1966 Duesenberg

[68 4spd Fury]

I'd seen these before but I didn't know they had Chrysler Engine, looks to have a Chrysler style fender tag too and the fonts on the Day/Night look familiar. A 425HP 440 though? Six packs were (only) rated at 390 and this looks to have a single 4BBL, "Up-rated" I guess.

RM Sotheby's - 1966 Duesenberg Model D Concept | Auburn Fall 2019

 

[Lefty71]

Thanks for sharing... some interesting stuff there for sure. The stone guards were way ahead of their time. Were those Firestones some kind of special edition? Was the speedo disconnected during the oil change in 1973???

 

[mr. fix it]

Interesting...
I know it’s not but it screams I’m a dressed up Lincoln Contenential to me...

 

[CBODY67]

As I recall, the '61 Lincoln and the '64 Imperial had the same designer?

I remember seeing the articles on this car back then. Didn't realize it was based on a mid-'60s Imperial, but there are indications of its Chrysler Imperial heritage in several places. Other than the data plate and under hood.

Not sure if the 440/425 was an advertising situation or not? With a single snorkel factory air cleaner "mis-clocked" on the carb?

Definitely an interesting piece!

CBODY67

 

[hergfest]

This car was designed by Virgil Exner who penned the Forward Look cars. The 61 Lincoln and 64 Imperial "slab sides" were designed by Elwood Engel.

 

[5wndwcpe]

...and I thought Avanti's were fugly.

 

[78Brougham]

Sorry but I wouldn't give 2500 for that abortion.. looks like Virgil ran out of ideas and took ideas from about 5 cars put em in a bag and shook it. And this is what looked like.

That is one ugly "Swan Song"

Ya think they could've put one more clock in there somewhere?

 

[detmatt]

I’d drive this but I like the looks of the Imperials better.

 

[69monaco]

First look i thought ….Stutz.

 

[jct]

Looks like it fell out of the ugly tree, hitting all the branches on its way down

 

[MarPar]

Wuuufff that's homely.

 

[cm23uoc]

IIRC Exner did several designs for a recreation of a few glorious pre war makes. The most popular I think was the Stutz Blackhawk, or was the Stutz even nearly identical to the Duesenberg, not sure if some other models existed just in drawings, the designs are mostly not my taste, the Mercer wasn't that bad though.

 

[Big_John]

I remember the model car kits that came out about that same time. I thought that there was a version of the car posted here, but I could be wrong.

 

[Mike66Chryslers]

I remember the model car kits that came out about that same time. I thought that there was a version of the car posted here, but I could be wrong.

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Yes, this 1966 Duesenberg prototype (based on a 1966 Imperial) was created by Ghia under the guidance of Virgil Exner. It was one of Exner's ideas for what he called "revival" cars which he first showed as drawings in 1963. (Exner was fired from Chrysler in 1961, replaced by Elwood Engel.) Others included the the Mercer depicted above (on an AC Cobra chassis) and a Bugatti prototype, also constructed by Ghia over a vintage Bugatti chassis and drivetrain.

He had other revival car ideas, which were turned into scale models by Renwal.

Not long afterwards he was contracted to design the Stutz Blackhawk, on a Pontiac Grand Prix chassis, so it is really a continuation of his revival theme.

 

[cm23uoc]

Which reminds me of the earlier Brooks Stevens creations, the early Excalibur J with a rather generic classic car Age design from the early 50s which was a rather genuine sports car and the jazzy later Excalibur models from the 60s which paid Tribute to the Mercedes SS cars like the one in this old Dr. Pepper commercial

 

[patrick66]

I think the featured car is gorgeous! You have the base Imperial, with styling touches from a '64 Lincoln in the dash. I'd drive this without a problem!

 

[ImpJay]

As I recall, the '61 Lincoln and the '64 Imperial had the same designer?

Yes, Elwood Engel did design the unit-body Lincolns and 64-66 Imperials to say a couple.

Edit: ``Bulletbirds`` and the Turbine Car taken away from the list due to the correction below.

 

[Mike66Chryslers]

Yes, Elwood Engel did design the unit-body Lincolns, 1961-63 Ford Tbird, the Chrysler Turbine Car and 64-66 Imperials to say a few.

Engel didn't design the T-bird. Engel and another designer had competing designs for the '61 T-bird. Engel's design lost the competition, but Ford management told Engel to stretch it and turn it into the next generation Lincoln. At that time they were considering shuttering Lincoln altogether because of poor sales. Engel's design saved the Lincoln brand.

Aside from the roof, the Chrysler Turbine body was heavily influenced by the 1958 Ford LaGalaxie concept car, which had been another T-bird styling exercise. Engel usually gets the credit for the LaGalaxie and the Turbine, but it is likely that both cars were primarily the work of Chuck Mashigan, another designer who Engel brought with him when he defected from Ford to Chrysler.