1967 Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Hatterasguy · #1 07-24-2008, 01:37 AM

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=218789

Well they did make good cars at one point!

LaRondo · #2 07-24-2008, 02:01 AM

Awesome.

Skippy · #3 07-24-2008, 03:04 AM

Nice!

My first car was a '73 Chrysler Newport Custom, sort of the 240D of gigantic carbureted Chryslers. It wasn't fast, but it was simple, easy to work on, and very smooth.

MS Fowler · #4 07-24-2008, 07:51 AM

I have a copy of the Motor Trend, Car of the Year issue from 1964 in which they gave the COTY award to the entire Ford line. I have it becasue it has a road test of my first car--exact except for the color--the '64 Sprint convertible, 260V8, 4 speed.

Anyway, there is also a road test of a Chrysler Imperial. Accompanying that road test is one of the most impressive pictures I have seen--a '64 Imperial cresting a small hill with all four wheels off the ground!
How much energy did that require?
What happened after the car hit the ground?

Pete Geither · #5 07-24-2008, 08:53 AM

Back in the day, those cars really didn't look THAT big, but OMG

, I saw a 63 Chevy Biscayne 2 door the other day. The 1/4 panels were as long as most small cars these days. I don't know how they ran as good as they did hauling all that mass around. I suspect the engines were vastly underrated.

Hatterasguy · #6 07-24-2008, 10:04 AM

They were big! So cool.

They moved good because a lot of them had big blocks. a 500 cubic inch V8 has a lot of torque. And some were rated at like 200hp, yeah right...

wbrian63 · #7 07-24-2008, 10:20 AM

My Great Aunt and Uncle lived in San Mateo, CA, and the had a '67 Imperial Le Baron (I think) sedan. Same car as the one just shown, but 4-doors.

I was in L O V E with that car. Big, quiet, powerful. Green exterior with a green cloth interior.

Signal-seeking AM radio with a station changer button on the floorboard next to the high-beam switch. Cruise Control (which I think they called 'Auto-Pilot')

HUGE back seat - even bigger trunk.

Chrysler did the smart think with the spare location - on the right hand side instead of in the back of the trunk. My '66 Cadillac is a bigger car than the Imperial, and the spare is mounted typical GM-style at the rear of the trunk. You have to crawl IN to the trunk to unbolt and remove the spare...

In 1989 (I think), I went out to San Fransisco for a business trip. By this time my uncle had passed away, and my aunt was in a nursing home. I went to see one of my cousins and she took me to see my aunt. On the way back from the visit, I asked her about the old Chrysler. She said that after my uncle died, they had in-home care for my aunt, and the Chrysler (which had been garage kept all of its life) was relegated to the street.

Someone busted the back window out of the vehicle about 3 months before my visit and they sold the car for a song. She told me "If I had known you wanted it, we would have arranged to ship it to you - you could have had the car for free" - GRRRR.

They were (and still are) one of my favorite style of Chrysler. I'm still on the lookout for one...

SwampYankee · #8 07-24-2008, 10:54 AM

Sweet! I still love big old American steel, probably because it's so politically incorrect.

Hatterasguy · #9 07-24-2008, 11:05 AM

Yeah thats one of the reasons I love it to! It consumes enough oil to give the Saudi's pumps a run for their money, and it spews leaded emissions at a rate that make trees wither, and endangered species extinct.

I'd love to pull it 6in away from the drivers door of a Prius at Starbucks.

PaulC · #10 07-24-2008, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS Fowler

I have a copy of the Motor Trend, Car of the Year issue from 1964 in which they gave the COTY award to the entire Ford line. I have it becasue it has a road test of my first car--exact except for the color--the '64 Sprint convertible, 260V8, 4 speed.

Anyway, there is also a road test of a Chrysler Imperial. Accompanying that road test is one of the most impressive pictures I have seen--a '64 Imperial cresting a small hill with all four wheels off the ground!
How much energy did that require?
What happened after the car hit the ground?

