Rare 1969 Chrysler 300 Coupe Hits Block At Mecum Chattanooga

Elwood Engle is best known for designing the suicide door Lincoln Continental which debuted in 1961. He was the hottest automotive designer in the world at that moment, and when Chrysler (and car buyers) grew tired of Virgil Exner’s oddball styling, he was fired from Chrysler and replaced by Engle. The first Engle-designed cars without Virger Exner scar tissue were the 1965 full-size Mopars. The Engel-penned Satellite and Coronet followed suit in 1966, and all of a sudden, Chrysler was back in the sales race.

Chrysler 300

Engle went on to lead Chrysler styling until 1974 and was responsible for all the cool E and B-bodies that are now coveted by collectors around the world. Overshadowed by the company’s performance cars, Engel’s “Fuselage Styling” full-size models have been mostly forgotten but have recently enjoyed a bit of a renaissance.

The new “Fuselage Styling” mimicked modern aircraft bodies at the time. With soft lines and tucked-in bodywork at the roof and rocker panels, they are the exact opposite of the rectilinear styling of Engle’s mid-sixties Mopars. The full-size “Fuselage” Chryslers ran until 1973 and were replaced with models that mimicked GM styling of the day.

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About the author

Dave Cruikshank

Dave Cruikshank is a lifelong car enthusiast and an editor at Power Automedia. He digs all flavors of automobiles, from classic cars to modern EVs. Dave loves music, design, tech, current events, and fitness.
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