So THAT'S why Chrysler fired Virgil Exner!

[Dwain G.]

June HRM just arrived. Flipped through the index and saw "Why The 1962 MoPars Are So Ugly".
What a fiasco! (if it's all true)

[qsanford]

That is only if one considers the 1962 Mopars ugly.

[t walgamuth]

I think they are fine. Lord knows there was some strange stuff built in the fifties and sixties in the US.

[Noxnabaker]

The 62 Plymouths are quite amazingly aerodynamic (had a few) with their point-angled front & rear glass, that + (officially) 425 hp 413 cu in + lightweight did some serious stuff back in the days... The Dodge looked wilder but the front-&-rear fins on the Plymouth really did its thing & I speak from my own experience, above 80 m/h the car sets a bit (especially if it's lowered in the front) & in about 90 & above it's solid on the road.
If you wanna see "ugly" check out -61, yep, had one such also.

[8E45E]

I haven't seen the latest HRM, but the stillborn S-series of cars received plenty of press over the years.

http://www.allpar.com/history/plymouth/1962.html

Craig

[raprice]

Actually, I thought the '62s were pretty good looking cars. Just my opinion.

Rog

[BobPalma]

Actually, I thought the '62s were pretty good looking cars. Just my opinion. Rog

Not many people shared your opinion, Rog, much to the chagrin of Plymouth dealers, who were crying:

Just five short years earlier, Plymouth had sold 762,231 1957 ("Suddenly, it's 1960!") models.

In 1962, they sold only 172,134 during the entire model year. That's quite a hit. BP

[8E45E]

Actually, I thought the '62s were pretty good looking cars. Just my opinion.

So did two others: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...alues-going-up!

Craig

[53k]

Not many people shared your opinion, Rog, much to the chagrin of Plymouth dealers, who were crying:

Just five short years earlier, Plymouth had sold 762,231 1957 ("Suddenly, it's 1960!") models.

In 1962, they sold only 172,134 during the entire model year. That's quite a hit. BP

Maybe the quality of the '57s had something to do with the drop in sales (voice of experience).

[Green 53]

I had a 1962 Plymouth Sport Fury new. It was a great car. Traded it for a 65 Olds 98 convertible

Denny L

[Jessie J.]

The '62 Plymouth's were virtually svelte Ferraris or ballerinas compared to the wallowing barges that GM and Ford had been cranking out.
Hardly no '60s American automobiles could possibly be more grotesquely styled and ungainly than the bloated whale '59 Chevrolet.
My High School History teacher bought a new black '62 Plymouth with the 361 Golden Commando and Torqueflight, it was a weekend warrior terror.
Then a couple of years latter it got updated with a 426 wedge transplant. Last I knew it was still showing its taillights to damn near anything streetable.

[Warren Webb]

The 61 Plymouths as originally styled were supposed to be asymmetrical but just before they were released a quick fix was rushed & Exner was shown the door. The 62's were patched to look better but the real restyle came in 63 which I think were really good looking cars. The other problem was the mainline Plymouths & Dodges were smaller than their crosstown rivals. After De Soto was cancelled they did a quick fix & put Dodge front end sheetmetal on a Chrysler body & called it the Dodge 880 (if my memory is right) which gave them a car closer to the size of Chevy & Ford.

[plee4139]

There was indeed a big drop in sales from '57 to '62, and styling aside (the '62's were not my favorites), Chrysler rushed the '57's into production and there were many QC issues. I had a'57 and it had lots of problems in a relatively short period of time.

[Mike Sal]

A good friend of mine worked at the Chrysler plant in Evansville Indiana in the late 50's & told me they had horrible warranty problems due to water leakage, especially around the trunk gaskets.....the common joke around the plant was they were sure glad they weren't building submarines!
Mike S

[556063]

The 61's were actually the core of the styling problem. And, a problem it was. The late 50's quality may have contributed, but the '61's were a disaster. Story related to me from a very long term Plymouth dealer I got to know well while in the business is that when the 61's were announced in private to the dealers, all phone booths outside the hall where they were unveiled were packed with guys calling people who had expressed interest in buying their dealerships out. They wanted out before the public unveiling of the 61's. The 61's were a big push for the big crash in Bob's post above. The 62's were facelifted nicely, but the '61's were nothing but radical. And Plymouth in particular paid for it dearly.

The 63's were all new, but the 64's were when Plymouth finally rebuilt it's distribution and became normal again. In fact, the dealership I started my career at was started as part of Plymouth's return to normalcy in 1964. The 61 Plymouth is my pick for ugliest car ever.