My older brother scored a 58 Imperial through an estate sale. Since it had been chauffeur driven it was in top condition. He let me drive the beast before I got my license on the Interstate! Cruising in that Hemi was extraordinary, to this day I have no clue how I managed it. He also taught me to drive standard on his Austin Healy Sprite! What a guy.
Speaking of which, to the best of my knowledge, 1958 marked the first appearance of the Imperial Crown Limousine with the body handcrafted in Italy especially for Chrysler by Ghia.
My friends mother had one. She would see us riding our bikes home from school and stop and throw our bikes in the trunk to give us a ride home. I loved that car.
To the best of my knowledge, the Sedan was supposed to be the lowest-price Imperial model for 1958, with the LeBaron being the top-of-the-line and the Crown in the middle as far as price was concerned.
My late father, being the great dad to me, took me to a junkyard as a small boy in the early sixties. He spent a morning sawing this instrument panel out of a junked Imperial, took it home and set it up for me to play with on the patio. What a car!
These videos are actually filmstrips with an audio cassette delivered to the dealership. The little sonic "dinks" are a signal to the filmstrip operator to advance the film.
I don't live stateside but having had a 225 Slant six with Torqueflyte trans down under, US was lucky to get the Hemi but we all got the bulletproof Torqueflyte trans, Dealers even told customers the the firm shifting of the trans meant it would last much longer than the oppositions smooth "slush box " trans.
@@20alphabet We did get a vertical 6 inline, can't remember the capacity, was that the one that in fuel injected form went into the Jeep?. by that stage the trans was a Borg Warner, although one trans specialist told me that about a 1,000 Valiants got a Torqueflyte trans early on because the BW trans was not available immediately with the vertical block. Lucky if you got one of those.
@@adoreslaurel Here it is: www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.valiant.org/valiant/hemi-six.html&ved=2ahUKEwia35yTzcrmAhUTLX0KHd7rAXkQFjAcegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw2O2rn36_9tDSh8CcH0euk7
I can possibly overlook the fact that EVERY body panel INSIDE and OUT is misaligned (nothing new with Chrysler , even to this day), BUT whoever came up with that god awful interior scheme, should NEVER, EVER be allowed to design anything! It is by no coincidence that the word "QUALITY" wasn't mentioned ONCE, because there WAS no quality. All the "extra" hours that went into building these abortions, did nothing but fatten the workers paychecks.
Jimmy "Snub Nose" Maglucia recommended these as you could transport up to TWO, yes TWO bodies in the spacious trunk if you curled the top one up to fit inside the beautifully detailed, sculpted spare tire cover. Besides that, the rear seat provided more than enough space for a large man to place his feet comfortable on the back of the front seat while strangling the front seat passenger with a length of rope, reducing the instances of wrist and elbow strain. With those wide, wrap-around windshields, you could see rival mobsters slowly creeping up next to you in their inferior cars and have plenty of time to fire at them first. All in all, a fabulous car for the day!
Iceair 767 I’d love to buy a DINK! A 2020 DINK 4 door sedan. With radio, heater and seat covers. The famous DINK-MASTER 6 cylinder engine. Those trunks could hold an awesome lot of late votes come a few days after Election Day. A lot of bodies too!
2:50 I noted that as well. They respond to the merest touch, though I'm concerned my thick, coarse-furrred knuckles are better suited to bludgeoning and ruin. Have I what it takes for so élite a motorcar?
@kirby waite In 1989 in Fresno there was a 1960 Imperial LeBaron Southampton in mint green that was about 3 miles from my apartment sitting in a driveway. All of its wheelcovers were missing but the body was straight. I was so interested in that car that I talked to the owner and he let me test drive it. It ran rather roughly but he would sell it for $950. I was young and probably had $500 in the bank so I couldn't afford to buy it....yet. Later that year my grandmother died and left me some money but the car was no longer in that driveway. Around the same time there was a 1958 Imperial Coupe in a Fresno junkyard that was auctioned off. I went to the auction but didn't buy it...another man picked it up for $600. Now both of the cars would be about 5 times more expensive. But I did buy a rare 1960 LeBaron wheelcover at that time and I still have it. I really regret that I didn't eventually buy the LeBaron.
