The styling story of the 68 Charger has a familiar ring to it. Bill Brownlie, head of Dodge design, had gone to Europe and left strict orders that the 68 design was not to proceed further until his return. Well, the guy leading the project, Richard Sias, had another plan. He pressed on and when Brownlie returned Sias fully expected the proverbial STHTF. It would have had it not been for Elwood Engel, head of Chrysler Corp design declaring how much he liked what he saw. End of story.
Over at GM in 1956 Harley Earl went to the Riviera to sun himself, and upon departure gave Bill Mitchell strict instructions on how to proceed with the design work of the 1959 models. Essentially he wanted more of the 58s in the 1959s. The staff designers revolted and Mitchell gave his blessing for them to start all over without regard for Earl’s order. Some time after the restart Harlow Curtis, GM chief, stopped by the design studios and told Mitchell how impressed he was with the 59 work. When Earl returned to Detroit he was not about to lock horns with Curtis, so publicly endorsed the revolution...but privately seethed according to some reports.
I know a lot of stuff? Well I get a lot of it from a great blog, Just a Car Guy.
The 68 Charger was almost perfect in my mind. My only disappointment was the dash. It was absolutely incoherent and lacked even a little bit of symmetry. Given that a driver had to look at the darn thing so much why was it not designed to be more pleasing to the eye? (Think the Studie Hawks with their beautiful machine turned dash and Stewart Warner gauges). And who's bright idea was it to arrange the tach to be a mere, hard to read appendage of the clock? It was probably an accountant (See David Halberstam's book, "The Reckoning").
Awesome, looks so right.
ReplyDeleteOne of my top 10 favorite cars. I love the round taillights of the 68, but I prefer the split grill of the 69 better.
The styling story of the 68 Charger has a familiar ring to it. Bill Brownlie, head of Dodge design, had gone to Europe and left strict orders that the 68 design was not to proceed further until his return. Well, the guy leading the project, Richard Sias, had another plan. He pressed on and when Brownlie returned Sias fully expected the proverbial STHTF. It would have had it not been for Elwood Engel, head of Chrysler Corp design declaring how much he liked what he saw. End of story.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.allpar.com/threads/the-%E2%80%9968-charger-nothing-copied-copied-by-none-the-making-of-a-true-icon.237040/
Over at GM in 1956 Harley Earl went to the Riviera to sun himself, and upon departure gave Bill Mitchell strict instructions on how to proceed with the design work of the 1959 models. Essentially he wanted more of the 58s in the 1959s. The staff designers revolted and Mitchell gave his blessing for them to start all over without regard for Earl’s order. Some time after the restart Harlow Curtis, GM chief, stopped by the design studios and told Mitchell how impressed he was with the 59 work. When Earl returned to Detroit he was not about to lock horns with Curtis, so publicly endorsed the revolution...but privately seethed according to some reports.
thanks! Damn, you really know a LOT of stuff!
DeleteI know a lot of stuff? Well I get a lot of it from a great blog, Just a Car Guy.
DeleteThe 68 Charger was almost perfect in my mind. My only disappointment was the dash. It was absolutely incoherent and lacked even a little bit of symmetry. Given that a driver had to look at the darn thing so much why was it not designed to be more pleasing to the eye?
(Think the Studie Hawks with their beautiful machine turned dash and Stewart Warner gauges). And who's bright idea was it to arrange the tach to be a mere, hard to read appendage of the clock? It was probably an accountant (See David Halberstam's book, "The Reckoning").