Sandy , I know your lurking .....

We all know a little about the 60s era caddys

Only a few of us have seen chryslers awnser as the imperial

Only reason i started this is i got to thinking about a White mid 60s Imperial Lebron i alomst bought for 200 bucks a couple years ago, and there wasnt nothing wrong with it except it was in a junkyard (dont know why it was there)

The car was very interesting , even down to the headlamps which were encased in behind glass that looked like it had a defroster element in it .And of coarse some huge mopar engine to propel what looked like 25 feet of 1/2 inch thick steel.... Seeing this car started my thing for big american cars ....

So how do they compare featurewise ? Price ? Price now ?

New, the Imperials always had more features than the comparable Cadillacs. They were also more expensive. Today, there are many Imperial clubs (I founded one - left it, then re-joined. At one time (single) I owned 6 Imperials.
I recently found one long lost on the web, in Osolo Norway!! Still a trophy winner, looking great! ('68 Convertible).
I don't know what else to tell you, so ask. I wrote a book on Imperials, that was published, and for which I won the very respected "Golden Quill Award" for Automotive Journalism. My family owned & drove Imperials exclusively, from 1957 until 1978, we got a new one every single year. There were beginning in 1970 always 3 Imperials in our driveway, Dad's Mom's and mine.
We never had a "bad" one. Many modern day automotive inventions were first on an Imperial !
Swevel Seats on the 1973 GM intermediates first on Imperial in 1958.
First Auto Dimming Mirror on Imperial
First Treansistorized ignition on Imperial
First Headlamp washers & wipers on Imperial
First Tubeless tires on Imperial
First No Tube Radio on Imperial
First Platinum Tipped Spark Plugs on Imperial
First 8-Track
First Cassette
First (and only) in car Cassette Recorder!

Only car to ever have the Federal US Government access a jewerly tax on a car, as their emblems were so finely minted, the US Govt. declaired them to be Jewels, and not emblems.

In 1958, the Queen of England came to America on a visit. The then President (I think Ike) asked her what she'd like to take home with her from America, and she said, "An Imperial" and he gave here an Imperial Limousine.
and on and on and on. List I have list 81 firsts.

People who are into them (warning here) are HARD CORE to the bone. I am different. I appreciate all cars, love all cars (especially AMERICAN ones) ! :bouncy:

PS: The Imperial you speak of - from your description is a 1964. Did you notice the "eliptical" Steering wheel, semi square (or flat) at the bottom ??
http://www.imperialclub.com
Here, First:-
http://www.imperialclub.com/Articles/74-75WPC/index.htm

YES ! it had one of the most unsusal steering wheels i ever saw , really it was one of the most unususal luxo type cars i had seen (this includes a coulpe rolls royces ive worked on over the years) ...maybe if i find another it could be my next project ....

i guess some in the 50s had hemi engines from the 300 cars?

i need to look for that book of yours , as my american car history book(s) doesnt give good covnerage of these cars and i hardly ever get a chance to look at any of them (outside the gastly k car based versions)

By the way , what do you imperial folks think of those early 90s imperials ? seemed to much like a dodge dynasty for me

how are they doing nowadays on values ? are they worht more than a similar era caddy ...ie investment standpoint ?

We think that it was an utter disgrace of the name. Only a few of the people in the club own them, and even they say that that only bought them out of a token gerture to the glory days!

I sent you a portion of the book. It's out of print, now.

This is one i considered buying, only about 2 miles from my house. Its a 67.
http://adepssimius.is-a-geek.com:81/rob/Imperial%201.jpg
http://adepssimius.is-a-geek.com:81/rob/Imperial%20front%20shot.jpg

1967 Crown Sedan in Consort Blue Metallic. Probably with dark blue cloth upholstery.

Make sure she is not burning any oil, and the engine is quiet & smooth. She'll probably need shocks. The steering radais is very w-i-d-e. You may NOT like that. Drive it a bit to see if you can live with it. Don't 'ya luv those taillamps ??? I had the same car in a convertible, in light green. 10 MPG ya know. 440 4-bbl. & Torqueflite Tranny.

