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16K views 113 replies 27 participants last post by  PAULSTSMAN1 
#1 ·
I saw the preview of the all new 2007 Imperial, today. It will be unveiled September, 2006. It will be Sandy's next new car, and I have a waiting buyer for my 2003 Town Car that has 7,700 miles on it now, and should have 11,000 in Sept. '07.
Rolls Royce Phaeton "A" - "B" & "C" pillars, very similar taillamps and a very similiar headlight/grille and front fender configuration, with Suicide doors and a R.R. roofline. Will be black. Interior, depends what is available....
1st choice = White leather
2nd choice = Black Leather
3rd choice = Red Leather

I am afraid it will be very very expensive, as it LOOKS that way....
A masterful job of copy-ism ! :thumbsup:
 
#52 ·
IMO, prior to the merger, most of the Chrysler product was crap. The K-car years may have been memorable for some but it did little to entice me to even look at a Chrysler lot when I was buying. It wasn't until the redesigned "Kenworth looking" Dodge P/U, Durango, and the 300M came along that even considered buying a Chrysler product.
I was a MOPAR fan back in the late 60's, early 70's but that was only due to their performance cars. BTW, as I recall, the 440-Six-Pack was usually the best performer even though the "Hemi" got the headlines.
 
#53 ·
The Hemi was a track engine! The 440 was thebetter street engine. The Hemi would not idle for crap,drove like a car with Parkinson's, too!
I ordered my Demos with 440s, or the 340 6-Pac. I was a nut-case, and I am lucky to be alive today. Closed up at 9PM and during the 9 mile ride home, nightly, I was good for 3 to 4 drag races. I lost one (1) :lildevil:
A Challenger with a 440 4Bbl. & sure grip was (almost) unbeatable! We put a Mallory Ignition in my demo, in the shop on a Saturday (when nobody was around - early in the AM) and I was running Sunoco 260 (not sold locally, any longer). Got Home, pulled into driveway.. to join 2 Imperials. '70 LeBaron Coupe & '71 LeBaron 4-Dr. Coupe was "Teal Blue" - 4-Door was "Crystal Dawn" and to this mix I added the Challenger R/T ~ S.E. Coupe in SubLIME, with a White Limousine Style Vinyl top and black & white checkerboard Cloth interior, trimmed in leather with Red-Line Tires. It was like a flare in the middle of the road. (But...I knew all the cops in the 2 towns I went thru, as I worked the Bids, and we sold them the cop cars AND serviced them.
When I sold that 1970 Challenger it had 8,000 miles on it, and we needed to put on new tires :D
1971, I think I got a Super Bee Coronet 440, with the Super Track Pack and 4.11s/
 
#54 ·
Personally I think that Mopar had the best muscle cars from 68-71.
 
#55 · (Edited)
Only car I ever lost to was a car I had no respect for, and "he" showed me~
A funny looking thing that looked like a turtle. or better yet, a walnut shell on wheels, called a Porsche Speedster. My Challenger could not beat him. He played with me like a cat with a fly. Otherwise, nothing could take me.

If I was younger, I'd buy the forthcoming Challenger if I could get the E59 motor in it :getaway: :jawdrop:

I think I'd look look a fool in a Challenger,
at 59 years young! I guess I have become my Dad;
Hello Imperial
 
#57 ·
Sandy said:
I once considered getting a PentaStar tatoo!
We interrupt this thread for a related story:

Sandy, I thought about getting an Impala tatoo, and a couple of years ago, I found this temporary tattoo paper that you could run through an ink jet printer. I made up tatoos with the leaping Impala and wore one whenever I went to a car show. Also wore one on a trip back to my hometown to see if it would freak out my parents. It did. Sadly, Office Max doesn't seem to carry the temporary tatoo paper anymore.



We now return to you to your regular thread.
 
#58 ·
I would not get a permanent tatoo, but that there is pretty neat.

