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By: Dave Schultz (aka BK) – January 18, 2002
 To
the most of us MoparStyle kind of guys, Virgil Exner is most
famous for his “Forward Look” years at Chrysler. I like to
refer to him as the “Father of Fins”. However, his auto design
career started long before his years at Chrysler – and
continued after he left Chrysler.
My research finds that the Ex was born September 24, 1909 in
Ann Arbor Michigan, and adopted almost immediately by George
and Iva Exner. At an early age, Virgil started to show an
interest in athletics and art. When looking at photos of him
at any age, you will see that he had a good athletic built –
and was very dapper. Exner also showed an interest in cars at
a young age, and collected car catalogs. As a teenager, Exner
insisted on his friends calling him Ex – as he felt the name
Virgil to be too feminine. He attended Notre Dame University
for art training but had to drop out in 1928 for financial
reasons. He stayed in Southbend, IN (home of Notre Dame and
Studebaker) and took a job drawing advertisements for
Studebaker. A friend suggested he contact Harley Earl at
General Motors, and show him his work. When Harley Earl saw
Exner’s work, he hired him to work in the Pontiac design
studio.
In 1938, the Raymond Loewy industrial design firm hired Exner
away from Pontiac. Ex would work on Studebakers for the next
eleven years. Most feel that he was most responsible for
designing the 1947 Starlight coupe, despite Raymond Loewy
grabbing all of the credit for the design. The 1947
Studebakers were the first Post-WWII A merican
cars introduced to the public. Studebaker’s slogan in 1947 was
“First by far with a post-war car”. He was also instrumental
in the design of the famous “bullet-Nosed” Studebakers – but
did not receive proper credit for that either. I have read
much on Raymond Loewy . He and his firm is credited with the
late forties and early fifties Studebakers, the 1963
Studebaker Avante, the design of the current Coke Bottle,
streamlined trains, streamlined toasters, and the modern look
of many items we take for granted today. However, the more I
read about Raymond Loewy , the more I find that his talent was
hiring the best designers, managing the projects they worked –
but taking all credit for their work. Since his company
employed the designers, he felt that there was no reason to
give credit to others. Many famous designers who worked for
Raymond Loewy left for this reason. It is said that Ex and
Lowery despised each other.
In 1949, Exner joined Chrysler as head of the Advance Styling
Group, where he helped to create “idea cars” like the DeSoto
Adventurer, Dodge Firearrow, K-310, Chrysler d’Elegance,
Plymouth XNR, and a few others. After World War II, the
Chrysler Corporation cars were the stodgiest looking of all
American cars. Chrysler’s president, Keller, insisted that a
car’s roofline should be high enough for a man to wear his hat
while driving. While the other car companies were making their
cars lower and sleeker – Chrysler cars were tall and boxy,
costing Chrysler market-share. Directors at Chrysler soon
realized that something had to change, and Exner became
Chrysler’s first vice-president of styling.
Immediately, Exner designed the production models to be lower,
sleek, and tiny fins started to sprout. He referred to this as
the 'Forward Look". Ex’s designs combined with Chrysler’s
technology (Hemi engines, first alternator, first power
steering, shifter on the dashboard – and then later
pushbuttons, etc) increased Chrysler Corporation’s market
share. Years ago, I read a Studebaker book were it told of how
envious Raymond Loewy was with Exner’s success. Legend has it
that Loewy made a 1/12 scale clay mock up of a car with
gigantic fins. He then sent this mockery to Exner with an
insulting note about the design of his cars.
Despite the successes Ex brought Chrysler, Virgil Exner would
ultimately become a scapegoat for others at Chrysler’s errors.
It started with the cars of 1957, when Chrysler’s rush to
manufacturing caused quality issues. The biggest was these
cars were rusting fast. Chrysler was due for a major design
change for 1962, and the 1961 cars were to be a transition car
– taking the cars from fins to the new style due in 1962.
Unfortunately, Virgil Exner had a heart attack in 1956 (when
the 1961 cars were being designed) – and the 1961 car did not
have enough of his direction. Ex returned to work in 1957 and
immediately went to work on the 1962 cars.
In the summer of 1959, a Chrysler executive received a tip
that Ford and GM were going to downsize their cars
dramatically, and executives viewed “Spy Photos” of the
downsized cars. There was panic because they were convinced
that customers would buy the smaller cars – and not Chrysler’s
cars. The designs for the 1962 Chryslers car had already been
set – but the directors immediately gave Exner the directive
to shorten the wheelbase by three inches and to make it eight
inches narrower. Virgil Exner told the directors that doing
that to his designs would make the car look like Hell – but it
fell of deaf ears.
When the 1962 models of Ford and GM roll out, Chrysler found
out that they had been a victim of a hoax by Chevrolet. The
car buying public agreed with Exner that just lopping inches
off the car would make it ugly – and would not buy them.
Chrysler needed a scapegoat, so they fired Ex.
After Chrysler, Ex and his son, Virgil Exner, Jr., designed
jet-powered pleasure boats for Buehler Corporation. In 1963,
they started working on the idea of bringing back a
Neo-Classic Duesenberg. In 1966, they were to have come out
with a Duesenberg looking car sitting on a Chrysler drive
train, and had actually taken orders for the car -- but at the
last minute, a major financer backed out. They were able to,
with the help of John DeLorean; produce a Stutz looking
neoclassic that rode on a Pontiac drive train.
Virgil Exner died on December 22, 1973. He was just 64 years
old.
This article is a condensed version of the dozens of pages I
have read on Ex. My personal opinion is that he was one of the
greatest automobile designers ever -- but was cheated by
Lowery, Chrysler, fate, and history.
UPDATE: Sometime in 2003, I received and email from
Virgil Exner, JR., who lives and designs cars in
Florida. He wanted to tell me that he was very happy
with my article on his father.
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