By looking at some of the comments I would say some are just to young to appreciate when cars were cars and you actually had to skills to drive. When you needed to Pay attention to the road when you didn’t have warning lights if you are to close to someone or someone in the lane next to you when things were simpler when you could work on your own car without needing a computer
I remember in those days the excitement of seeing the new cars Detroit was coming out with each year. Then sometimes it was like...Well hell..all they did was change the grill. And no one in my entire family could have afforded that Imperial.
The tail light shown at 2:10 is also the fuel filler cap. I'm not sure who decided this was a good idea, but I admire their dedication to not breaking the lines by having it on the side. Imperials were also the last cars in America to get that deep grain look on the interior wood by using whale oil.
This was one of the first cars to have curved side windows. The Audi 5000 of decades later would be the next. Did anyone notice the emergency brake assembly behind the transmission? Torqueflytes in those days didn't have a parking sprag or "P" button to push. That single emergency brake didn't work very well (would fade rather quickly). My mom's Plymouth had one, and I found out the hard way.
If you were watching this, you were inside the dealership surrounded by several cars and you could see the colors. The dink bell is so the salesman knew when to change the slide with the remote control connected by a wire to the slide projector.
Simple: a bad recession and no one with much disposable income.A modern Imperial was available in early 80s and as far as I'm concerned is the most beautiful luxury car ever built by Chrysler.But with bad recession didn't sell well.If I had the money today I'd own a Frank Sinatra edition Imperial.Gorgous car.
The reason for that was low sales...the Imperial only sold decently when the styling was significantly changed (1957, 1964, 1969). The model years in between when there were modest changes like the grill, etc. resulted in weaker sales. Cadillac during that 1955-1975 era consistently sold well year after year and its sales trend was positive over the long term. Imperials during that era had two big negatives...an image too closely tied with plainer Chryslers and fluctuating quality control.
My uncle in Wichita would buy a new Imperial every 2 years or so. When we would visit I would think, "Oh, why can't we have a neat car like this?" Not at all realizing just how much they cost compared to my Dad's income. My uncle was a surgeon so he had the money, the 2 story brick home,gardener, country club membership,too.
Un enorme carro...súper cómodo internamente y su aire acondicionado siempre fue poderosamente frío. Se disfrutaba mucho en autopistas por su poder de aceleración y si estilo sobre todo el Imperial 1959 era hermoso
Im not so old i do remeber the cars from the 80 `s they all had analoge instruments in the dash plus lights that lighted up when a problem came up. Now days you can be glad if you can drive at all if a light lights up in the Rolling computers for cars.😀
Safety padding on the steering wheel and dashboard. I guess they figured that you would be protected while being thrown through the windshield on impact. 😬
1957 was the most popular year for the brand. I think it was the only year that Imperial outsold Lincoln. EDIT. 1958 sales crashed, from 6.1 million sold in 57 to 4.3 sold in 58. That's rough.
The luxury car market was tough back then unless you worked for GM. In the 50's and 60's Cadillac pretty much owned that corner of the car industry. They outsold both Lincoln and Imperial combined every year.
@@chrisxaf1237 Likely true compared to Cadillac and Lincoln because they were rushed into production in order to be style leaders...but the 1957 Plymouth and Dodge were by far the worst for quality problems.
This is a dealer information film. The idea is to help the dealer sell the automobile. The automobile the dealer will be selling is the Imperial. The more Imperial automobiles the dealer sells the more money he and the motor company will make.
I had a great uncle that was a used car dealer in Florida. He specialized in imperials and nash,packards,. He had some astonishing imperials,they were works of art,as well as extremely comfortable. I wish l had been able to make an imperial my own. Instead,he gave me his tools,some of which l still use. Thanks for the memories,Uncle John....
