The Tried & True

Chrysler last week became the first automaker to show off its 1964 models, and President Lynn A. Townsend described them as "the tried and true." That was a good description of what Detroit will offer the public this fall. Riding the crest of what seems likely to be the best auto year in history, the automakers have prudently left their successful 1963 models largely unchanged, relying on styling and mechanical refinements to provide a difference to sell. Even refinements can be expensive; Chrysler's changes will cost the company about $125 million.

The few visible changes in the company's "bread and butter" models aim for a sleeker appearance and simpler ornamentation. Fins on the Chrysler's rear fenders give the car a longer, more sculptured silhouette. Chrysler stylists eliminated the huge and unsightly vertical parking lights of the 1963 Plymouth, and gave the car a new front bumper and a lower, wider look. The new Dodge has slablike front fenders a la the current Oldsmobile, along with new horizontally placed dual headlights. The compact Valiant has a more massive horizontal front grille and vertical rear lights.

Chrysler's one completely restyled car is the high-priced Imperial, which now resembles the clean-limbed, handsome Lincoln Continental and was, in fact, designed by the same man: Elwood Engel, 46, who was lured away from Ford in October 1961 to become vice president for styling at Chrysler. Because of the huge outlays and years of lead time required to produce a completely new car, the Imperial is the first Chrysler car that Engel has thoroughly redesigned.

Styling has in recent years helped to change Chrysler from a floundering company into a highly profitable one--and the company's styling is still in transition. Both Ford and General Motors, which will show off their new and basically unchanged models in the coming weeks, are planning major styling changes for their 1965 models. Chrysler, too, though it likes to talk of evolutionary design changes, will probably do the same with the '65s. Designer Engel's new Imperial is thus more than just a new car; it is a good clue to how the Chrysler autos of the future are likely to look.

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