Just got done with the links , good writeup on that dude !

Not knowing much about cars from the 70s (outside corvette) i thought nothing at that time had any advanced feature (corvette never did much) and that only cadillac in the eldo had techno advanced cars ...

pretty interesting cars , all the way thru the '75 death sentace

Owners tend to be fanatics (I am, but not to the extent of some!!) and also unbelieveably knowledgable. The National Imperial Meet of 2001 was only 17 miles from me. I went. It was awesome! Would you believe 400 + Imperials? From as far away as Oregon (I am in New Jersey). Several cars boat-shipped from Norway and 1 from England! Did I say fanatic? It tokk us (me & the wife) 2 days to see it all. Washington D.C. sent Eisenhower's Imperial and Frank Sinatra's was there along with Singer Jack Jone's Imp. The Shriner's Org. was out in full force (Imperial is their "official" car). Quite a time. (I went in my Caddy ;) as I no longer have even 1 Imp. Meetings, seminares, films, old commercials, a formal dinner/dance, a band, a magician, outside under the stars at night a combo band. They REALLY do it! Fanatics, and lovin' every moment. Even as an ex owner and one of the original members, people from long ago still remembered me. That felt good.

Well you were dead on about the imperial. I would like to get it, but a new motor sounds better :)

Nice '74 imperial that you had Mr. Block, how long did you have it?

As for Dynasties, my cousin has an '88 and it has 450,000 kms or 279,000 miles and all it needed (for major work) was new head gaskets. It's still the original transmission!

Nice '74 imperial that you had Mr. Block, how long did you have it?

As for Dynasties, my cousin has an '88 and it has 450,000 kms or 279,000 miles and all it needed (for major work) was new head gaskets. It's still the original transmission!

that has to be the first time ive heard of a front drive chrysler holding onto its tranny above 100,000 miles

I had the 1974 2-Dr hardtop from 1974 until 1975 - 1 year. I bought the '74 on impulse. It was in stock and it was "LoVe" at first sight. I soon regretted not ordering it, as it have very very few options. My 1975 was nearly identical, but with all the options. The 74 had black crushed velvet interior, while I went for the bordello look in 75 with cranberry crushed velvet interior, and added a power sun roof, chromed mags, dual pwr seats and loads more "toyzz" ~ I kept the 75 until 1982 when I bought a bright gold metallic Imperial Coupe (the bustle back one).

that has to be the first time ive heard of a front drive chrysler holding onto its tranny above 100,000 miles

We're all shocked in my family. My Dad who hates Chryslers with a passion (calls them junk compared to GM or Ford) even had to admit that 1988 Dynasty must have done something right. I should mention, though, that his Dynasty had a new tranny installed under warrenty within 6 months of being new. But still..

Sandy, did you experience any leaking with your sunroof?

Not too familiar with 60s cars, but in the 70s the Imperials seemed to be evenly matched against the Fleetwoods. The Imperials generally had a bit smaller base price, and sold less than the Fleetwoods. If I had to rank them I'd say the Fleetwood was the nicest car, followed by the Imperials, followed by the DeVilles.

No leaking sun roof, and never had a problem with the car from 1975 thru 1982.

Dave: No :helpless:

as celebration for your 1000th post you should let me come and take a spin in that ASC of yours , id me more than happy to remove some of the carbon ! j/k

EDIT: forgot the other part , that 80s 2 door imperial , was that the same type that came in a frank sinatra edition ? saw one in alaska , very odd car also very light blue paint and dark blue interior if i remeber right

EDIT: forgot the other part , that 80s 2 door imperial , was that the same type that came in a frank sinatra edition ? saw one in alaska , very odd car also very light blue paint and dark blue interior if i remeber right

that's them.

damn, I want an Imp now....

there was one on ebay that had a starting bid around $350... they said if it didn't sell, it was going to the crusher (it was complete)

I was looking at some demo-derby sights and the Imp is the most sought after car for demo derby... such a shame... BUT, they all say they are a tank... MANY of them that raced an Imp in the derby said they used the same car in 4-5 derbys and won all of them.... damn things are huge....

... I want one just for the sheery size and mass.... mmmmm...

