Friday, February 11, 2011

Chrysler 300 Nassau V10 Coupe

Pillarless construction and a lengthened hood would be just a couple of the new features of this new Chrysler coupe if I had my way. Click on image to enlarge.

C H O P — The Chrysler 300 Nassau coupe enters the market with an updated V10 powertrain from the Viper sports car. Electronic all wheel drive ensures the more-than-ample power is available under any circumstance. The 300 sedan's upcoming hybrid drive will also be available in this flagship pillarless coupe, and rumors persist that owner Fiat will utilize this new coupe's platform for a revived Lancia Gamma Coupe

19 comments:

  1. Your 2 door roofline ties the new front and rear ends together into a more unified design. Definitely a step up from what Chrysler's styling studio released. Great job Casey!
    NOTE TO CHRYSLER: This is the way it should be done.

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  2. thanks! the basic changes, the roofline and the hood, went together really quickly, a sign to me that they're "right." I prefer spending my time ironing out the details, like I did here.

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  3. The roofline is reminiscent (sp?) of the new CTS coupe, but moch more elegant. I think Chrysler did a terrific job with both the 2005 300 and the new one and this, as is usual with your chops, takes it just a bit closer to perfection!

    I must say it irks me to see a lot of posters to blog talk about how
    Chrysler copied the Bentley grill for the 2005 300. I guess they know absolutely nothing about automotive history -- if they did, they'd know that Chrysler was just evolving the 300's grill that first appeared in 1957 and spread thoughout the line for the next several years. How can they not know these things??????

    BTW, I saw an absolutely pristine example of the last Concorde on the street the other day. It had a LOT of presence -- you used to see those everywhere but now, at least in NYC, they are a very rare sight. I must say I was impressed by its appearance.

    Paul, NYC

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  4. I remember how groundbreaking those cab-forward Chryslers were! I agree that to see one today in perfect condition is a. rare, and b. awesome! I bet they are quite a hit at future car shows. There was really nothing like them then or now.

    And of course you're right about the 300 grille! I'm "amazed" and that's being kind, by the amount of people that say they like cars yet don't have any sense of anything that happened before 1995 or so. The nineties are now "history" to I'd say at least 50% of the people that post at blogs/forums.

    At one of the car chop sites I post at sometimes, a guy told me my latest Supra wasn't a Supra because Supras were always totally distinctive supercars with massive presence. In going back and forth, he had no idea the Supra even existed before '93 and had no idea that for most of its life it was actually a Celica Supra without a body of its own. How can you be such a "fan" of a car and not even care enough to study it's entire history?

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  5. oh, and yes, I was thinking of the CTS coupe when I did the Chrysler, and wanted to make the Chrysler elegant rather than brutal.

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  6. Very nice, Casey. Beautiful work and a beautiful car.
    The power bulge of the rear wheel works so much better than that of the CTS Coupe- and I love the CTS coupe!

    As far as internet observations, I have just started my own flickr account .I am real new at it. I have been running the 13 entries for the Lincoln Mark II , found in a 1972 Automobile Quarterly .

    Some people will say 'Awful-looks like a 59 Rambler!" I try and point out that it was done in 1952 and heavily inspired by Exner's K-310. Someone else will then say 'Ugh! They stole that spare tire from a 1961 Imperial!"

    Again, I say 'No-this is 1953."

    What I found is that a lot of people have a hard time understanding that art does not pour out of the box like pancake mix. There is a lot of trail and error. There is a lot of wrong turns. There are a lot of motifs that just don't translate 50 years later . A lot of people don't understand cultural or historical context.

    I feel like sometimes I have to fight for the artists right to be wrong!

    As some Australian friends of mine would say You might as well talk to the cat.

    Sorry to vent! I know you know what I am talking about.


    AP
    Malibu

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  7. Now that is one hell of car you've designed my friend. I have always liked the idea of a 2 door 300 C to make its way into dealers, but they never had done so.

    The person and site you went to vist are full of hot air
    and extremely adversarial if you're not part of their pack.

    The true enthusiast are right here on this website : )

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  8. CAsey, AP and Woody -- you are the true believers! And this is the only blog I've found where I can really rant and free associate about cars of the past.

    Speaking of the K310, what an amazing design. I wish Chrysler had done more with it -- and now that I think of it, that was really the first indication of what became the 300's grill in 1957.

    Paul, NYC

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  9. Paul,Woody,

    Thanks.I feel the same way about this little spot of sanity , art and information!

    Looking over some of the entries for the MkII, it was clear to Auto Quarterly (and myself) just what an enormous impact K-310 had on some of the Lincoln proposals . The K-310 gave designers a new context of how a modern Continental could be.

    There was a show in LA ten or so years ago featuring Exners 'idea cars." It would be impossible to describe just how magnificent those cars are.


    AP

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  10. I wish I'd been able to see that show -- was that at the Peterson? I went there once, the last time I was in LA 2004. I think the show then was French streamliners.

    And apropos of the Chrysler Nassau that Casey has shown us, the very first car I owned was a 1956 Chrysler Windsor Nassau -- it was the cheapest Chrysler that year -- basically a fairly spartan two-door hardtop -- the replacement for the Windsor club coupe, last seen in 1954. There was also a fancier Windsor two-door hardtop called the Newport! I bought it for $100 off the back lot of a nearby Cadillac/Studebaker (yes, that's correct) dealer. It was guaranteed to pass NJ state inspection which it did!

    Paul, NYC

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  11. Yes, Paul. It was at the Petersen.


    AP

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  12. Here are Lancia's version of the 300C and 200C both drop top and sedan.

    http://yfrog.com/41flaviaj

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  13. (part 2)
    http://img560.imageshack.us/i/themaa.jpg/

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  14. Thanks for those links, Woody. I'm eager to see what the next generation of the Sebring/200 turns out to be -- the one that will be designed from the ground up to be both a Chrysler and a Lancia.

    And, Casey, I remember that the Celica Supra started out as a six cylinder Celica with a longer front end -- sort of like a Celica Ambassador!

    Paul, NYC

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  15. "Celica Ambassador," now that's funny. And true! Even the second generation Supra only used a different front clip.

    Thanks for the compliments about my site, guys! I think we're all really knowledgeable adults, and sadly that's a rarity in the forum/blog world these days.

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  16. Woody: thanks for the Lancia links. Considering how avant garde and ground-breaking so many historic Lancias have been, I can't help but feel sad for those Sebring/Lancia POS, lol. What an ignominious turn for events for that marque. Let's hope the next generation is more worthy of the name, and shield.

    I had the use of a new Lancia Beta coupe in the summer of '76. It belonged to a friend of mine at Vassar and she left it with me while she was in Europe. It was FANTASTIC, even thought it was fwd and only had about 80hp. I think it was my favorite small car EVER. It was mink metallic brown, natural leather interior, power everything, and exotic as all hell. It was also $9,000 at the time, which was more than my parent's new Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser wagon, but not by much.

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  17. Blasphemy!

    This car makes me want a non-Ford! Curse you Red Baron. Actually, it has just enough GM language out back to keep my beloved Torino far out in front. So how is 'our' Torino's front end coming along Casey??? ;-)

    RW in the desert southwest

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  18. Amazing! I just found your site and I'm afraid I might not come up for air for awhile. The 300 Nassau is spectacular. Thanks for the fantastic work.

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  19. Thanks, PT, lol. Sit down, stay a while. Have a drink and enjoy the cars! and seriously, my sincere thanks for checking out my blog.

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