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  #1  
Old 09-10-2013, 12:00 AM
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Big Mopar Coupes of the 60s... ANYONE IN SEATTLE AREA?

I'm lusting after this beauty...

Chrysler : Imperial Crown Coupe in Chrysler | eBay Motors

Plan on calling to shake down the seller tomorrow, but with a car like this it really needs an impartial set of eyeballs. If its not mostly the original paint and has a laundry list I'm not really interested.

Anyone willing to check this car out for me?

Why are these so much cheaper than Rivieras, Eldorados, and Continentals? Looks fantastic, great motor, what gives? Only thing really letting the car down for me is no AC.

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  #2  
Old 09-10-2013, 12:43 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TylerH860 View Post
I'm lusting after this beauty...

Chrysler : Imperial Crown Coupe in Chrysler | eBay Motors

Plan on calling to shake down the seller tomorrow, but with a car like this it really needs an impartial set of eyeballs. If its not mostly the original paint and has a laundry list I'm not really interested.

Anyone willing to check this car out for me?

Why are these so much cheaper than Rivieras, Eldorados, and Continentals? Looks fantastic, great motor, what gives? Only thing really letting the car down for me is no AC.
They weren't mainstream then and they aren't mainstream now. Chrysler luxury cars may have been less money than the high-line Lincolns & Cadillacs - I just don't know. It seemed like 'squares' bought Chryslers 'n AMC autos. I bought Cadillacs when I should have been buying Lincolns. My first buy for a work car was going to either be a new Oldsmobile 98, or Cadillac Sedan DeVille. I went with a Cadillac for a couple thousand more. The Imperials were oddities - never even considered one. Maybe I should have. A colleague in Memphis, Tenn. always drove an Imperial. By the time the '70s rolled around, my Dad had already switched to driving a new '69 Mercedes-Benz 220D. No *leases as I recall.
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Old 09-10-2013, 12:45 AM
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Seeing this, I do mis my old '64 New Yorker wagon. The build quality was very impressive, every single screw pointed in the same direction.
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Old 09-10-2013, 01:04 AM
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No coupe but I'm pretty sure this 1981 Imperial Limo has AC.



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  #5  
Old 09-10-2013, 01:29 AM
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They definitely had some quirky design touches: push button transmission, square sterring wheel.
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  #6  
Old 09-10-2013, 07:04 AM
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The mopar fans are perhaps more tuned in to drag racing. The styling is quirky and an acquired taste. Put a hitch on it and use it as a tow vehicle.
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  #7  
Old 09-10-2013, 07:13 AM
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When I was a kid in the '80s, my dad had a '75 Imperial. That thing was a POS. They never could get the AC to work right for a whole trip, and it left us stranded more than once. It was replaced with a shockingly more reliable 1980 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, which Dad kept for 12 years and 120,000 miles after buying it used in 1987. It was one of the cars I learned to drive in. Around the same time he got the Cadillac, he also picked up a '73 Chrysler Newport for a beater, and it ended up being my first car. While far from perfect, the Newport was considerably less of a POS than the Imperial.
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  #8  
Old 09-10-2013, 07:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TylerH860 View Post
I'm lusting after this beauty...

Chrysler : Imperial Crown Coupe in Chrysler | eBay Motors

Plan on calling to shake down the seller tomorrow, but with a car like this it really needs an impartial set of eyeballs. If its not mostly the original paint and has a laundry list I'm not really interested.

Anyone willing to check this car out for me?

Why are these so much cheaper than Rivieras, Eldorados, and Continentals? Looks fantastic, great motor, what gives? Only thing really letting the car down for me is no AC.
What a beaut! I love the 60's luxury barges and love quirky cars. That's got both things working for it.
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  #9  
Old 09-10-2013, 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Skippy View Post
When I was a kid in the '80s, my dad had a '75 Imperial. That thing was a POS. They never could get the AC to work right for a whole trip, ..
That's because it had the evil servo automatic climate control system which MB purchased to put in the early 123's.
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  #10  
Old 09-10-2013, 08:36 AM
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Smile Hard to kill them

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Originally Posted by P.C. View Post
While some mechanical components were shared between this generation Imperial and other Chryslers of this era such as your New Yorker, one major difference was that while Chrysler went to unit-body construction in the latter fifties, the Imperial stayed body-on-frame through 1966. Physically tough car. One night in 1971, my father parked his '64 Crown Coupe at the curb and went into a tavern with a few friends. He sat down for a drink and not long afterward heard a tremendous crash outside. A husband and wife in a 1963 Chevy Impala were having a little domestic dispute while driving down the road, and the husband, apparently distracted, plowed into the left rear corner of the Imperial. Hubby was apparently a little moody about the whole thing, and backed the Impala up, slammed it back into drive, and rammed the Imperial again. He repeated this event one more time for luck, with the Little Missus screaming out the window that he was trying to kill her, after which the Impala decided to go into permanent retirement and ultimately left the scene on the back of a tow truck. The Imperial? Well, my father drove it home without incident, and I remember surveying the damage the next morning. The driver's rear quarter was a little wrinkly, but not crushed, and the rear bumper needed to be replaced. Oh yeah, a taillight was cracked. With a little banging out and a bumper pirated from a 1965 Imperial, the car served our family for another year before it was sold. I still remember seeing it around in the late-Seventies.

