Chrysler Special and D'Elegance 1952-54                          
      Showmobiles  have always  been great  attention-getters, with
  sales- and profit-boosting potential. This likely explains why Ex
  got  the nod  to do  a series  of suave  GT coupes  in the  midst of
  Chrysler's cash-flow crisis of the early Fifties.                   
      First up was the Special, which was built  in two  versions. The
  original premiered at the 1952 Paris Salon as a three-place fastback
  built  on  a cut-down  New Yorker  chassis (119-inch  wheelbase). As
  a  follow-up  to the  K-310/C-200, it  sported similar  "elements of
  Continental  styling"  --  long-hood/short-deck  profile,   big  wire
  wheels  within  full cutouts  -- but  differed most  everywhere else.
  Fenderlines  were  squared-up knife-edge  types holding  slim verti-
  cal  bumperettes;  headlights  lived  in  prominent  thrusting pads;
  the grille  was an  inverted trapezoid  with horizontal  bars. Also,
  bodysides  curved  less,  and  combined  with a  low roofline  for a
  husky  "masculine"   air.  Though   handsome,  the   first  Chrysler
  Special would remain one-of-a-kind.                                 
      So, too, the second version built in 1953 for C. B.  Thomas, the
  head  of  Chrysler's  Export Division,  thus prompting  the nickname
  "Thomas  Special." Though  similar to  the '52  car, this  mounted a
  stock  125.5-inch  New  Yorker  chassis   and  measured   10  inches
  longer overall (214 total). Exner used the  extra length  to provide
  what we'd  now term  a notchback  profile, with  a normal  trunk and
  external  lid,  plus  four/five-passenger  seating. There  were also
  various  detail  changes, such  as outside  door handles  instead of
  solenoid-activated pushbuttons.                                     
      In  one  sense, the  Chrysler Specials  were not  dead-ends, for
  positive public reception prompted some 400 copies  of a  third ver-
  sion  in  1954.  This was  dubbed GS-1,  likely for  "Ghia Special,"
  though  the  styling  was  again  Exner's.  Overall  appearance  was
  somewhere   between   the   two   Specials.  The   main  differences
  involved  a  larger and  squarer grille,  reshaped roof  and fender-
  lines,  and  stock  '54 New  Yorker bumpers.  All GS-1s  carried the
  by-then  familiar  331  Hemi  V-8,  linked  to Chrysler's  new fully
  automatic  two-speed  PowerFlite   transmission.  Sales   were  han-
  dled by Societe France Motors, Chrysler's French distributor.       
      Meantime,  Exner  returned   to  close-coupled   fastbacks  with
  1953's  Chrysler D'Elegance.  This was  more two-seater  than three-
  place  car,  for its  New Yorker  wheelbase was  trimmed to  a tight
  (for the time)  115 inches.  Though clearly  evolved from  the first
  Special, the D'Elegance  was busier:  gunsight taillights  astride a
  dummy  decklid  spare,  and  a  face  much  like the  K-310's, right
  down  to  a  prominently  peaked bumper.  Rear fenders  were notice-
  ably bulged,  with leading  edges dropped  down from  beltline level
  to near the rockers, where they continued to  the front  wheel arch-
  es as a horizontal creaseline.                                      
      If the Ghia-built D'Elegance looks  familiar, it  should. Though
  little  appreciated  for  some  years, Volkswagen  acquired manufac-
  turing  rights to  this design,  which was  then downscaled  by Ghia
  to  fit  the  chassis  of  VW's  small,  Thirties-era  Beetle sedan.
  Germany's  Karosserie  Karmann  was  contracted  as   body  supplier
  for  what  was  introduced  in late  1954 as  the VW  Karmann-Ghia --
  a gross misnomer,  as the  Italian firm  had nothing  to do  with the
  original styling. It was one of the few times Ex didn't get the cred-
  it he deserved.