I will not let you come & get rid of that carbon....BUT, you can come and do some serious burn-outs in reverse, if you'd like, especially with the emergency brake "ON"

The interior in the Frank Sinatra Imperials of 1981 was powder blue, special made for THAT car.

Ultimately, Imperials were BANNED from Demo Derbys, as they always won, and quickly. Not because of the size, because Chrysler used thicker steel on their bodies, and they were assembled with many more welds that any other car. They DID not break apart. Their bumpers were soilid steel, chromed.

A 1973 Imperial smackin' into a 1973 Impala is like a half back on a pro football team punching a 5th grade "brownie" ....

I remeber heraing about the demo derby bit, also the chrysler newport was banned

Ditto the New Yorker

We're all shocked in my family. My Dad who hates Chryslers with a passion (calls them junk compared to GM or Ford) even had to admit that 1988 Dynasty must have done something right. I should mention, though, that his Dynasty had a new tranny installed under warrenty within 6 months of being new. But still..


My 1993 Shadow ES has 154 plus on the original trans. :rolleyes:


I love imperials.. the time when chrysler did right, high quallity all the way.

n

My 1993 Shadow ES has 154 plus on the original trans. :rolleyes:.


automatic ?

hmm i wonder if the twin turbo 3.0 from the stealth/3000gtvr4 twins would fit in there .... the 3.0 in the shadow and the stealth were boath made by mitsu and i bet the blocks are very similar outside some extra gussets and oil passages

last shadow i drove was a 2.2 turbo and 5 speed , not bad ....too bad it wasnt the CSX with the VNT motor

Ditto the New Yorker

Wasn't one of the downfalls of the Imperial the fact that the New Yorker cost less and offered as much as the Imperial. (or close to it?) The Imperials got more and more expensive but the New Yorker was a good bargain for what it had?

CSX with the VNT motor

I remember reading about that like 14 years ago! Wasn't that something with the turbo to prevent turbo lag at low rpm? Something about the design of the turbo with "little fins" or something?

Wasn't one of the downfalls of the Imperial the fact that the New Yorker cost less and offered as much as the Imperial. (or close to it?) The Imperials got more and more expensive but the New Yorker was a good bargain for what it had?

Well. it was like the Buick Park Avenue Ultra of today, compared to the Cadillac de Ville. Close, but not there...yet. :tisk:

I remember reading about that like 14 years ago! Wasn't that something with the turbo to prevent turbo lag at low rpm? Something about the design of the turbo with "little fins" or something?

Kinda , it stood for Varible Nozzle Turbo

The pitch of the impeller vanes would change across the turbos rpm range , so at low turbo speeds the impeller vanes would be held very close toghter to promote low lag and then once it started to come up on boost the vanes would spread back out all the way to give the full boost potential fo the turbo(174 hp) ...It was only produced one year (1990)due to some quailty issues and seal problems....

I think The rarest of the cars with the engine was the Lebaron , I had a chance to buy one which turned out to be one of 8 hardtop cars in black with the 5 speed tranny but it was too rough for me (been in alaska its whole life)...

I belive it might be more rare in the Masarati TC form .....cant remeber for sure

It came in the
Dodge Daytona C/S
Shadow CSX
Lebaron
Masarati TC
(i think thats all)

EDIT :engine never madeit to the masarati , got it confused with the 16v 2.2 Turbo (masarti designed head)

EDIT :engine never madeit to the masarati , got it confused with the 16v 2.2 Turbo (masarti designed head)

Thanks for saving me the time. I sold them! There is a very devoted internet club of like 4,000 members who own them. I never liked them, very much. They all stunk, literally! Over in Italy they coated them with some gunk to protect them, and you could never get rid of the stink! Go find one to sit in. They are now like 10+ years old. THEY STILL SMELL OF IT. We had a few owners trade them in after 6 months. They could not take it any longer. They were very comfortible to sit in, BUT the Italian leather cracked in 14 months, and whereever the cracks intersected, the color chipped off. In 2 years you had polka dot leather. The removeable roof was a PITA to lift off, required 2 MEN to do it & then you needed to buy the storage cart & cover to put it somewhere. The front wheels were 4-ever covered in brake dust. You could run the steam jenny on them and spray them with freakin "Agent Orange" ~ and have them looking like sterling silver polished, and drive the car 20 miles of stop 'n go, and you got charcoal colored rims again!!
Otherwise, they were okay, I guess. Lots of folks love them. :cookoo:

I guess the allante was much beatter machine ...

