The Amazing Chryslers for 1957. Many people still have fond memories of 1957. A lot happened that ye

Appearing in bookstores was Jack Kerouac's semi-autobiographical novel On The Road, which introduced a new word to America: beatnik.

Chrysler Corporation was also making introductions in 1957: "Torsion-Aire" ride, three-speed TorqueFlite automatic, more powerful engines, and "Flite Sweep" styling, the latest expression of "The Forward Look." Plymouth ads now proclaimed, "Suddenly, it's 1960!" And General Motors truly wished it were, for GM was suddenly far behind Chrysler in styling.

At the end of 1957, Chrysler president 'lex Colbert could look with pride at a company reborn—a transforma-tion, relatively speaking, every bit as remarkable as the one Lee Iacocca would work over two decades later. Starting with an undistinguished product line in 1950—mundane styling, old-fashioned engines, mushy suspension—Chrysler had made a sensational recovery with vivid new styling, the hemi- and poly-head V-8s, and the best roadability in the industry.

It was generally conceded at the time that '57 was Chrysler's year. GM's market penetration was down to 45 percent, a five-year low, while Chrysler's share was 19 percent, higher than at any time since 1951. In 1957 model year production Plymouth rocketed upward by over 200,000 units. Dodge was up by 37,000, moving from eighth to seventh place. Chrysler and DeSoto held 10th and 11th, respectively, at about their 1956 volume.

And Imperial production stood at nearly 40,000, a record that was equal to almost one-fourth of all Chrysler Divi-sion sales. Chrysler products also swept victories in every category of the Mobil Economy Run, with an Imperial the sweepstakes winner at 64.5153 ton miles. Colbert made some important decisions in 1957. Early in the year,

Chrysler adopted the GM plan of including dealer cooperative advertising charges in car pricing, which boosted local publicity efforts. Chrysler also issued a new, continuous franchise agreement for its dealers that spelled out the causes for which they might be ter-minated, thus bolstering dealers' sense of security. New, too, was a Service Responsibility Plan, designed mainly to protect the consumer but also, Colbert admitted, to define dealer territories more precisely. His "divi-sionalization" policy had perhaps gone too far by this time, with strong competition especially between Chrysler-Plymouth and DeSoto-Plymouth agencies. Why did the 1957 Chrysler products do so well?

Much of the answer lies with Virgil Exner. His tailfins really looked right this year, and in their overall cleanliness of line, crisp surface development, and balance, his cars simply had it over everybody else's. Chrysler and Plymouth were arguably the best-looking of the bunch. Both had gracefully swept and canted fins, taillights neatly integrated into the rear fenders, clean grilles, and enormous glass areas, including the first compound-curve windshields in regular production.

Though its "shark fins" were a bit prominent, Plymouth had a daringly low beltline and the sleekest two-door hardtop in the indus-try. Compare the styling on these two makes with 1957 Olds/Buick and Chevrolet design, hulky and dated by comparison, and you realize just how much all the new Chrysler Corporation cars appealed to the "newest-is-best" mind-set of 1957. It's true that the fins got out of hand after 1958.

Exner stayed with the concept too long, and by 1960 Chrysler had again taken a design back seat to GM. But in 1957 the fins seemed entirely functional, "fully aerodynamic," according to Exner colleague Maury Baldwin. "Wind tunnel tests proved conclusively that they aided stability at speeds over 60-70 mph," he said.

Later on, they did become a styling thing, with one company striving to out-do the other. But they were never conceived as a gim-mick. And I think that's important." One of the many caveats that traditionally governs Detroit thinking is that radical styling should not be introduced at the same time as radical engineering.

To its credit and benefit, Chrysler violated that rule for 1957. Of the year's significant engineering advances, torsion-bar front suspension has to rank near the top.

Torsion-Aire wasn't Chrysler's only mechanical marvel for 1957. A new automatic transmission, introduced the previous spring for Imperial, was extended to all the com-pany's '57 models. Called TorqueFlite, it was a three-speed unit with manual selection for first and second, via pushbuttons as on the '56 PowerFlite.

It was standard on the big Chryslers, Imperials, and the DeSoto Fireflites and Adventurers, and optional elsewhere at $220 extra. Normal starts with ThrqueFlite were made in first (2.45:1 ratio). The upshift to second (1.45:1) and into third was made via a direct torque converter unassisted by planetary gears.

The converter provided up to 6.62 torque multiplication on take-off, which produced astounding acceleration and allowed rear axle ratios to be lowered numerically for improved fuel economy in moderate driv-ing. Pushbuttons labeled "1" and "2" could be used to hold these gears up to 25 and 70 mph, respectively, and a "safety" prevented first from being accidentally engaged at too high a speed, thus overrevving the engine.

