In 1961 Virgil Exner is on the point of departure. Elwood Engel moves over from Ford, where he took part in the design of the ’61 Lincoln. Engel, assisted by Lynn Townsend, takes Exner’s place. His influence on styling will be noticeable only in 1964, and the 1961 models can be seen, for better or worse, as the apotheosis of the Exner style. A year before, Chrysler’s competitors had abandoned tailfins and restored a straighter, purer line to car bodies. Exner, by contrast, put up a defiant last stand. For 1961 he delivered overwhelming tailfins (Imperial), tormented shapes (Dodge, Plymouth) and a style that was at best questionable for Chryslers and the Dodge Dart. Public reaction was cold, and starting in 1962 the excesses were stripped away, to the great disappointment of Exner, who saw the result as "plucked chickens." In effect, 1961 was the last of a line that had begun in 1957. Drawings and a model were produced for a "new" Imperial in the manner of the Valiant: Shorter wheelbase, big hood, short trunk lid, ridges running along the sides, and so on. The new chairman of Chrysler, L. L. "Tex" Colbert, rejected these proposals and told Exner to whip up something new-looking out of the old ingredients. Hence the "plucked chickens" of 1962.

Returning to the 1961 Imperial: Everybody recognizes the audacious front end, with headlights detached from the body and perched on the bumper. This peculiarity leads to another - the front fenders are integral with the grille and are no longer independently detachable. Otherwise, the grille is relatively simple, and the bumper regains its horizontal line. In back, the tailfins become truly imposing in size as well as shape, and their concave rear surface wraps around the "microphone" taillights of the year before. The flanks of the car are dressed with thick stainless-steel moldings. Inside, the dashboard takes on a space-ship aura, with a linear speedometer and bizarre tilted ovals containing the pushbutton shift and climate controls, all behind a nearly rectangular steering wheel. After these eccentricities, the pivoting seats and the false spare wheel on the trunk lid seem almost ordinary!
No change is seen in the 413 cu.in. "Wedge" under the hood. The Torqueflite transmission is now in an aluminum housing and has had some internal improvements. For the rest of it, little evolution since 1957, with torsion bar and leaf-spring suspension, drum braking, and conventional steel frame. Imperial is by now the only Chrysler car not using unibody construction.
The disappearance of the sedan with doorposts from the Imperial line is notable - it’s available only in the four-door Southampton. The Ghia-built limousines still have doorposts, but in reality they are unsold 1960 models, so there’s no Imperial limo with free-standing headlights and tailfins. You don’t have much chance of finding any 1961 limousine, for only 9 of them were shipped from Italy!