Random Concept Car Encyclopedia #1: 1954 Chrysler La Comtesse

The 1954 Chrysler La Comtesse was was a companion car to the Le Comte. Spare me the lecture about how the La Comtesse and Dodge La Femme were sexist (see L.P. Hartley on the past). Because of three or more years of lead time in the production of a new car, it takes years for a chief stylist to make a personal imprint on a company’s styling. Virgil Exner’s “idea cars” for Chrysler, usually made by Ghia, gave consumers an idea of what future Chrysler products might look like but in the meantime, they still had to sell current production cars and by 1954, the full size Chryslers were six years old. They slapped two tone paint on the old stallion and mare and gave them clear Plexiglas roofs and put them on the show circuit to help move some metal. I’d say that it took well into the 1960s for car designers and customizers to realize that clear plastic roofs make for an uncomfortabley hot car on sunny days.

Quoted from The Truth about Cars