Re: IML: 61 Imp beats 59 Caddy at Detroit Design Show!
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Re: IML: 61 Imp beats 59 Caddy at Detroit Design Show!



Hi John -
What a great story!!!!  And excellently told.  Thanks to you I amost feel I was there too (and wish I had been).
I had heard or read somewhere long ago that the '61 Imperial's fins were higher but I wasn't sure of the source.  It's nice to have it confirmed.  I agree with the judges in that I have never cared for the '59 Cad - Eldo or not.  Not even when they were going for $100,000 (which only shows some people have more money than taste).  I've never really been that big on fins (my own '60s excepted of course) but have been gaining an appreciation of the over-all design of the '61. 
Anyway, thanks for posting that story!  I really injoyed it on a bunch of levels.
 
Jim L. in OR
    '60 Crown 4dr Southampton
    '62 Crown 4dr Southampton
----- Original Message -----
From: John Corey
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 8:40 AM
Subject: IML: 61 Imp beats 59 Caddy at Detroit Design Show!

Well, it was supposed to be a Father's Day event for me, too.  It sure was for a lot of other Dads and sons who came out to see all the incredible vehicles on a perfect day in June, but my son having just turned 16, I (and cars) lost out to newer, stronger interests.  Oh well - it was a perfect weekend for a car show, anyway.  

It all began several months ago when i got an email from an organizer of the Eyes on Design show in Detroit.  This invitational show is a major benefit for the Detroit Institute of Opthamology, in support of research towards restoring sight in the blind.  Being in Detroit, it is unique.  The judges are all current or retired professional car designers and the criteria for judging do NOT include restoration perfection (as usual in Concours competitions), but rather the aesthetics of the cars' designs themselves.  As such, the organizers invite only one example of each model they wish to compete.  Classes are by style theme, not by year or make.  This year's overall theme was Aerodynamics and Streamlining; so of course there was a division solely for cars with FINS.   I drive a 1961 Imperial Crown convertible.

Well, it has long been assumed by the general public that the '59 Caddy was the biggest fin of all.  Personally, I always found that model to be a crude pastiche of ideas based on a very old theme: a bit like a teenager all over-done and posturing, just to call attention to him/herself; rather than really trying to look good  - but hey, that's just me.  Anyway, I have long suspected that the fins on the 1961 Imperial were at least as high, if not higher, than the Cady's - while being an integral part of a maturely sensual form, instead of tacked-on rocket imitators.  SO, The organizers (having read some of my other musings on this topic) invited me to bring my convertible 'NO XQS,' to Detroit to joint his magnificent show in the meadow at the Edsel Ford Estate on Lake Michigan.  And, they arranged that it should de displayed with a prime '59 Caddy Eldo convertible right beside it.  

(Side note: I'll post some pix of the event, the cars, and some further visuals on design at the SubtleXS site as soon as I can - watch for an separate email on that.)

Anyway....  So I live in the almost-Vermont part of upstate New York.  To get to Detroit by the most direct route is via Ontario, Canada and about 10 hours at legal speeds, not counting for the massive waste of time imposed by the lunacy at our border crossings now (thanks, W - I feel SOOOO much safer now).  But it was predicted to be sunny and warm all weekend, and what's a convertible for, anyway?  Son or not, lunacy or not, off I went.

Friday morning I checked the fluids, dropped the top, and headed west.  The biggest danger with driving such a car on the freeway is that as folks pass (remember, legal speeds will ONLY get you passed), they turn and gawk, inadvertently inducing the old 'look-at-the-curb-and-you'll-drift-right-toward-it' effect as they go by.  It seemed like every tenth guy drifted in too close to the front corner as they went by with twisted neck.  Other than a little uphill ping (Canadian gas?) on a hot day; the drive passed with no worse event.  There is no smoother or quieter top-down cruiser on Earth!  I arrived still fresh and with no back soreness (!) after the long unbroken trip (one gas-and-go stop, only).  I arrived late and after an hour of removing compacted and mummified bug carcasses, and throwing off the 47 extra pillows from the hotel bed (why are they there?!?!?!), enjoyed a good night's sleep.  

The next day was Motor Muster at Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum.  About 500 collector cars on display that day, plus the always-there fantastic museum and living history of America's industrialization.  Worth the trip all by itself.  I returned to the hotel to find the lot filling with other participants from around the country.  We swapped admiration of the incredible array of cars (examples: 1929 Duesenberg, Alpine racer (the Renault kind, not the Sunbeam), a Karmann T34; Lambo Espada; Mosler; Avanti R3; Saab 92).  We were invited to the GM Heritage Center for a private showing that evening.  I was the only one who drive his show car there!

