Virgil Exner

Virgil Max "Ex" Exner Sr. (September 24, 1909 – December 22, 1973) was an automobile designer for several American automobile companies, most notably Chrysler and Studebaker.

He went to Buchanan High School in Buchanan, Michigan then studied art at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana but, in 1928, dropped out after two years due to lack of funds.

He then took a job as a helper at an art studio specializing in advertising.

In 1931 he married Mildred Marie Eshleman, who also worked for the studio and, on April 17, 1933, they had their first child, Virgil Exner Jr. By that time, Exner Sr. had been promoted to drawing advertisements for Studebaker trucks.

In 1938, he joined Raymond Loewy's industrial design firm Loewy and Associates, where he worked on World War II military vehicles and cars, notably Studebaker's 1939–40 models, and advance plans for their revolutionary post-war cars.

"But working on Studebaker designs… Exner struggled to get the attention of his boss, who had to sign off on every facet of the designs. Exner was encouraged by Roy Cole, Studebaker's engineering vice president, to work on his own at home on backup designs in case the company's touchy relationship with Loewy blew up".

They had a second son in 1940, Brian, who died of injuries after falling from a window.

In 1944, he was fired by Loewy and was hired directly by Studebaker in South Bend, Indiana.

There he was involved in the design of some of the first cars with all new styling to be produced after World War II (Studebaker's slogan during this period was "First by far with a post war car").

Exner also adopted and raised his niece, Marie Exner, born in 1947, who had become an orphan as a young child.

His first work in design was for General Motors, where he was hired by GM styling czar Harley Earl.

Before age 30, he was in charge of Pontiac styling.

As acknowledged by Robert Bourke, Virgil was the final designer of the acclaimed 1947 Studebaker Starlight coupe, though Raymond Loewy received the public acknowledgment because his legendary name was a major advertising attraction.

Exner is actually listed as the sole inventor on the design patent.

Rivalry and bad feeling between the two resulted in Exner having to leave Studebaker, whose engineering chief Roy Cole provided personal introductions for him to Ford and Chrysler.

After seeing the Lockheed P-38 Lightning-inspired tailfins on the 1948 Cadillac, Exner adopted fins as a central element of his vehicle designs.

He believed in the aerodynamic benefits of the fins, and even used wind tunnel testing at the University of Michigan—but he also liked their visual effects on the car.

Exner lowered the roofline and made the cars sleeker, smoother, and more aggressive looking.

In 1949, Exner started working in Chrysler's Advanced Styling Group, where he partnered with Cliff Voss and Maury Baldwin.

He also worked with Luigi "Gigi" Segre, of Italian coach builder Carrozzeria Ghia S.p.A. The men forged a strong personal bond, which helped link the companies closely throughout the 1950s.

The alliance produced the Chrysler Ghia designs, such as the 1952 Chrysler K-310, the mid-1950s Dodge Firearrow series show cars, as well as the Chrysler d'Elegance and DeSoto Adventurer.

When Exner joined Chrysler, the company's vehicles were being fashioned by engineers instead of designers, and so were considered outmoded, unstylish designs.

Exner is widely known for the "Forward Look" he created for the 1955–1963 Chrysler products and his fondness of tailfins on cars for both aesthetics and aerodynamics.

Prior to the 1955 model year, Chrysler products were considered solid and well-engineered, but with dull styling.

But for 1955 and 1956, Chrysler introduced the first set of cars with Exner's stylish and popular Forward Look.

These models were very popular and greatly improved Chrysler's image.

In 1955, Chrysler introduced "The New 100-Million Dollar Look".

In 1956, during the design of the 1961 models, Exner suffered a heart attack.

But for 1957, Chrysler launched all-new models again, introducing cars that were long, low, wide, and featured sweeping tailfins—designs that caused a sensation within the North American auto industry.

When GM designer Chuck Jordan peered through a fence—thanks to a tip he received—and spied Chrysler's soon-to-be-launched 1957 Chrysler lineup, it prompted Bill Mitchell, Jordan's boss at General Motors styling, to convince GM top executives and styling chief Harley Earl to re-open the already-completed designs for the 1959 models and create "an alternate design for each car line, Chevrolet through Cadillac."

Exner's work effectively "change[d] the course of automotive design" during that period.

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Virgil Exner was adopted by George W. and Iva Exner as a baby.

Virgil showed a strong interest in art and automobiles.

With a long hood and short deck, the wedgelike designs of the Chrysler 300 letter series and revised 1957 models suddenly brought the company to the forefront of design, with Ford and General Motors quickly working to catch up.

The 1957 Imperial also featured compound curved glass, the first to be used in a production car.

The 1957 Plymouths were advertised with the slogan, "Suddenly, it's 1960!"

In June of that year, Exner and his team were awarded a Gold Medal Award by the Industrial Designers Institute (IDI).

He resumed work in 1957, working on the designs for the 1962 cars.

On July 25, 1957, Exner was elected the first vice president of styling at Chrysler.

In 1958, Chrysler's Forward Look was the sponsor of the groundbreaking An Evening with Fred Astaire TV special.