RETRO HUMOR | 1956 Chrysler Dart concept and panty trophies0

With Chrysler returning the Dart name to production on the Alfa-based 2013 Dodge compact sedan, I started to wonder where the Dart name originated. What I found is nothing short of a rare peek into interesting local, retro designer folklore.
 
Unfortunately, I am now in the category of being able to say “I’m old enough to remember…” which in this case applies to the last time the Dart name was used in U.S. production prior to its recent return this year. As a toddler born in the 1970s, there were still plenty of slant-six equipped Darts running around my neighborhood ( and driveway. ) While my aunt had a royal blue 1973 Plymouth Duster, my grandfather had its twin, a green 1972 Dodge Dart “Demon”, which was the 2 door fastback, not the “Swinger”, which was the more stately 2 door notchback version of the 4 door sedan. The Dart name was pretty big back in Nixon era.
 


 
But this isnt where the Dart name started. No way.
 
There’s some other interesting twists and turns to the Dart name, including a cool export 1967 Dodge 3700 GT in Spain, the cool Dart wagons of the 60s, and the use of the Dart name on just about every American Dodge sedan exported to Mexico until 1990. In fact, according to Wikipedia, the Dart name almost didn’t happen- when designers suggested the Dart name for production, it was rejected by management and a name research exercise was conducted with the result being- Zipp. It of course was rejected, but considering the story to follow, it seems somewhat appropriate. More on that in a bit.
 
But for the real story, we need to rewind past the production Darts of the 1960s ( if you are really interested, you can go to Wikipedia or Valiant.org whose site hosted some of the imagery used here ) and go straight to the beginning- the 1956 Chrysler Dart concept by Ghia.
 
While perusing the Jalopy Journal I came across a very interesting article by Ryan, itself spawned by a discussion he heard between three guys in a Detroit bar. It goes something like this:
 
The 56 Dart concept explored aerodynamics and their effect on performance and driving dynamics. One look at the sleek smooth, bullet silhouette and clean body side sections shows a restraint of adornment that was uncommon in 1950s production car design. According to Ryan’s eavesdropping, the guys telling the story said the car had 1/3 less drag than any other production car at the time.
 

 
You would think that’s the interesting part. Not so.
 
Apparently, exploring other sleek curves of the female kind within the concept’s interior became a right of passage for young designers joining the studio. The silk lacy “trophies” attained during these encounters were kept folded in the glovebox, sort of like a more elegant yet primal equal of affixing stickers from all the places you’ve traveled on your suitcase or back window of an 30s-40s woodie.
 
One of the men ( who apparently were all retired designers ) recounted how this trophy case nearly caused his boss time in the doghouse at home. His boss, which Ryan describes only as one of the top pencil pushers of his time, had a wife who took a “very active interest in his work” and was relentlessly bugging her husband for a ride in the Dart concept. Each time his wife made an inquiry, there was another excuse:  
“Sorry, it’s having issues at the moment. Something about the transmission.”
“Well darn honey. Looks like it has a flat tire. No ride today.”
“Can you believe it? It’s out of gas! Maybe next time…”
 
One day, no more excuses were left and he had no choice but to take his wife for a ride, all the time with the eyes affixed to and heart racing about the security of the latch on that glovebox door. Sure enough, as a concept car, many fixtures were not fabricated to handle production cycles, and thus, the glovebox door had been known to pop open unannounced. Knowing this, the boss took his wife on a large test track oval at Chrysler.
 
I think we all know what happened next.
 
As Ryan recounts the story:  
“As the car entered a bank, the chassis twisted a tiny bit which tweaked the body just a tad and, in turn, applied a minuscule amount of torque to the dash. The glove box door popped open and around twenty pairs of panties dropped in the lap of the unsuspecting wife. It was like an explosion of lacy dereliction.
 
Unsure of to say or do next, the husband and father of five just kept on driving while his wife sat under a pile of britches. She eventually caught her breath.
 
“What in world are these doing here?” She questioned.
 

 
Incredibly, the unfaithful and lassoed man thought quickly. “We use those to buff the car. They are really soft and don’t leave scratches on the finish.” Even more incredible? She bought it.
 
Not long after, the fellas were just sitting down for lunch in the studio when the wife appeared with a case of granny panties from a local department store. ”These,” she explained, “are just as soft as the hussy panties you guys have been using, but are much more classy. I just hate to think of you gentlemen waxing such a wonderful car with the trash that I found in the glovebox.” “.
 
Genius.
 

 
Thanks again to Ryan at the Jalopy Journal for having really good ears and bringing this folklore tale to the masses!
 
Image credits: Jalopy Journal.com, AP file photos, Valiant.com.