Torque- Flite skipped second on deceleration, thus avoiding lurch (an overrunning brake prevented transmission torque during the downshift). Chrysler Division fielded a raft of new models for 1957. The Saratoga series was revived and a big 300 converti-ble appeared along with new Imperial Crown and LeBaron series.

The only deletions were the Windsor Nassau and New Yorker St. Regis hardtop coupes and the Windsor convertible.

Prices went up some $200-$300 across the board, and doubled in the case of the long-wheelbase Crown Imperial limousine, now built by The bottom-line Windsor looked clean and sleek, but that wasn't adequate in 1957. So, Chrysler soon offered an optional "Flite-Sweep" color insert for the bodysides, a dart-shaped panel running from mid-body to tail, painted to match the roof.

An "observation package" appeared in May for the New Yorker and Windsor Town & Country wagons. This comprised a rear-racing third seat inspired by that on the Plainsman show car of 1956, plus an elec-tric tailgate window and four "Captive-Air" tires (the third seat left no storage space for a spare, a contretemps that would be resolved for 1958 with a Plainsman-style rear fender spare tire well).

Chrysler's huge new wind-shield was an impressive improvement, and its A-pillars intruded less into the entranceway than the "doglegs" on this year's GM, Ford, and AMC products. Exner had seen to every detail. Even the license plate housing was streamlined, a "shadow box" set into the trunklid.

The 1957 Chrysler 300C, technically a part of the New Yorker line, appeared at the New York Auto Show in December 1956. Ornamentation was kept to a minimum: a simple chrome strip on the lower rear body, terminating in a red-white-and-blue 300 medallion (a badge that would last through the end of the letter-series 300s in 1965).

The 300 now got its own grille, a trapezoidal honeycomb affair flanked by intakes that channelled air to the front brakes. The C was the first 300 available with stickshift, and it had Mopar's most heroic V-8, 392 cubic inches and 375 bhp, with 390 bhp optional via a higher-lift cam. "Uncle Tom" McCahill, now thoroughly in love with the big per-former, ran 0-60 mph in 8.4 seconds with TorqueFlite and the standard engine.

With the right gearing, it would do 150 mph. The AAA's "anti-racing edict" was now in force, which prevented the 300 from defending its stock-car title in 1957, but the "C did take the standing- and flying-mile championships at Daytona early in the year. It was "motorized dynamite," McCahill said, "not for the faint of heart." The 1957 Imperial sold well because it was now so dif-ferent from Chrysler and a more obviously upmarket car. The new Crown set the sales pace at close to 18,000 units.

Styling was the most "formed" of any Chrysler make this year. All models bore curved side glass, contoured bodysides, and front fenders with rounded "lids" over dual or quad headlamps. The Imperial grille was an important-looking affair, with five vertical bars ahead of alternating heavy and light horizontal bars. Out back were massive but gracefully curved fins containing restyled "gunsight" taillamps in their upper trailing edges.

The rear deck sloped down gently to a massive bumper with a broad oval either side of the license plate, and looked best without the phony spare tire embossing, which was optional.

The Southampton name was carried over from 1956 to denote hardtop coupes and sedans, marked by a landau-style roof with heavily sculptured rear quarters that could be two-toned. Pillared sedans were topped by a more elegant "six-window" greenhouse.

DeSoto also saw a modest sales improvement for 1957, largely because of its new Firesweep line, built on the 122-inch Dodge wheelbase, versus 126 for Adventurer, Firedome, Fireflite, and Chrysler Windsor. Firesweep was DeSoto's natural reaction to competitive pressure from the Windsor, an attempt to expand at Dodge's expense, and it helped.

You could buy one for as little as $2777, while the cheapest Firedome was $2958. DeSoto styling was quite attractive for '57, almost as good as Chrysler's. The two upper series wore a broad bumper/grille, with a full-width oval jutting out above a rectangular mesh panel. Headlamps were sunk into nacelles sized to accept either the usual two-lamp system or the new "four-eyes" arrangement legalized by some states this year.

Firesweep used the same grille, but achieved a different look with heavy "eyebrows" above the headlamps, as on the '57 Dodge. All DeSotos con-tinued with vertically stacked triple taillights, and oval dual exhaust outlets protruded directly below, thus form-ing a "base" for the new fins. Bodyside contrast color

panels were shaped roughly the same as in '56. DeSoto came as near as it ever did to passing Chrysler in production in 1957, ending up about 7000 units behind. These were big, heavy, powerful cars. An enlarged hemi with up to 290 bhp was standard Fireflite/Firedome fare, while the limited-edition Adventurer displayed yet more cubic inches and 345 bhp. There was also a new Adven-turer convertible.

