The luxury car is another recurring theme in the explorations of Chrysler design, which has accustomed us to a new proposal each year as the Detroit show comes around: the 300, Atlantic, Thunderbolt and Pheaton, were all inspired by concours d’élégance of the Pebble Beach type.
“We’ve been working for years on the definition of the right kind of car to be our flagship. This time we wanted something more,” said John Herlitz, Chrysler’s vice president for design.What that “something more” is can be understood by observing the Chronos, this year’s flagship.
The Chrysler designers have stated several times that their design is immune from currently modish labels and they prefer, when describing one of their projects, to talk about proportions. And the proportions of the Chronos truly stand out for the powerful imbalances they propose.
The enormous wheels represent around half the car’s overall height and appear to be double the size of its low greenhouse. Equally imposing is the large mouth of the grille. The roof of the rear-positioned cabin almost seems to sink in between the broad shoulders of the rear wings.
And yet the Chronos is extraordinarily elegant, imposing without being outrageous, original but not bizarre.
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 108
