’56 Chrysler

(Photo by Roy D. Query.)

Not much was interesting in my November, 2011 issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine.
(November? For crying out loud, guys. It’s still September.)
But there was a feature on a ’56 Chrysler.
The ’56 Chrysler was the most successful-looking car of that genre.
Looking at it now, it’s obscenely HUGE with gigantic fins.
The car is ridiculously WIDE.
I remember cars like this parked in garages designed for a ’41 Chevy.
The entire back end of the car would stick out of the garage into the driveway. Giant fins and trunk; the garage-door partially closed.
What makes the ’56 Chrysler a winner is the grill.
Despite how wide the car is, the grill didn’t cover the full width of the front-end.
And it’s the right shape.
It doesn’t look ridiculous.
The guy who lived across from us in our little south Jersey suburb, the mayor of the township, bought a ’56 Chrysler to supplement his ’55 Imperial.
I was awestruck. It looked great.
It’s backend was obscenely wide, punctuated by giant two-tone fins. I think his was black and white.
But the front-end made the car.
Compare the ’56 Buick, its competition, sorta.
It has a gigantic grill plastered all over the front of the car. (At least it lacks teeth; what previous Buicks had.)
The Buick always looked angry.
Chrysler won this time, although Buick sold more cars.
And that’s despite the Chrysler being bigger, which seemed to be what America wanted.