What a collection GM has (only GM carts of course - skip this paragraph if your Chrysler sensibilities prohibit continuing).  The display space contains a rotating sample of about 10% of the cars they have collected - only a hundred or so there.  They include all the obvious popular items:57 Chevys, early Corvettes, early Riviera, 442's etc; but also (and the more interesting - many of the GM experimentals and show cars that never made production - the mid-engine and Wankel Vettes, the electric cars from the first Electrovair to the EV-1; styling exercises that prove GM engineers and stylists have more far skill and sense than their managers - many I had seen only as pictures in the magazines I read as a boy.  These are exciting cars that never came to production (hence GM has a 19% and falling market share now, from over 50% of US sales in the 60's).

Sunday morning all show cars had to be on the meadow at the Ford Estate by 8:30, so it was an early morning (I never knew it, but there's a 6AM on Sundays!).  I rolled in behind the Duesenberg and was directed to a section called 'Fins Gone Wild.'  Other divisions included 'Fabulous Fastbacks,'  'Aero Muscle,' European Aero Sport,' 'Return of the Fastbacks,' 'Exotics,' and 'Experimentals.'  As planned, I was slotted right next to a 59 Caddy Eldo convertible, also white.  On my other side was a beautifully restored 1960 300F in Torreador Red - a real eye catcher.  Other fin entries included a 1960 Dodge Polara convertible, a 59 Fury, some Studebakers with the Fiberglass 'enhancement' fins, a Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, and the requisite 57 and 59 Chevies.  Tough competition and what a row of edges.  We were parked nose-in, unusual for a show, to highlight the fins themselves!

Midfield, in the Experimentals were the ULTIMATE fin cars, the GM FIrebird turbine cars I, II, and III.  Wheeled rockets!  I'm glad they weren't in the competition!  Other notable rarities on the field included a Stout Scarab (look it up!), a Jensen FF, several Chapparal racer varieties, an Alfo Romeo Giulia coupe, and a lovely DeTomaso Mangusta.

Anyway, I enjoyed a wonderful day of showing and seeing, with about 200 wonderful cars of all types - and only ONE of each (none of your usual multiplicity of tri-5 Bowties, Vettes, and Two-birds).  Every one was chosen to represent its particular contribution or implementation of a style element in the aero/streamline theme.  Judging was informal as we each spoke with the judges about the various aspects of design in the cars.  Indeed, how could there be strict rules  for an aesthetic judgement?  Unusually, there was only one ribbon 'Best' in each class, so we are left to guess at other rankings, based on, perhaps, the amount of time the judges spent with each entry.

I'd like to tell you that my Imperial (the ONLY Imperial on the field, BTW) won the blue, but in fact, the judges preferred the 300F (maybe that beautiful color?) - but at least they (GM designers both) had the good taste to pick a Chrysler product!  So what did I mean when I titled this writing 'Imp beats Caddy'?  Well, the judges barely noticed the Caddy - just a quick walkaround (surely, they had seen to many of these already); whereas we spoke at length about the curved side-glass, the full-length trim detailing, the consistency of curvature in surface development and the unity of theme in the Imperial.  I noted that the Caddy, despite its popular reputation, retained the wide floor, narrow greenhouse with old-style dogleg vents and a loaded, downcast barge-like overall appearance; where the Imperial had the first true fuselage profile and an upswept, inflight modern look afforded by the modern tuck-under and tumblehome of its curved forms.  No ribbon; but then the fellow who invited me came over (himself a Chrysler designer) and we measured the fin heights of the two cars side-by-side - to settle a long-standing curiosity of his, he said.  The 1961 Imperial Crown fins beat the 59 Caddy by half an inch in height!  Imp beats Caddy!

Home again the next day.  Sunny, top-down flying again.  A trouble-free 1200 mile round trip (well, OK a little brake dragging on the left front, but nothing to delay the run).  Most of the others at the show were trailer queens, but I LOVE driving this car and can't imagine wasting a trip like that in an SUV hauler!  Lucky me!  Wish you were there.

jc


On Jun 16, 2007, at 12:48 AM, bcparent wrote:


Hi
Is this the coupe hat was mentioned in an earlier thread.

Bernie.

No virus found in this outgoing message.
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11:31 AM




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John Corey
CFIC-Qdrive, 302 Tenth St., Troy, NY 12180 USA
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