Autos: Middle-Sized Gamble

Detroit’s biggest gamble of the 1962 auto season is on the new intermediate models. At a press preview of its 1962s last week, the Chrysler Corp. revealed an approach all its own. Instead of bringing out an entirely new intermediate line, Chrysler has simply reduced the size of its Plymouths and Dodge Darts by two inches in width and 7½ inches in overall length. Ford has already brought out its intermediate entry—the Fairlane—which is approximately the size of standard sedans of a decade ago. General Motors, following yet another tack, has put its money on the Chevy II, only inches larger than a compact and apparently aimed at competing with Ford’s bestselling Falcon.

Candidly, Chrysler’s young (42), new President Lynn Townsend explained the reasoning behind his strategy: the multiplicity of new names and models has already so confused the public that Chrysler decided to play it straight and simple. Said Townsend: “People like to feel that a Dodge is a Dodge and a Plymouth is a Plymouth. They feel slightly confused and faintly unhappy when a car they have owned for years suddenly gets itself a baby brother.”

Townsend’s logic made special sense for Chrysler, which has already run $15.7 million into the red in 1961’s first six months and cannot well afford to blanket all of its competitors’ new models with Chrysler equivalents. And except for its intermediate gamble, Chrysler was playing its cards cautiously. Like almost all the 1962s—some of which have finally been exposed to public view (see cuts)—the new Chrysler cars reflect a trend toward smoother lines. For the first time since 1957, the Imperial and Chrysler models have lost their once-lofty fins. The new Imperials have a sharp, straight rear fender line, the Chryslers a more rakish one that blends into a tapered rear deck. Chrysler’s two handsome compacts, Valiant and Lancer, remain essentially unchanged, but each, following the 1962 tide, has acquired a bucket-seated, pizazz version: the Valiant Signet and Lancer Gran Turismo.