New for new the allante was much more expensive ?(always liked it beatter)

Ill never own the TC then , i cant stand a stinky car

3.0 V6 Automatic - and yes ive often thought about trying to mess with the 3000gt/stealth versions ... they are practically the same engine, just things are slightly modified for chryslers liking's- locations, designs etc. The Chrysler version is SOHC. The true-breed Mitsu is SOHC in low performance optioned cars but DOHC in high (like the turbo model).

This tells all about the differences (Plus it has tons of information for other MOPARS)
http://www.allpar.com/mopar/3.html

The automatic still shifts fine and the engine is ok - the car was stolen before i got it, and ran through its paces-(burnout etc) but still survived. Only problem now is its running a lil rich and has a weak idle if rev'd. Probably an injector(s). Im surprised it works to this day and nothing was stolen except for some CD's (this is before i got it).

Just thought I'd interject with my prior Chryslers all of which I LOVED (worked as a tech at a Chrysler dealer for several years before switching to Jag)
1973 Dodge Polara Custom 4-door Hardtop
1978 Dodge Monaco 2-door
1988 Shelby Z (x2)
1987 Shelby Lancer 172/800 5-speed (intercooled TII)
1996 Chrysler LHS (sold before I bought my STS had 188,000 miles on it)
2002 Chrysler Town&Country LXi (wife's)
almost bought a 1992 Daytona IROC R/T (TIII) couldn't drive it home due to leaking fuel tank
Still want a 1986 Omni GLHS!
now I'm down to my STS and my '86 IROC-Z
Regards,
Darren

I had a brite red one for a 'demo' for one month.
1992 Daytona IROC R/T was nothing compared to my 1993 Stealth R/T

mmm Stealth R/T :coolgleam

Another mitsubishi switch around. lol.

ahhh turbo chryslers ...man those were great

I still wish i bought that 90 LeBaron VNT i found

I had a family friend who had a LeBaron turbo , lived in montana and they would 'rap it out constantly.. fun fun fun.






(btw, the rich fuel situation was fixed with a new batt- i had to jump the car because the battery had a dead cell making it 7 +/- volts. Once the new battery was in and the computer got itself streight the car runs right= money saved)

rich situation ? what on the catera ?

the lebaron i had could have stood to run a little more rich ,esp when i got the occaional "overboost" lamp

My Shadow.. its older electronics are finiky. Even though it has SMPFI

mmm Stealth R/T :coolgleam

Another mitsubishi switch around. lol.

Always wanted one of those Stealth R/T's. I even went to our capital city back in '90 I think it was to see them when they first came out. In the last year of production ('97?) they had a pearl white twin turbo with red leather seats I drooled over.

Is it true that the Mitsu engines have thin gaskets and burn oil after only a few thousand miles? I've heard bad things about the newer ones and they are 18 billion is debt (or so I've heard) The Japanese are much too proud to let them go bankrupt and would probably bail them out or find investors.

1996 was the final model year. 446 were sold. The new color for 1996 was ORCHID !! 32 were sold.

Always wanted one of those Stealth R/T's. I even went to our capital city back in '90 I think it was to see them when they first came out. In the last year of production ('97?) they had a pearl white twin turbo with red leather seats I drooled over.

Is it true that the Mitsu engines have thin gaskets and burn oil after only a few thousand miles? I've heard bad things about the newer ones and they are 18 billion is debt (or so I've heard) The Japanese are much too proud to let them go bankrupt and would probably bail them out or find investors.

Its problems with the valve seals, atleast for the 3.0 engines (which was in the stealth etc.)

