Of course, there remain some styling constraints. The most important is that the greenhouse profile abaft of the B-pillar must be high enough for back-seat passenger headroom. Otherwise, treatment of windows and profile shaping can be pretty much up to the stylist, aside from structural and production-related factors.
The present post features 1960s hardtop coupe designs from Chrysler. Those greenhouse designs show considerable variation due to the styling freedom mentioned above.
Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale.
Chryslers were redesigned for the 1960 model year. The greenhouse seen here is rather airy and curvaceous.
The next redesign was more angular, reflecting the taste of Chrysler's new styling honcho, Elwood Engel. Note the angular elements of the aft side-window area profile. Also the wide C-pillar zone.
Chryslers were redesigned for 1965, receiving a more pure Engel-style lower body. The entry-level Newport model's C-pillar is V-shaped -- something found on a number of Chrysler Corporation cars in those days.
But line-topping New Yorkers got a more conventional C-pillar. Wide, evoking Ford Thunderbird styling from the 1950s.
Chryslers were given major facelift for 1967. This greenhouse design was found on both Newports and New Yorkers. The window profile is of the dog-leg variety.
The next redesign was for the 1969 models. The theme was a not-very-Engle rounded, "fuselage" (as it was called) shape. The greenhouse is more rounded than before, though a wide C-pillar is retained. Thin rooflines are gone.
1 comment:
The 1965 New Yorker greenhouse is of course the 4 door roof. The Newport roof is a version of what was already used on facelifted by Engel 1964 intermediates. In both cases it was a way to get the fast rear side window angle but preserve headroom with the less fast backlight without changing a lot of other stuff to make the roof longer and have it hit the trunk farther back. The fuselage models were too bulky with too little window area and the two door version makes it worse. It is amazing how huge full size car bodies were vs the passenger compartment. You could lop a foot or two off both ends. The 1965 style makes it work though. Not so much the later ones.
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