Absolutely nothing. My father once owned a 1964 Chrysler Imperial, built at a time when the Imperial was a separate line from other full-size Chrysler products, and not a content-enhanced New Yorker, which was the case post-1966. The '64 was an absolute Sherman Tank of a car, built body-on-frame to a much more substantial structural standard than contemporary Cadillacs and Lincolns. One day in 1971, my father had parked this car curbside at a restaurant. Suddenly, a 1963 Chevy Impala sedan comes out of nowhere and smashes into the back end of the Imperial. The occupants of the Chevy were a husband and wife who were engaged in a fight at the time, thus the accident. Enraged, hubby backs the Impala up and rams the Imperial again. Twice. The Impala finally dies, the police drop by, etc. The Impala left the scene by wrecker, the Imperial started on the first try and was driven home without further incident. Damage was limited to a battered rear bumper and rear quarter panel. Oh, um, and a taillight was broken.

Imperials of this era were prized contestants on the demolition derby circuit.

PaulC · #11 07-24-2008, 12:06 PM

Here's a slightly newer Imperial, circling the block: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENkZBMZ8ybY

SwampYankee · #12 07-24-2008, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulC

Here's a slightly newer Imperial, circling the block: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENkZBMZ8ybY

That had me grinning ear to ear! Probably a good 10 gals. to execute, too.

Those 70's Imperials made up in size what they lacked in displacement! I had a guy try to sell me a true barn find '75 when I went to look at a Jeep he had. It was well preserved but he wanted a lot more than I had.

CSchmidt · #13 07-24-2008, 11:26 PM

My Grandfather had a '70 Chrysler 300 convertible (see image) in a great blue color with a white top and with a 440. Whew... I still think that is a pretty car, or a pretty city block, whichever is smaller.

I also have a good friend that had a '74 Imperial 4 door with a 440. Even with the smog stuff both of these cars cooked. And probably weighed 5000# each.

Gas, it wasn't mileage it was yardage.

Trakehner · #14 07-24-2008, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbrian63

My Great Aunt and Uncle lived in San Mateo, CA, and the had a '67 Imperial Le Baron (I think) sedan. Same car as the one just shown, but 4-doors.

I was in L O V E with that car. Big, quiet, powerful. Green exterior with a green cloth interior.

Signal-seeking AM radio with a station changer button on the floorboard next to the high-beam switch. Cruise Control (which I think they called 'Auto-Pilot')

HUGE back seat - even bigger trunk.

Chrysler did the smart think with the spare location - on the right hand side instead of in the back of the trunk. My '66 Cadillac is a bigger car than the Imperial, and the spare is mounted typical GM-style at the rear of the trunk. You have to crawl IN to the trunk to unbolt and remove the spare...

In 1989 (I think), I went out to San Fransisco for a business trip. By this time my uncle had passed away, and my aunt was in a nursing home. I went to see one of my cousins and she took me to see my aunt. On the way back from the visit, I asked her about the old Chrysler. She said that after my uncle died, they had in-home care for my aunt, and the Chrysler (which had been garage kept all of its life) was relegated to the street.

Someone busted the back window out of the vehicle about 3 months before my visit and they sold the car for a song. She told me "If I had known you wanted it, we would have arranged to ship it to you - you could have had the car for free" - GRRRR.

They were (and still are) one of my favorite style of Chrysler. I'm still on the lookout for one...

Did they buy it as a new car back in '67?

wbrian63 · #15 07-25-2008, 10:13 AM

Yep - original owners since day one.

They were really interesting people. This is my mom's dad's oldest sister we're talking about, and her husband.

She moved from Texas to California by herself in the 20's. Quite an accomplishment, to my mind. I have the St. Christopher's medal that my uncle gave her on their 25th wedding anniversary in (I think) 1949.

Since before I was born (1963) they were retired and just travelled. They had an old cab-over Dodge van that was converted into a camper, complete with popup roof. (She called it the "doodlebug"). Went to all 49 states in that vehicle, plus a lot of Canada. Travelled to Australia and New Zealand, too.

Too much OT - I'll stop now.

I still want a '67 Imperial...