Cars with history: the Chrysler Norseman of 1956

I don’t know how many concept cars never made it to be shown at any motor show, despite having been built precisely for that purpose, but the case of the Chrysler Norseman of 1956 is very special: it is the only concept car that rests at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. What remains of it lies in the holds of the Italian ship Andrea Doria, which sank on 26 July 1956.

The voyage had begun in Genoa, Italy, and would have ended 9 days later in New York. The Andrea Doria carried eight other cars in its holds alongside the Norseman; the concept built between Chrysler and the coachbuilder Guía was being transported to be displayed at the New York motor show and possibly at other North American shows. It showed a design that was revolutionary for its time, with no pillars for the roof or the windscreen; it was also the first car with no quarter lights in the front door windows.

The interior did not resemble a spaceship (which was what concept cars of the era aimed for), but was closer to what could be seen on the streets at the time, though with Guía’s own touches of originality. The rear seats were separated by a central console, housing the seat belt anchorages and the individual controls for the lighting and the rear windows.

Among other details, the rear windows were electric and retracted into the rear pillar when opened, an idea that was also novel for the period. To access the rear seats, the front seatbacks did not fold forward but instead pivoted on themselves, after entry to the interior was made through doors that opened at the push of a button.

It was believed that the car travelled to New York without an engine, although over the years it has been established that a V8 engine with an automatic gearbox had been fitted. The Norseman would evidently never have been able to drive on the streets, due to the wooden framework that held the body panels together. Over time it became clear that it was not a design solution that other models could adopt immediately, since everyone has questioned the idea of the strange roof supported solely by the windscreen.

Today, little is likely to remain of the car, sunk at a depth of 70 metres in the Atlantic. Some expeditions to salvage both the cars and other valuable cargo carried by the Andrea Doria have been planned but never carried out, so the Norseman is known only through a few earlier photographs taken of it in Italy.

Source | Car Lust, Wikipedia, Imperial Club