The Firesweep used a less potent wedge-head engine offering up to 260 bhp. The Adven-turer was the most aggressive and lavishly trimmed '57, but only a handful were built, 1650 hardtops and just 300 convertibles. Dodge continued to be Chrysler's "performance" line for '57, a group of relatively light cars packing relatively big engines.

The 354-cid hemi now produced 340 horsepower in D-500 trim, and even the old flathead six got a horsepower boost. Dodge had the busiest styling at Chrysler this year, marked by a heavy twin-bar grille, a flat hood, wild two-toning, and the only hood ornament still fitted by Highland Park. The unique D-500 option was still available for any model in the lineup, even the plain-Jane Coronets, which must have been veritable Q-ships.

All D-500 cars automatically got stiffer shocks and springs rates, so their torsion-bar front suspension gave what Motor Trend called "close liaison with the road." Undoubtedly, Dodges were among the hottest of the hot 1957s. Even the mild 245-bhp V-8 could produce 0-60 mph times of less than 10 seconds, and the D-500s were simply astounding off the line.

But Plymouth was Chrysler's greatest success story for 1957. To demonstrate the magnitude of its sales recovery, consider Plymouth in relation to league-leading Chevrolet:

Model Year Production

Chevrolet Plymouth Plymouth Pct. of Total 1953 1,346,475 650,451 32.6% 1954 1,143,561 463,148 28.8% 1955 1,704,667 401,075 19.0% 1956 1,567,117 552,577 26.1% 1957 1,505,910 762,231 33.6%

It's hard to recall how revolutionary this Plymouth seemed at the time. Its hardtop coupe, for example, had a roof so clean and delicate-looking that it hardly appeared to serve any structural purpose, yet it was very strong. The grille was composed of slim, graceful bars, its height reduced at the center by a bumper raised over a separate stone shield. At a time when most cars were garishly two-toned, Plymouth settled for a slim contrasting bodyside color spear for the top-line Belvedere, a modest low-set panel on lesser models, simple full-length chrome mold-ings, or nothing at all.

Glass was plentiful, interiors were colorfully upholstered in jacquard cloth and vinyl, and the dashboard grouped instruments in a bolt-upright pod in front of the driver. Suburbans saved space with a Plainsman-inspired spare tire well in the left rear fender. Model offerings remained as per 1956 until mid-model year, when a hardtop sedan joined the Savoy series.

Power was up. A new 301-cid V-8 arrived, and a 290-bhp 318 was optional for the rapid Fury, still a limited-production item available only in white (actually cream) and bearing gold-anodized bodyside sweepspears. It was about the most slippery-looking car in the 1957 field, and one of the quickest.

These Plymouths were fine cars in every way but one: they were serious rusters. Somewhere along the way to the '57 redesign, Plymouths in particular and Chrysler products in general lost the relative corrosion resistance they'd had through 1956. This problem, along with deteriorating construction quality, would become an increasing sales handicap for Chrysler Corporation in the years ahead.

A side from mild facelifts and certain series adjust-riments, model year 1958 saw few changes in Chrysler Corporation cars. Chrysler Division stood mostly pat. The Windsor was downsized to the 122-inch DeSoto Firesweep/Dodge wheelbase, and again put pressure on DeSoto with prices only about $300 higher than equivalent Firesweeps.

Detail styling changes brought busier grilles, standard quad headlights, and taillights inexplicably shrivelled to fill only part of the rear fender cavity. Side trim was reshuffled, and interiors now often featured metallic-colored vinyl combined with jacquard cloth in various patterns. Imperial changed even less than Chrysler, but did boast two new innovations: the industry's first automatic speed control (Auto-Pilot) and the first integrated electromechanical door-locking system on an American car.

The AMA "racing ban" continued to prevent the Chrysler 300 from returning to the track, but this year's edition, the 300D, was a stormer on the street. For $400 you could order it with Bendix Electrojector fuel injec-tion, born of Chrysler's desire to answer similar options at Chevy and Pontiac the previous year.

Chrysler's "fuelie" gave more problems than performance: it made tune-ups difficult and was generally unreliable. It was also very rare: only 16 cars were so equipped, and nearly all were later converted to dual-quad carburetors. On one of its few competitive outings, the 300D set a 156.387-mph speed record in Class E at Bonneville. At Daytona, Brewster Shaw ran a 16-second quarter-mile at 84 mph.