A Chrysler supercar with an aggressive line that makes it look as if it’s hurtling along at 150 km/h even when it’s standing still. The ME Four-Twelve introduced at the Detroit Show represents the American brand’s first venture into a highly seductive segment, if only as a concept car. Brian Nielander (Exterior Design) and Mark Walters (Interior Design) take Auto & Design through a project that gave them ample scope for creativity.
“I worked hard to organise the key features into a form that expressed my idea of speed and dynamism”, says Nielander. “There are action lines”, he goes on, “that extend from the front wheelarch, through the door and air intakes and on to the tail. Then there are reaction lines that start on the wing and circumnavigate the wheels before breaking off at a tangent from that circular movement to shape the body”.
The prototype constructed by Metalcrafters in Fountain Valley, California, filled in the precise details of the interior as well. “As on any sports model”, explains Walters, “the car leaves only limited space for its occupants, so it was essential to make the most of what we had with the aid of pale tones and colour contrasts to create an attractively inviting ambience”.
Both inside and out, the ME Four-Twelve reveals obsessive attention to detail and the result is a real car, not just a concept outfitted with climate control, working windscreen wipers, and adjustable steering column. Mere details? Well perhaps, but they do seem to indicate a real desire to get the ME Four-Twelve on the road and to fulfil the Chrysler loyalists’ dream of a supercar with 400 km/h under its bonnet in the form of a 6.0 V12 engine.
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 145
