of the 1961 models, Exner suffered a [[heart attack]]. He resumed work in 1957, working on the designs for the 1962 cars. On July 25, 1957, Exner was elected the first vice president of styling at Chrysler. Unfortunately, a rumor that GM was reducing the size of their cars caused the president of Chrysler, [[Lester Lum Colbert|Lester Lum ("Tex") Colbert]], to order Exner to do the same to his 1962 design–a change Exner disagreed with, thinking it would make his cars "ugly". Exner with his associates had completed work on the second full-sized finless Plymouth since 1955, this one for 1962, described as a strikingly attractive automobile. While he was still recovering from the heart attack, the 1962 models Exner took credit for were downsized by associates. This downsizing drastically changed the cars' appearance. This reduced the cars' appeal and caused a significant drop in sales. It turned out that the Chevrolet rumor was false and consumers disliked the smaller Plymouth and Dodge cars introduced for 1962, the styling of which was bizarre compared to more sedate Ford and GM products. Needing a scapegoat, Chrysler fired Exner. He was allowed to retain a position as a consultant so he could retire with a pension at age 55. He was replaced by [[Elwood Engel]], who had been lured from Ford. Engel was highly regarded for his design of the classic 1961 [[Lincoln Continental#1961–1969|Lincoln Continental]].<ref name="allpar.com">{{cite web|url =https://www.allpar.com/|title=Allpar Home Page|website=www.allpar.com}}</ref>

Tailfins soon lost popularity. By the late 1950s, Cadillac and Chrysler–driven by the respective competing visions of GM's Earl and Chrysler's Exner–had escalated the size of fins till some thought they were stylistically questionable and they became a symbol of American excess in the early 1960s. The 1961 models are considered the last of the "[[Forward Look]]" designs; Exner later referred to the finless 1962 downsized Plymouth and Dodge models as "plucked chickens".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Niedermeyer |first1=Paul |title=Automotive & Design History: 1962 Plymouth & Dodge – Brilliant Blunder, or Suddenly It's 1977 |url=https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/automotive-design-history-1962-plymouth-dodge-brilliant-blunder-or-suddenly-its-1977/ |publisher=Curbside Classic |date=4 December 2017 |access-date=22 December 2020}}</ref> He believed Chrysler executives had "picked" away at the cars to make them lower in cost.

Although fins were out of favor by the early 1960s, fins could still give aerodynamic advantages. In the early 1970s, Porsche 917 racing automobiles sported fins reminiscent of Exner's designs.<ref name="allpar.com"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Fitzgerald |first=Craig |title=Sport Sensation: Celebrating Chrysler's 300 Sport convertible exactly as it left the factory in 1962|date=1 June 2005|work=Hemmings Classic Car |url= http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2005/07/01/hmn_feature8.html}}</ref>