Virgil Max Exner

A Dodge Custom Royal (1959)

Virgil Max "Ex" Exner sen. (Born September 24, 1909 in Ann Arbor (Michigan) ; † December 22, 1973 in Royal Oak (Michigan) ) was an American automobile designer who worked for various automobile manufacturers in the United States, namely Studebaker and Chrysler . He became known for his " Hundred Million Dollar Look " (1955–1956) and especially the forward look , which was used on various Chrysler products from 1957 to 1961, and for his fondness for tail fins for aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons .

Private life

Virgil Exner was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and was adopted as a baby by George W. and Iva Exner . Virgil showed a keen interest in art and automobiles. He studied art at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana , but had to give up his studies in 1928 due to lack of money. He then took a job as an assistant in a commercial art studio . In 1931 he married Mildred Marie Eshleman , who also worked in the studio, and on April 17, 1933 their first child, Virgil Exner jun. , born. During this time Virgil Exner sen. hired to draw advertising for Studebaker trucks. The couple had a second son, Brian , in 1940 , who fell unhappy out of a window and later died of his injuries.

Work as a designer

He carried out his first design work for General Motors , where he was brought in by GM styling tsar Harley Earl . In 1938 he left the company and worked in Raymond Loewy's design studio , where designs for cars and military vehicles were made before and during the Second World War . He also made the designs for the 1947 Studebaker models. When Loewy found out about this unauthorized secondary employment in 1944, he was dismissed. As the owner of the design office, Loewy also claimed the official authorship of these vehicles, especially for the Starlight Coupé, which was also announced in 1947 . Loewy is named as the sole inventor on the design patent . Exner got a job the following day at Studebaker in South Bend, Indiana, where he worked under Vice President of Engineering , Ray Cole . He was also involved in the design of some of the first cars that Studebaker brought out after the war (at that time Studebaker's slogan was: "First by far with a Post War Car").

In 1949, Exner joined Chrysler's Advanced Styling Group , where he worked with Cliff Voss and Maury Baldwin . He also cooperated with the owners of Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin, Felice Mario Boano and Luigi Segre . He was linked to the latter by a close friendship, which also allowed the two companies to work together throughout the 1950s. This cooperation resulted in the Chrysler Ghia designs , such as B. the Chrysler K-310 from 1952, the Chrysler d'Élegance and the DeSoto Adventurer ; the Chrysler K-200 , however, was implemented by Boano.

Influence on automotive design

The Imperial (1955) , one of the first Chrysler vehicles designed by Virgil Exner

When Exner started at Chrysler, automobile bodies were still designed by engineers rather than designers, which led to the look of the 1940s and early 1950s Chrysler vehicles, widely regarded as old-fashioned and high-sided. Like his predecessor, Raymond Dietrich , Exner also opposed this approach. He managed to get the design process under his control, including the clay models and the models for planning the tools. Here he created the Dodge Firearrow concept, which was realized by Ghia.

Harley Earl at GM was inspired by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning to add small tail fins to Cadillac's 1948 models . Exner saw this detail, which some Italian designers were also experimenting with, and made it his own by enlarging them, giving them a more important role. Exner believed in the aerodynamic qualities of the fins and even tried the University of Michigan wind tunnel , but he also liked the visual effects they achieved on the car. They were increasingly evident in the first cars that he was developing: the Chrysler 300 letter series and the Imperial models . The 1957 Imperial also had curved laminated glass, the first in automotive engineering.

Exner's Chrysler 300C had a lasting impact on automotive design in Detroit .

These fin designs also showed Exner's forward look for the first time . In the late 1940s, Chrysler had old fashioned styling concepts and the cars were high-sided. Exner flattened the roofline and made the cars leaner, softer and more aggressive. With the 300 series and long-hood, short-boot models redesigned in 1957, Chrysler suddenly led the way in styling, and Ford and GM were busy catching up. Advertising campaigns for the 1957 model sounded: "And suddenly it's 1960". In June of this year, Exner and his team received the gold medal from the Industrial Designers' Institute .

In 1956, Exner suffered a heart attack while working on the 1961 models . He finished his work in 1957 with the design of the 1962 models. On July 25, 1957, Exner was elected Chrysler's first vice president of styling. Unfortunately, rumors that GM was trying to reduce the size of its cars prompted Chrysler's president, Exner, to do the same with its 1962 designs - a change Exner disapproved of because he thought it would make his cars ugly . This change, together with some quality problems, caused a significant drop in sales. The rumors turned out to be false, and customers didn't like the smaller Dodge and Plymouth models from 1962, the styling of which was bizarre compared to the more compliant Ford and GM products. Chrysler fired Exner in search of a scapegoat. He was allowed to continue working as a consultant and was able to retire at the age of 55. His successor was Elwood Engel , who had been lured away from Ford. Engel enjoyed great renown for his design for the classic 1961 Lincoln Continental .

The tail fins soon became unpopular. In the late 1950s, Cadillac and Chrysler had enlarged them to such an extent that they were increasingly considered stylistically questionable, and so they became symbols of the American excesses of the early 1960s. The 1961 models are considered to be the last to have a forward look . Exner later referred to the finnless 1962 models from Chrysler and Imperial as "plucked chickens".

Later freelance activities

Last series-produced design by Exners: Stutz Blackhawk III

Exner still advised many automobile manufacturers from his office in Birmingham, Michigan . He also worked with his son, Virgil Max Exner Jr., who designed motor boats for Buehler.

From 1963 he designed a series of revival cars together with his son . First, a series of four automobile designs appeared in the December 1963 issue of Esquire magazine , which were supposed to show what the vehicles of well-known, lost automobile manufacturers would have looked like at that time. The subject of the first series were the manufacturers Duesenberg , Mercer , Packard and Stutz Motor Car of America . In a second series, a little later, designs for the brands Bugatti , Jordan and Pierce Arrow followed .

The designs attracted a great deal of attention at the time and the well-known toy manufacturer Renwal , with the support of father and son Exner, launched a highly regarded model series of all vehicles. The positive public response prompted various donors to realize individual designs together with father and son Exner. Initially, the Mercer-Cobra was realized as a one-off at Carrozzeria Sibona-Basano in Turin. The vehicle, with numerous decorative elements made of copper and brass, was financed by the American Copper Development Association, Inc. in New York, premiered at the Paris Motor Show in October 1964 and served the company as a show car for around ten years To show alternatives to chrome trim. In the following year, Virgil Exner and his son and other donors attempted to revive the Duesenberg automobile brand with the Duesenberg Model D ; Despite the interest of several show greats, the project ultimately failed due to insufficient funding for a planned small series production. A little later, Virgil Exner was involved in the revival of Stutz, which led to the establishment of the Stutz Motor Car of America .

He died on December 22, 1973 at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan .

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personal data
SURNAME	Exner, Virgil Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Exner, Virgil Max senior (full name); Exner, Ex senior (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American automobile designer
DATE OF BIRTH	September 24, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ann Arbor (Michigan)
DATE OF DEATH	22nd December 1973
Place of death	Royal Oak (Michigan)