I don't have a clue what was in the Speedster, but I backed off J.F.K. highway (speed limit of 60) & I backed off at 80 MPH and HE was absolutely over 95 ! I was nuts. He was plain crazy. I did race a couple of times a local kid in his 4.4.2. W-30 Cutlass 2-Dr. Post Coupe. I always won. I raced a Mustang (1969 MACH I) 351 & I won and a '69 Z-28 of some configuration.... ? I won. The Super Bee that followed was quick, too. In 1971 the 'Bee came (optional) with ram air. I had that, and the Trac Pac (H/Duty Rear End, 4.11s and Sure Grip) She was a 440 4Bbl. 'Bee. BLack with no vinyl hat and vinyl buckets, white. 6-way power driver & P/W and am with Stereo 8-Track Tape and wood steering wheel & Hood Pins.
 
#60 ·
Katshot said:
IMO, prior to the merger, most of the Chrysler product was crap. The K-car years may have been memorable for some but it did little to entice me to even look at a Chrysler lot when I was buying. It wasn't until the redesigned "Kenworth looking" Dodge P/U, Durango, and the 300M came along that even considered buying a Chrysler product.
I was a MOPAR fan back in the late 60's, early 70's but that was only due to their performance cars. BTW, as I recall, the 440-Six-Pack was usually the best performer even though the "Hemi" got the headlines.
A couple of problems with Hemi's in street racing scenarios were,(1.) they usually were geared too high, most had 3.23-3.54 gears. Hemi's did not have great low end torque, but rather made a ton of horsepower at high rpm.(2) Most people didn't adjust the valves every 3000 miles or less that was required to keep a Hemi anywhere near peak performance. Often times a well tuned Hemi against a well tuned 440+6 with both cars having 3.23 gears, the 440 would win. Take the same cars and install 4.56 gears and the Hemi would blow it's doors off! I had several 440 cars as well as a 1968 GTX/Hemi.;)
 
#61 ·
Sandy said:

NOTE THE SIDE SCULPTURE LINE ON THE REAR QUARTER PANEL, THE DIP ON THE REAR DOOR,
AND HOW IT MEETS THE HORIZONTAL LOWER SCULPTURE. IT'S QUITE PRONOUNCED ON THE DOOR.
Very BMW-esque, in the fact it looks like the total length of the vehicle is no more than 13 inches longer than the wheel base. The chrome edging on the door is hideous. Looks too much like an early 90's Buick.
 
#65 ·
I saw some more pictures of the Imperial and Challenger in this week's AutoWeek. IMO, the car is too short, and the lines are too choppy-looking. Yeah, it resembles recent Rolls Royce's but I think that's NOT a good thing since I think they're ugly too. The car looks disproportionately tall for the overall length. Is this maybe showing the limits of the LX chassis? Who knows? It's an interesting exercise but I think it needs some tweaking. Sandy, do you think the B-pillar-less design will make it to production? It would be cool but somehow I doubt it.
 
#66 ·
Yes, I believe it did. However, what this car needs is to be the exterior size, length, width, etc. of your FLWD Brougham !! I agree that IF (key word) it's that short that it looks to stubby. I am sick of small cars. Well, actually, I am sick of NOT having a choice anylonger of BIG OR SMALL, & having BIG taken away.
 
#68 ·
Katshot said:
A Porsche Speedster out-dragged you? Get out! I used to build those engines back in the 70's and 80's. I can't imagine one being as quick as any of the old muscle cars unless it had a TON of work done to it (including a turbo).
In 1970 the chances of finding a car with an aftermarket turbo charger was slim to nil. If anything, it might have been supercharged.

Stock, I'm not sure if a 110hp 4-Cam Carrera motor, which was an available option for the 1800lb Speedster, could have beat a 440 Challenger but a 911 engine swap certainly could have increased the Speedsters odds.

I was once beat by a Porsche powered VW while driving a Ferrari 308.
 
