Start with what the Plymouth XNR is: a Roadster with 170 cuin Chrysler Slant-6, built from 1960, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Virgil Exner.
The story
The Plymouth XNR is a concept car developed by Chrysler. It was designed by Virgil Exner, and first shown in 1960. Also called the XNR 500, the car is an open roadster with some asymmetric features, and was proposed as a sporty addition to the Plymouth model lineup, and as competition for the Chevrolet Corvette.
What is underneath
The engine is 170 cuin Chrysler Slant-6. On the scales it comes to NNN -. Drive goes through a 3-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 106.5 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Mini Mini, the Jaguar E-Type, the Volvo P1800. Nearby in the Plymouth catalogue sit the Plymouth Laser and the Plymouth X2S.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Plymouth XNR has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.