Chrysler Chronos: Concept Retros a Concept

The 1988 Chrysler Chronos concept car was inspired by Virgil Exner's 1953 D'Elegance concept car -- a 35-years-later echo.  (The D'Elegance was built in 1952 and displayed that fall at the Paris auto show, but its American debut was in 1953.)

A minimal Wikipedia entry for the Chronos is here.  Background regarding the Chronos is here, mentioning its stylist and the enthusiasm Chrysler expressed for it when it was new.  Despite that, the Chronos had no impact on future production Chryslers apart from, perhaps, its grille bar design.

The Chronos was large, having a 130.9 inch (3327 mm) wheelbase.  No current or future Chryslers had wheelbases that long.  It was a four-door car, whereas the D'Elelegance was a coupé. Further comparisons with the D'Elegance are in the image captions below.

As for the D'Elegance, it was auctioned at Monterey in 2011 by RM Sotheby's whose web site has this page describing that car and its history.  I posted about its degree of influence on Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia styling here.

Gallery

The Chrysler Chronos.

And the Chrysler D'Elegance.  This photo was taken in Italy soon after it was built.

Chronos styling carryovers include the hood taper, the "eyelids" around the headlights, the general shape of the side windows and, of course, the fenders.

Side views of the cars, further illustrating their fender designs and window treatments.  The color images of the D'Elegance are from RM Sotheby's.

Chronos and D'Elegance differ most thematically when viewed from the rear.  The D'Elegance features gunsight tail lights and a spare tire cover where the trunk lid would be (there is none), whereas Chronos has an actual trunk lid with partial boat-tail sculpting and conventional taillights.  The backlight windows and C-pillars differ in detail, but have a similar feeling.  The Chronos photo was taken at the WPC museum, but I don't have its source.

My guess is that this was a publicity photo from around 2005 when the new Chrysler 300C was introduced -- I don't have the exact source.  Note the grille bar treatments.