#70 ·
HotRodSaint said:
In 1970 the chances of finding a car with an aftermarket turbo charger was slim to nil. If anything, it might have been supercharged.
Stock, I'm not sure if a 110hp 4-Cam Carrera motor, which was an available option for the 1800lb Speedster, could have beat a 440 Challenger but a 911 engine swap certainly could have increased the Speedsters odds.
I was once beat by a Porsche powered VW while driving a Ferrari 308.
I was HEAVILY into the VW scene in the late 70's early 80's. I used to build VW and Porsche engines, did a few engine swaps (Porsche into VW bugs), and was building "Cal-look" Bugs on the east coast before most people even knew what they were. It's not that we didn't build HOT VW engines but this was several years after Sandy's story. Back when he raced that Speedster, IMO, it would've been REAL rare to have found one fast enough to even stay with the MOPAR, let alone BEAT it. Hell, even a stock 911 engine in a bug wouldn't give an old MOPAR muscle car a run in those days. The couple we did were fast but they weren't THAT fast. Oh, and by the time I got into the high-performance bugs in the mid to late 70's, turbos were very common on them.
 
#74 ·
Katshot said:
I was HEAVILY into the VW scene in the late 70's early 80's.
Then you know about EMPI and how they were running low 12's with a N/A VW engine in the late '60's.

If the Inch Pincher was rated about 220hp, then a Speedster with a 200hp 911s motor and some aftermarket goodies could easily beat the Challengers mid-13's.
 
#75 ·
Sandy, like most Chrysler's starting with the Viper, I'm sure the car will look superb in the flesh.
I've been a member of the Online Imperial Club for years ... most members are voting thumbs down on this design ... it's the hottest topic on their web forum.
Of course, they haven't had a new Imperial since 1993, and most members barely recognize the fuelage era Imperials as true Imperials. You cannot compare modern styling to a classic 1966 Imperial ... apples to oranges.

My only question is why drop 30-40 large on a new Imperial? Chrysler has the worst resale value this side of Kia. Why not buy a 2 year old, warrantied example when your 61 yrs old for about 15k? I figure when my 99 STS gets too tired in about 2 years time, I'm going for a fully optioned 300C with low miles.
If you can't warm up to the Art & Science theme Caddy's, then a used 300 is a helluva buy.
Can't wait to see the new Imperial in the flesh ... nobody brings concept cars to the market faster than Chrysler.
 
#76 ·
Lots of things there to address, Ted.

1). I spent 27 years in the retail car business. I am also a car-a-holic, since age 5. Now age 59. With that background, we don't buy used cars, unless they are collectible, restored or original to perfection. Regarding the depreciation, it does not matter to me. I do not fly, therefore other than staying home & relaxing, I have never taken a "traditional" vacation. Being in New Jersey, one might think one would be a frequent Atlantic City Gambler. I am not. I don't like to lose money. But, I enjoy new cars, and with them come the price of entry as well as the depreciation. I am okay with that.

2). People who recall the heritage of the 1957-1975 Imperial (and 1976-1978 NewYorker Badged Imperial), and bring that to the table, will of course not be jumpin' up &down over this new one ~ but, then again, who today makes ANY car that has anything in common with any 1957-1978 car? They have to size it & style it to fit into today's "accepted" style of car, (which, of course will be laughed at uncontrollably in 10 years) !!

3. The new Imperial will be in the "lower fifties" ~ meaning around $53,000.
I also like the new Cadillac DTS, but spec'd out with options it windows at $60,000. I feel it's overpriced. Remember, the only parts NEW on it are the front fenders, grille and hood, the rear quarters, deck lid & tailamps. It's NOT a total redesign, yet they'd kicked the price up a good $6,000.

4.) In truth, the manufactutrers are ripping off everyone, to pay their pensions and UAW contracts. For the cost of the new cars, the selling dealers are making very little money and the sales forces are nearly starving to death. Can you imagine selling a $40,000 item (any item....think outside of cars....any item..... and making a commission of $45.00 Gross?)
50% of the $$$ the consumer pays gos towards the production, engineering, and manufacturing expences and 45% goes to pension funds, health care, etc, etc, and 1% to transportation, 2% to selling dealer, 1% to advertising, .2 % to sales , .5% to make ready servicing and .3% to financing fees.
 
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