I also remember that my father loved tormenting gas station attendants with this car, as the gas cap was well hidden by a chrome eagle-adorned door in the exact center of the rear bumper.

Wow, good story..

It reminds me that the 1964-1966 Chrysler Imperials were ALWAYS sought after in the 1970s and 1980s in the Northern California demolition derbies at the state and county fairs, and weekend events in rural counties.

Why?

Because they almost ALWAYS won ! They could take the horrendous hits and still keep on going. Right to the end.

I personally saw it many times!
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  #11  
Old 09-10-2013, 08:46 AM
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We had a 59 2 door. It was pink. Continental rear end. The height of the finned ones. I recall it being a 392 maybe? I was pretty young.
If I'm not mistaken 66 was the first year without any appreciable finnage.
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  #12  
Old 09-10-2013, 09:02 AM
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Originally Posted by Jim B. View Post
Wow, good story..

It reminds me that the 1964-1966 Chrysler Imperials were ALWAYS sought after in the 1970s and 1980s in the Northern California demolition derbies at the state and county fairs, and weekend events in rural counties.

Why?

Because they almost ALWAYS won ! They could take the horrendous hits and still keep on going. Right to the end.

I personally saw it many times!
around here they banned the imperials,fwd toro's and eldo's,and big body GM wagons of the early 70's.
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  #13  
Old 09-10-2013, 10:13 AM
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Originally Posted by TylerH860 View Post
I'm lusting after this beauty...

Chrysler : Imperial Crown Coupe in Chrysler | eBay Motors

Plan on calling to shake down the seller tomorrow, but with a car like this it really needs an impartial set of eyeballs. If its not mostly the original paint and has a laundry list I'm not really interested.

Anyone willing to check this car out for me?

Why are these so much cheaper than Rivieras, Eldorados, and Continentals? Looks fantastic, great motor, what gives? Only thing really letting the car down for me is no AC.
The relative value of these big sedans and coupes seem dramatically difference based on what was popular then, so how common, and what is popular now, as in how cool it might look to a current buyer.

This was rubbed in my face when I tried to sell my 1965 buick wildcat. Cool old cars, but a difference in trim and options equaled huge difference in apparent value.
I had the 4 door, 401 motor, and I couldn't give the thing away I discovered. If I had a two door, with the larger motor, I could have easily gotten 5+ grand for the condition mine was in, but I ultimately sold the car for 1500 bucks to a guy who loved wildcats. The coupe and sedan on that model are nearly identical look wise apart from the options, they are good looking cars and do have a following (despite being called the "mildcat" in their day ), but I was unlucky in my options to get big money.

This car you are looking at is more of an oddball, with a very high straight roof and relatively boring body lines, nothing agressive about it to appeal to the current buyer. I think its pretty interesting looking, but I doubt its that valuable. Id be curious what other engine options it might have, is this the largest engine? the fact that its a coupe is good, but I think 10 grand is pretty unrealistic.

I listed my buick 4 times on ebay, started at 4 grand, then 3, then 2, then again at 2 with no reserve, and no bids, and plenty of watchers. I even had the mag wheels with snarling cats on them, and complete paperwork. This chrysler doesn't have have much above stock, steel wheels and hubcaps, and I doubt it has a huge following. Id probably look into that before I decided to bid, is someone likely to buy this, or are you just wanting a big old car to cruise in?

I took a hit on my buick, but I loved that car, it was a great cruiser
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  #14  
Old 09-10-2013, 10:27 AM
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Originally Posted by P.C. View Post
The only engine available on the 1966 Imperial was the 440 c.i. V8, which was second only to Lincoln's 462 in displacement, but was a much better performer than either the Lincoln or Cadillac's 1966 429 V8.

Remember that this was a competitor to the Cadillac and Lincoln - neither of which had rim options beyond steel wheels and hubcaps that year.
true, you know more about it, im just pointing out that the possible value could be through the floor for reasons like that. I had all the options, and my car was worth almost nothing comparatively. This car may have all the options for its model year, but those options seem sparse, no wheel choices?

This was a competitor to Cadillac and Lincoln, but those models both seem to have sold much better and have a much bigger following. Plus IMO those were better looking cars in the same year range. Just seems unlikely that this car is worth a whole lot to me. Its rare, but not "oh my god I need to buy it 'rare' ", more of a "eh, who built that?" rare.
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  #15  
Old 09-10-2013, 10:48 AM
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I was initially interested in the Buick Riviera, but once I saw the interior fit and finish with the chrysler, along with the engine and better prices, I was sold.

This is not a flip. I want me a Chrysler as big as a whale.

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