This jeffery is a REAL shadow ....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6210&item=2493286603&rd=1

found it doing my usual search for VNT cars

Ther is another Dynsaty that broke the over 100k before tranny problems. My mother's 92 with 256k on the clock. A water pump, and it had a relay that it kept eating up, probally a half dozen of these 5 buck parts. Never even had an alternator or a timing belt. Oh yes, a sway bar and a few sets of pads drums, rotors, and a few batteries. She got rid of it in 2000 because the tranny craped out.

Speaking of Imperails, my parents bought a new 1968 Imperail--I belive it was a Broughm, Crown, something like that. Very similar to the 7 that's pictured. The grill was a little sharper angled, very similar to the lines of that era Impala.

Along with a 4D 64 Dodge Polara, with a 318 and push button slush box, I learned how to drive with the Imperail in 1974. (The Dodge was retired around in the early 80's @ 460k on the clock because the wiper linkage corroded from its firewall mount, making it so that you couldn't drive it in the rain. Other than that, there was nothing wrong with it: It had been through a few alternators and water pumps, and exausts, but the valve coveres had never been removed. Original tranny and the fluid had never been changed. Oil changes were @ 20k intervals, if that. It didn't burn a drop of oil, ran like a scaled dog, and would still easilly white smoke the tires. My younger brother also learned to dirve in it. He still doesn't have lots of foresight, but on the first day of his lisecene, he went out and burned off a new set of tires to the plys.)

The Imperail was my choice between the cars, even though the Dodge was the quicker out of the hole. All my buddies loved riding around in it. Off the line, it wasn't much, but on the highway, it would eat up any Cadillac on the road. I think that the clock had just hit 200k when my dad got rid of it. The eingine had never had internal work. The thing is that it was burining oil bad, even with new valve seals and had lost lots of its power. It was getting where the plugs would oil foul in a few thousand miles. Plugs were miserable on the car, and that was my job. Also, it always broke engine mounts, and they were braking long before I got behind the wheel. I know that I was the worse culprit, but even my mother would break mounts. The suspension was going to hell, even with replacment parts. Basically the car started to fall apart, including the tranny. I'm a GM man all the way, but I would like to see a GM of that era, clock 200k, let alone the almost half million miles without any engine tranny work. (I have a 69 Firebird with a little over a half million on the clock: 5 engines, 3 front ends, 2 transmission, 3 rears, and the second set of leaf springs. Tyical GM product.)

The 1968 Imperials came in 2 models: Crown and the LeBaron. The Crown was a 4-Door Ppst Sedan, or a 2-Door Hardtop, or a 4-Door Hardtop, or a Convertible. The LeBaron was a 4-Dr. Hardtop, only, and was the most expensive, with a partially enclosed small(er) Limo-type rear window, and padded vinyl roof. We never got THAT kinda mileage on ours. My Dad's lifelong best friend (used to call him "uncle") owned an I-C-P dealership 2 blocks down from my Dad's office. My folks got a new Imperial every single year from 1957 thru 1978. In 1978 he retired & sold the delaership, (a teeny tiny little old fashioned 2-car showroom. Every year he took back our Imperial and sold it as a "Demo", and we got a new one. The "old" one seldom had more than 5,000 miles on it. We usually got the LeBaron, but did have three convertibles: a 1961 a 1965, and 1968. The rest were LeBarons. The 1961 had the biggest fins ever put on any car, and was PINK !!

@ An01STS:
My best friend's Dad had a 1964 Polara convertible back in HS. I don't know if they still have it but they owned it since the 1960's. They said it was rare and they were suposedly going to restore it. It was black with a whitish (I think) interior, push button auto, and the 318 "wide block." I've seen the newer 318's but this was a lot wider. He told me the HP was matched per cubic inch. They also had a hard time getting 2 headlights in the smaller size because as you know there were 2 large and 2 small.

As for any GM cars not lasting like a Chrysler, my Dad was a mechanic and he had a 1968 Chev Belvadere with well over 150,000 miles and no problems! This was back in the 1970's and I still see that car around town! It was a 3 in the tree. The other vehicle at the Gulf service station was a 1956 Ford that we used as a tow truck. It NEVER brokedown but I cannot remember the mileage. Novas were also extremely reliable, and crash safe.