1961 Dodge Flitewing Concept Car

For some reason Chrysler Corporation concept cars became increasingly strange looking over the years (c.1953-1961) Virgil Exner (1909-1973) was in charge of styling.  Perhaps his 1956 heart attack that limited his input to Chrysler designs for a while might have been a factor.  Or maybe Exner, like General Motors' Harley Earl, finally ran out of good ideas, losing any sense of styling direction he might have had.

Regardless, let's consider the 1961 Dodge Flitewing, one of the last concept cars that appeared during Exner's tenure.

According to this book about 1940-1970 Chrysler concept cars, the Flitewing incorporated several ideas Exner had in mind for future production.  One was having side window glass merging as closely as possible with adjoining sheet metal.  Other was increasing front overhang while reducing the then extensive rear overhang.  These features did appear on future American cars.

Below are most of the photos of the Flitewing available on the internet along with my commentary.

Gallery

The Flitewing was designed in Detroit and built by Ghia in Italy on a Dodge chassis with a souped-up V8 motor.  The most absurd detail is the huge grille with its too-large chromed frame -- though Audis from around 2005 also had ridiculously large grille areas.

Those roof-mounted window panels were an experiment dealing with improving passenger access to really low cars.  They were not a new idea; for example, the 1956 Mercury XM- Turnpike Cruiser concept car had them.  The electrical work was very complicated in those days before integrated circuitry.  And the system never worked well.

The side profile is nice aside from the fixed triangular windows by the A-pillar.  This detail is a logical, yet too-cute combination of an aft-leaning A-pillar and a pseudo-extension hinting at the General Motors type 1954 B-Body wraparound windshield.

Side view with window panel raised.

I think the Flitewing looks best from the side.  But the car is fairly attractive from the rear quarter view, though the fake spare tire lid should be eliminated and the sail-panel-cum-tailfins detailing made more crisp.

A poor quality image.  Perhaps taken by Ghia in Italy or maybe by Chrysler when the car arrived.  Or, since it was known to have been driven by Chrysler executives including Elwood Engel, this might have been the car made slightly more street-legal.  All that said, the main differences from the other photos are the missing medallion at the grille's center and the hubcaps.