1958 Plymouth Tornado Concept Car

[George Smolinski]

I don't recall this being discussed here, so follow the link to photos & an article about it. It's definitely different. Kind of bordering on butt ugly.

https://designyoutrust.com/2019/12/the-1958-plymouth-tornado-concept-car-has-been-found-and-restored/?fbclid=IwAR2zXcfnkVrPFTCJzMahsWx9zoghP2MXJMJv7W-hMw6pAuIAZH9FfHz11tE

[keiser31]

That beast has shown up on this forum before.

[TerryB]

1 minute ago, keiser31 said:

That beast has shown up on this forum before.

Halloween?  Looks scary!

[oldcarfudd]

Bordering on?  It's well over the border!

[1957Birdman]

The seats look pretty good. The rest of the car...eye pollution!

 

[John348]

Sort of reminds me of a pinewood derby car from my cub scout days

[Digger914]

Holy vandalism Bat Man!

[plymouthcranbrook]

So he inquires, Who designed that thing?

[John_S_in_Penna]

To me, the article is ambiguous.  Is this a custom

car built on a Mopar chassis by an individual, or 

an actual concept car produced by Chrysler Corporation?

The styling doesn't look like other Chrysler concepts I've

seen in pictures, and the huge front overhang seems very

impractical.  Some of the trim looks like it's made from

flat stock, so that shortcut tells me it's not a factory product.

 

The article doesn't say it was designed by Virgil Exner and

Chrysler, but it also doesn't make the car's status very clear:

 

"The Plymouth Tornado concept was originally painted gray

and designed on the frame of a 1958 Plymouth Fury. It was

displayed in 1958 auto shows across the country, along with

the Army’s Redstone missile produced by Chrysler Corporation."

 

"In 1964, the Plymouth Tornado took second place for Radical

Custom Design at the Sabers’ Auto Show in Denver and was

featured in Car Craft Magazine."  This means it's not a Chrysler

product.

[JamesR]

Like I said on another thread, people tend to romanticize car customizing and manufacturer's concept projects from the 1950's. As the Plymouth Tornado demonstrates, not everything was at the level of Virgil Exner's Ghia collaborations (below) or Harley Earl's stuff. Lot's of homely 50's cars out there. But I'm sincere when I say I'm glad someone restored it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2019 by JamesR (see edit history)

[padgett]

And I used to think the Daimler SP-250 was bad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimler_SP250

 

 

 

 

[54vicky]

Exener had some nightmares that were put in production.Timothy Leary probably had a hand in that one.

[JamesR]

To be fair, those mag wheels and raised white letter tires would make any concept car from the fifties look bad. Fine for a '56 Bel Air hardtop, but...

 

 

I almost prefer the Tornado in it's unrestored deteriorated form. Something out of a Road Warrior movie or something.

Edited December 12, 2019 by JamesR (see edit history)