Second Generation Tunnelback XL, 1972

1972 Ford XL SportsRoof, courtesy casey/artandcolour.

C H O P — Ford's 1971 redesign of its full-sized car line reverted to a single coupe style, a severely formal-roofed pillarless coupe with a C-pillar at least three-feet wide. This chop restores the second, "faster" roofline choice, or SportsRoof in Ford parlance. It also restores the "XL" nameplate which was unceremoniously dumped after the 1970 model year. The '69-70 Sportsroof was a flying buttressed, tunnelback, full sizer with almost perfect proportions. The roofline was shared with Mercury resulting in the now-classic Marauder coupes.

For this second generation tunnelback, I greatly enlarged the side windows of the production formal coupe. I gave the C-pillar the look of the '67 Galaxie XL, but with the '69-'70's inset rear window. I left virtually everything else "production" on this "XL," the extra-cost spoke wheelcovers, the bodyside rub strip, the proper width whitewall tires.

And having grown up with a '72 LTD Brougham coupe in high school, LIght Gray metallic with a black vinyl roof, I can verify that those optional spoked wheelcovers are HEAVY but meticulously crafted.

1961 Dodge Lancer GT—Hardtop Coupe

This rendering shows what a dedicated 1961 Dodge Lancer coupe have looked like. The pillarless coupe Dodge produced was hamstrung in the looks department by the beancounter decision to use the exact same roof stamping as the sedan. This meant an additional, stationary window was needed in the C-pillar, which just looked odd with the pillarless glass in front of it. My coupe shows what they could have done if they had OKed a second, sportier, dedicated coupe roofline. It almost hints at sister division Plymouth's Barracuda coming up for '64. With bucket seats front and rear, this Lancer GT would have looked great next to that year's Corvair Monza sport coupe and would have predated the Mustang by three and a half years. Falcon wouldn't have a hot pillarless coupe until the '63 model year.

About the early sixties Lancer in general, it's clear that it's a sister to the original Valiant. I'm convinced that in '61 though, Dodge pulled off the better looking car. I didn't change anything in the front of this rendering, and look at those awesome lines! The grille is expensive looking, the and fender blisters work perfectly with the headlights and hood. With the windshield laid back a few degrees and the roofline lowered a couple of inches, my reversed C-pillar accentuates the rear fenders. It was suggested by an actual stamping in the production car's fenders.

Not My First

This is't the first early sixties Dodge Lancer I've rendered. This road warrior/daily driver sedan was done a couple of years ago. As in the chop at the top, I changed the C-pillar to include that reversed kink. There is a little pressed indentation in the production Lancer's and Valiant's doors (or fenders on coupes) that looks like it would lead to this pillar. The actual production C-pillar doesn't relate as well. I also gave it suicide doors just because I think they're cool, lol. The Lancer in the base photo was in better shape than "mine." I did all the battle-scars and aging in Photoshop.

Not My First
I just realized this is my 100th post here. Time flies! I just wish I could do new ones every day!

Imperial Convertible, 300 Sport Wagon. Past Retro.

A mid 2000s 300 front clip, an extended wheelbase and a '69-'71 fuselage era-inspired Imperial body combine to make this very elegant 2008 Imperial Crown Convertible.

S H A M E L E S S   S E L F - P R O M O T I O N — My two little blogs clicked over 400,000 combined hits recently. Yeah, lol! To "celebrate" here are two more retro-inspired Chryslers I've created. These were done in my early days of rendering cars in Photoshop, 2005 or 2006, and the quality is a bit rough, but I love these two cars. Thanks to everyone that checks out my work and makes this blog-thing worthwhile!

An original '55 300/Imperial front clip is mated with a restyled 2005 Magnum sport wagon body. I also added typical Exner-period chrome rocket taillight tubes in the rear. I would love to see this car on the road, lol.

1964 Imperial Crown LWB 5-passenger Sedan

Inspired by the 5-passenger Mercedes Benz 600 of the mid 1960s, I've smoothed out Elwood Engel's '64-'66 Imperial's styling for this long wheelbase Crown sedan. I think it's the poster child for mid-century coolness and modernity.

C H O P S — And now for something completely different from my exuberantly elegant Exner Imperial redux, the dark blue '62, here...

... Elwood Engel's '64 clean-lined Imp elongated and smoothed out for this long wheelbase owner-driven Crown sedan. The cabin is enlarged and extended rearward for maximum second row accommodations. The color palette is "subtle Turbine car" with a much darker copperfire hue for the body and a lighter gunmetal gray for the vinyl roof and leather-and-broadcloth interior. Pulled up next to an appropriate mid-century house, this Imperial is ready for an early morning, high-speed run out to Palm Springs with four jet-setting friends and their perhaps, dubious, luggage.

B  O N U S   P I C :

I've also chopped this Imperial Crown Coupé 2-door limousine. This would be an ultra smooth, long wheelbase chopped roof luxury express.

2014 Regal Century coupe

It's time there was a coupe in the Buick showrooms. Or five! I'd like to see two door versions of the Verano, Regal and LaCrosse and a new dedicated sports coupe. Buick showrooms should also offer a choice of front-, rear-, and all-wheel drive platforms. Above, is my Regal Century coupe. I've slightly reproportioned the entire body. Notably I've reduced the front overhang and extended the wheelbase in front of the windshield, hinting at its newfound rear-wheel drive setup, and massaged the roofline and greenhouse. The famed Buick "sweepspear" is now an angular indentation shadowing the window space above it.

Other possible new Buick coupes from artandcolour:

Skyhawk, RWD 2-seat GT hatchback

LaCrosse Centurion, AWD luxury 5-seat coupe

Regal GS, FWD 4-seat coupe

Verano Apollo GS, AWD turbo hatchback coupe