413ci Chrysler New Yorker V-8
Carter AFB 4-Barrel Carburetor
350bhp at 4,600rpm
Chrysler TorqueFlite 3-Speed Automatic Transmission
Torsion Bar Independent Front Suspension, Leaf Spring Live Rear Axle
Four-Wheel Power-Assisted Hydraulic Drum Brakes

* One of only three Scimitars built
* The only retracting roof station wagon "All-Purpose Sedan"
* Chrysler New Yorker chassis and drivetrain
* Imaginative but still practical concept
* Unique design, German craftsmanship and preserved originality


THE BROOKS STEVENS-DESIGNED SCIMITARS

In 1958 Olin Corporation sought to promote its newly acquired relationship with the aluminum rolling and forming operations of Revere Copper & Brass and other aluminum operations.

Automobile manufacturing consumed vast quantities of steel sheet, which particularly in some regions of the U.S. were exposed to winter snow, slush and toxic ice-melting salt that melted steel like a Spring thaw melted snow. Aluminum didn't rust and Olin's Chairman Tom Nichols saw a huge market in aluminum car bodies.

The challenge was to make aluminum's case and get attention from potential customers.

For that he turned to designer Brooks Stevens and asked him to create a small series of show cars featuring aluminum body and decorative elements. They would be exhibited internationally and, importantly, would be fully functional both for demonstration rides and to show the performance and handling benefits from aluminum's lighter weight.

Three demonstration cars were conceived: a convertible, a convertible limousine and the All-Purpose Sedan. All of them employed mixed materials in the design, incorporating aluminum in rust-prone areas and conventional steel where corrosion was less a problem.

The designs took on similar motifs with aluminum used on major brightwork as well as body and structural panels. They had movable roof elements as Stevens had pioneered in the 1954 Valkyrie and 1956 Gaylord, concepts that aluminum's lighter weight made more practical. The sides featured upswept black steel panels flanked by brushed aluminum fenders, design motifs that inspired the series' name, Scimitar.

Stevens recalled in a 1992 interview with Arch Brown in Hemming's Special Interest Automobiles that the Scimitar name was chosen "at the time because the configuration on the side body panel almost conforms to the shape of Turkish scimitar sword, as it runs forward through the door. ... [E]verybody else in the industry had something named for a sword: Cutlass or Rapier or whatever and we were running out of names."

In the article Stevens doesn't clarify if the design followed from the chosen name or the name followed from the design. Suffice to say that "Scimitar" is representative and effective.

Stevens turned to another friend, Virgil Exner, head of design at Chrysler and a frequent concept car designer with his associates at Ghia in Italy, for a modest but substantial chassis, the 1959 Chrysler New Yorker. Notably, 1959 was the last year for separate body and frame Chrysler construction making the Scimitars the last of a traditional breed at Chrysler and the last chance for the Stevens/Exner body/chassis cooperation to be affected.

Stevens recounted in the 1992 SIA article, "I was dealing with a small body company in Ravensburg, Germany." The "small body company" was Karosseriewerk Reutter, well known for its Porsche 356-series bodywork and even builder of the Porsche 901/911 prototypes. Porsche is respected for its insistence on quality, and the Scimitars reflects those standards even though as Stevens noted, "You couldn't build a door, today, for that."

Introduced at the 1959 Geneva Switzerland Auto Show, the three Scimitars impressed with their concept, execution, materials and imaginative function and went on to shows throughout Europe before coming to the U.S. for another series of auto show appearances. Olin employed them throughout their early history for promotional events, a return in investment that was impressive.


THE WAGON OFFERED

Based on a 1959 Chrysler New Yorker chassis and 413 cubic inch, 350hp engine, the Scimitar All-Purpose Sedan has Chrysler's excellent TorqueFlite 3-speed automatic transmission and a full array of comfort and convenience features including pushbutton shift, Plymouth-style wheel covers, Firestone whitewall tires and power windows, bench seat, steering and brakes. It has some identifiable borrowed features like six round tail/brake/backup lights from a '58 Bel Air Impala. The dashboard is pure '59 Chrysler.

The outstanding feature of the All-Purpose Sedan is the extended rear compartment with a retracting roof that opens the rear compartment to the air. Delightful to drive in with the roof withdrawn, it also is a practical alternative for hauling, a true All-Purpose Sedan and an adaptable station wagon design that Brooks Stevens employed in subsequent production wagons on Studebaker Larks.

The Scimitar All-Purpose Sedan (titled then as a 1959 Chrysler) was purchased by Harrah's Automobile Collection in 1965 from Paul Stock in Cody, Wyoming, it has only 3,910 miles showing on the odometer. The upholstery is surprisingly stretched and worn for that mileage but the paint, although microblistered, touched up and chipped, is sound. The aluminum panels have been coated over, and the chassis and engine compartment are aged and unrestored but not mistreated.

Front bumper elements are misaligned and the aluminum front and rear bumpers are scuffed. The steering wheel's crossbar leather cover has shrunk.

It is possible to take the position that this is the second-most important car in the current National Automobile Museum inventory, even though there are many "most important" contenders like the Thomas "Flyer". The Scimitar All-Purpose Sedan is a unique, innovative, imaginative design conceived by one of America's most respected and prolific designers, Brooks Stevens. It was built by the respected German craftsmen at Karrosseriewerk Reutter in Germany and has been displayed to acclaim across Europe and the U.S.

Its innovative rear compartment retracting roof is a feature that today's pickup truck owners would envy.

The only one of its kind, exceptionally original and well-preserved, it was displayed with its Scimitar siblings at Amelia Island in 2020. Whether as a Preservation display or an example of imaginative, innovative design, the Scimitar All-Purpose Sedan is unique.