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Elite Veteran
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Location: somerville mass | to build the 59 cadillac from forward look cars.... we started it. towering
fins from the 57 imperial.. when gm execs saw exners 1957 lineup....
they shook in their pants!!!! harley earl said " we have to do something
about this... 1959 cadillac... hows that mr. exner!!!!! |
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Expert
Posts: 3889
 
Location: Northen Virginia | Please do not name other brands in here, the have the "three musketeers" who are going to move this thread with the Volvo in the sewer. If you want to keep it in here post a undressed woman.. |
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Location: Indiana |
i was more worried about the misspelled title... |
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Expert
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Location: Vancouver, BC | moparsteve - 2017-05-27 11:28 AM
to build the 59 cadillac from forward look cars.... we started it. towering
fins from the 57 imperial.. when gm execs saw exners 1957 lineup....
they shook in their pants!!!! harley earl said " we have to do something
about this... 1959 cadillac... hows that mr. exner!!!!!
Actually GM Styling Head Earl had nothing to do with it. He was actually on vacation in Europe. His stylists started the new 1959 models after seeing the new 1957 Chrysler products on the storage lots at the Detroit assembly plants. The first thing they did was start peeling the chrome off the 1958 models. And management liked what they saw. Thus when Earl returned from his trip through Europe, the move to the future continued. Mr. Earl's immediate comments may have been something like "we have to do something", but it would have been more along the line "we have to put on more chrome". Which is what he did try to do.
Earl retired in 1958 and was succeeded by Bill Mitchell, who continued to remove clutter and doodads on GM designs and was noted for an era of cars with smooth, clean lines.
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Expert 5K+
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Location: northern germany | chuck jordan GM (chief) designer from 58-63 on TV about the forwardlook (quote):
"I LOOKED THRU THE FENCE AND SAW THIS FIELD FULL OF THE FORWARD LOOK, CHRYSLERS NEW DESIGN PHILOSOPHY, THESE LEAN CARS WITH THIN ROOFS AND VERY LITTLE CHROME AND LARGE FINS ON THE BACK. AND I TOOK A GROUP OF OUR TOP DESIGNERS DOWN TO PEEK THRU THE FENCE AND THAT AFTERNOON THINGS CHANGED".
i think they did a great job. caddys aside, i like the 59s a lot and especially love 59 chevys. their rooflines are even "lighter" than those of the mopars but i like the mopar windshield treatment better. i wish the 59 plymouth and dodge coupes had larger rear windows.
big, long, low, clean looking cars (with fins or not) with thin roof posts and large glass areas (painted in pastel colors), thats it. imo "forwardlook" is not limited to mopars. i'd rather drive a 59 chevy than a 62 plymouth or 62 polara.
Edited by 1960fury 2017-05-29 6:24 AM
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Location: Indiana |
dad has several books on Earl, Exner, and Loewy...
at one time or another throughout the 50s, EVERY ONE OF THEM "looked through the fence" to see what the other was doing !!!
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Expert
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| Sid --
The '59 Impala is one of my favorites, especially since it was "meat on the table" for my '60 Fury SonoRamic, even with its 315 horse 348, 4-speed, and 4.56 gears. Now the '60 Impala's 335 HP/348 was a different story because even though I could out jump one off the line, even when it had 4.56s, that other guy could wind it tighter towards the end of the strip.
In all seriousness, I really did like the '59s curves and never have been a fan of any of the triple nickle bowties - AKA the "belly-button-chevies" - or the sharper lined '60.
Joe Godec
'57 300C, '60 Fury SonoRamic, '65 Fuelie Vette, '65 Sport Fury 426-S/4-speed |
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Location: northern germany | Sonoramic60 - 2017-05-29 4:29 PM
Sid --
The '59 Impala is one of my favorites, especially since it was "meat on the table" for my '60 Fury SonoRamic,
i hear ya Joe. yes, looking at it that way i like all of my furys contemporary road-rivals. my buddy with a 59 impala didn't even try. another buddy with a new high performance 428 64 galaxie coupe did..... and afterwards claimed a bottle of beer blocked his gas pedal, which he (when i checked the interior of the galaxie) admitted grinning, wasn't the case.
yes, i bet you never had to look at the magnificent 59 impala rear end back in the day! i wish i could see, or find out, what happenen to your original btb!!! |
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| Sid --
Good question. After I traded it in November 1965, I never saw it again, which is interesting since I was living in Pueblo, Colorado, then a moderate size city of some 85000, but one where most of the hot rod set knew, or knew of, one another. I do know that since I was having problems with the brakes on that '65 Sport Fury, I was in the dealer's shop with it a bit and once the shop foreman made a special point of coming over to tell me, "Those old manifolds of yours sure made a nice clang when they it the botton of the trash barrel." That dealer's techs hated ram induction, so I suspect the carbs and air cleaners went in there as well. I also wonder about the 4.10 gears and Hedman Hedders, but by then the whole car gave evidence of being ridden hard and put away wet.
At any rate, I did wonder about the car then and since, but I never did see it again.
Joe |
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Location: Lower Mainland BC | Joe:
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Posts: 1288
| Dave --
Thanks for the posting. It gives me an opportunity to correct something.
The article refers to my "wife-to-be" but in reality we'll be married 51 years in a few weeks and I don't know Jerry Heasley got her to become my "wife-to-be." We've laughed about that quite a bit because I didn't have the first BTB when we started dating. In fact, she has said she probably wouldn't have gone out with me in it then. I think she is kidding when she says that -- at least I hope she is.
Thanks again.
Joe |
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Location: northern germany | Sonoramic60 - 2017-05-30 8:25 AM
"Those old manifolds of yours sure made a nice clang when they it the botton of the trash barrel."
Joe
 that doesn't sound too encouraging but then again probably improved it chances of survival. |
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Location: northern germany | Sonoramic60 - 2017-05-30 10:21 PM
she has said she probably wouldn't have gone out with me in it then. I think she is kidding when she says that -- at least I hope she is.
i really hope so too! i once broke up with a drop dead gorgeous latina because she hated my 60 fury and didn't want to ride in it.
Edited by 1960fury 2017-05-31 6:24 AM
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Expert 5K+
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Location: northern germany | 1960fury - 2017-05-29 6:10 AM
i think they did a great job. caddys aside, i like the 59s a lot and especially love 59 chevys. their rooflines are even "lighter" than those of the mopars but i like the mopar windshield treatment better. i wish the 59 plymouth and dodge coupes had larger rear windows.
big, long, low, clean looking cars (with fins or not) with thin roof posts and large glass areas (painted in pastel colors), thats it. imo "forwardlook" is not limited to mopars. i'd rather drive a 59 chevy than a 62 plymouth or 62 polara.
i think i would have prefered this front end treatment for 59 chevs. funny, i always thought 61 fury front clips would look great on a 59 impala body. wonder how the 61 fullsize plymouths would have looked like if 59 chevys would have ended up like that:
Edited by 1960fury 2017-05-31 6:36 AM
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59impala1.jpg (26KB - 178 downloads)
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Location: So. Cal | Cool! I never noticed that the headlights were slightly canted before this pic shows them straight. The straight version is definitely GM styling. Looks a lot like the Corvair. |
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gm got the insparation....
