While the overall look of the 1958 Imperial d’Elegance was never duplicated, a number of its styling elements would later appear on Chrysler production cars.

When the Imperial luxury brand was spun off as a separate division in 1955, Chrysler faced the task of distinguishing it from the rest of the corporation’s products with special styling and features. That was a challenge, but the Chrysler design studios and vice president of styling Virgil Exner addressed the matter head-on with the 1958 Imperial d’Elegance proposal. At the time of its creation, it looked like nothing else in the Chrysler model line.

The rendering above by Thomas H. Ferriss of the Chrysler studio captures the d’Elegance in nearly its final form. One notable difference in the rendering is its fixed B pillar, while the actual prototype was a pillarless hardtop. The name d’Elegance was used on an earlier Chrysler dream car of 1952, but that was a Ghia-built two-place grand touring coupe with no apparent connection except the name.

The 1958 d’Elegance was also built for Chrysler by Carrozzeria Ghia SpA of Turin, at a reported cost of $15,000. But while it was constructed on a standard production Imperial chassis, it was strictly a mockup, incapable of running or driving. Most of the available photos show it resting in comfortable repose in the Chrysler styling courtyard in Highland Park, Michigan.

Reportedly, Exner was never pleased with the look of the Imperial d’Elegance, and the overall styling theme—let’s call it unusual—never appeared on any Chrysler production models. (Though here and there are echoes of the 1956 Chrysler Norseman dream car.)  Still, it’s interesting to note how many individual design elements of the d’Elegance showed up on future products. Most obvious are the distinctive greenhouse and radically sloped rear deck, which would  soon be featured on the compact 1960 Valiant. (See our feature on the Valiant here.)

Students of Chrysler styling say they can also see the d’Elegance hood and front fender brows on the ’60 Imperial, its tailfin treatment on the ’61 Imperial, its tail lamps on the ’62 Dodge, and more. (Opinions vary.) It’s also said that the dash and instrument panel of the ’61-’63 Imperial were inspired by the d’Elegance. For such an unusual-looking and seemingly unloved car—a styling dead end, if you will—it appears the d’Elegance had a siginificant impact on Chrysler production design.