This Chrysler Corporation training film might have been showcased as a nine-way vehicle test, but let’s be quite honest: no, it’s not. In the Fifties, the manufacturers were cut-throat about making sure that their car was displayed as the best car…their reputation and more importantly, sales, demanded as such. The car had to be new, futuristic, fast and stylish, and if the car didn’t make the grade, then it was going to be a bad year. In 1957, Chrysler put their faith into the “Forward Look” styling that Virgil Exner had penned up, and while hindsight shows that Chrysler would have been better off focusing on quality control and rustproofing rather than flash-and-dash, at the time the look and performance were critical…and for Chrysler, successful. But you don’t just rest once your cars appear to be winners…instead you take each and every opportunity to prove it, and that’s exactly what Chrysler was doing here: at the Chelsea Proving Grounds in Michigan, nine cars were assembled: an Imperial, a Chrysler New Yorker, a Chrysler Saratoga, a Cadillac Sixty-Two, two Oldsmobiles and two Buicks. The cars were run head-to-head to see which came out on top. Since it’s a Chrysler film, you can easily guess the outcome…
There’s a distinct lack of Lincolns in that test.