Ken, this is a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker St. Regis Deluxe two door hardtop. This is the first year of the Virgil Exner designed cars for Chrysler Corporation. The 1955 line of Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, and Imperial were advertised as "The Forward Look", and their styling seriously challenged General Motors and Harley Earl for the first time. Gone were the conservative stodgy boxey cars of the Keller era at Chrysler. Exner had been hired by Keller to come work for Chrysler after he had been fired by stylist Raymond Loewy who was under contract with Studebaker. Exner had secretly worked on the design that ultimately became the 1947 Studebaker while the "official" Loewy design was rejected. Chrysler sales increased dramatically with the 1955 line over what it had been in 1954. The car you photographed represents the top of the line car for that year. There were no more "Chrysler Imperials". Imperial became a separate marque to compete directly with Cadillac and Lincoln. Thanks for the excellent photograph of this beautiful car.
