The 1960 Plymouth XNR is a one-of-a-kind concept vehicle by Chrysler designer Virgil Exner. It was sold Saturday at a California classic car auction for $935,000.
Despite its wild lines and bizarre shape, the XNR was—and still is—a real, drivable automobile. In fact, the XNR, which is powered by a 260 horsepower “slant six” engine, reached speeds of 150 miles an hour on Chrysler’s test track, the automaker has said.
Concept cars, even today, are often nothing more than automobile sculptures—three-dimensional doodles that are rarely functional. The XNR was—and remains—different.
After the XNR’s tour of duty as a show car was completed, Carrozzeria Ghia, the Italian coachbuilder that assembled the auto, sold the XNR to someone who, in turn, sold it to the Shah.
Years later, after leaving the Shah’s stable, the XNR turned up in a Beirut parking garage where a Lebanese car collector found it. The car was moved several times to various hiding places throughout the city to keep it from destruction during the Lebanese civil war. In 2008, car collector Karim Edde sent the car to California for thorough restoration work.
Based on a Plymouth Valiant chassis, the XNR was built from steel, not from fiberglass, as most concept cars are. Its design was partly inspired by the Jaguar D-type, a 1950s racecar with a huge off-center vertical rudder that can be seen atop the XNR’s trunk.
Now fully restored, the XNR runs and drives well, said Mario Van Raay, General Manager at RM Auto Restoration. There’s no reason the car shouldn’t be able to still hit 150 mph on a track, but given the car’s historic and artistic value it’s unlikely anyone will ever try that again. It isn’t known if the Shah got it up to 150.