@Rose White this was before racer marketing, where every damn car buyer was conditioned to aspire to being some kind of race car driver. That really began in the early 60’s with cars like the GTO, but really took off in the 80’s and 90’s. In the 50’s, you didn’t need bolstering in the seats, because nobody was expected to drive a luxury car like a formula one car. These days, every retard crossover has dual exhaust, “aggressive” appearance, paddle shifters, spoilers - and side bolsters, etc. Because the image of race car performance sells cars, and makes average idiot drivers think they too have great driving skills.
*Although, at this point in history "Imperial" was a brand unto itself, The Imperial is still one of the finest automobiles Chrysler Corp. ever created. It's the dream car of George Jetson and Batman combined! Kidding aside, Chrysler was once known as "The engineering Automobile Company", as they were, almost always one of Americas main automotive industry innovators. Speaking of innovation, The famous Chrysler created Hemi 392-ci developed a whopping, (for the 1950's) 345-bhp! It's a shame they lost their way. Who would have ever thought it would become, "Chrysler/Fiat"? That thought would have been laughable in the 1950's.*
@@JSB103 *No, we sure aren't laughing now. It's heartbreaking to me what has happened in a once, industrially astounding America, in this case to the U.S. Auto Industry. It was once THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, so to speak. We had the entire world driving those advanced American horseless carriages from a vast variety of U.S. motor companies Many fell into hard times during the (created) "Great Depression". Later, the loss of the "Little One", The American Motor Corporation was a much deeper disaster than we had even realized at the time, it only got worse from there. We could have and, SHOULD HAVE done so much better! We truly did, 'Drop the ball to the detriment of all'.*
More than 345 hp, close to 375 hp. I think they had a 390 hp version too for the 392 but these hotter engines were in the 300s and New Yorkers. I didn't check if these were also Imperial engines
The government is a big part of the blame,and the management of the company,like when the president of Chrysler sold off Airtemp,which had become a major supplier of commercial air-conditioning and a moneymaker for the company,and split the proceeds between management and stockholders, had that not been done the article I read said,they would have easily been able to transition from big cars to smaller cars.that happened in 1975.and now with ever more stringent emission and fuel mileage standards the government is killing the internal combustion engine,whether it be diesel or gas.more Bolshevik crap being pushed on us from the unelected and unimpeachable bolsheviks.we don't need it.
@@marcomalo02 At least they have the Dodge Challenger and Dodge charger....for now. ford only has a crummy PU and the new explorer which has so many problems, they can't even ship them.how in world do they sell the junk? Who buys them?
@John Strand look around, mediocrity has a way of enduring the most golden of eras. Nine times out of ten, most things aren’t as good as they were sixty years ago.
@kirby waite Ha, unions are not to blame, they serve the purpose of protecting the worker in an environment that will gladly fleece them without a union. Without unions, there would be far more people making peanuts, while the cost of living goes up every year. Blame it on the reality of living in a capitalist society (America) but don’t blame the unions.
Aren't you forgetting something? The 1958 Eldorado Biarritz was a two-door convertible (there was also the Eldorado Seville, Cadillac's special model for GM's Golden Jubilee celebration, which was a two-door hardtop), while the 1958 Imperial Le Baron shown here was a four-door sedan. Cadillac's four-door sedans in 1958 were the Series 62, the Sedan de Ville, the Fleetwood Sixty Special and the Eldorado Brougham (the top-of-the-line Cadillac at the time).
THIS WAS A DIFFERENT TIME. BEFORE THE EUROPEAN CARS TOOK OVER THE LUXURY CLASS. THERE WAS "IMPERIAL", "LINCOLN" AND "CADILLAC". THAT WAS WHEN GAS WAS ABOUT 30 CENTS A GALLON. "GONE FOREVER".
Sales weren't great because Cadillac dominated the luxury segment. Survival rate is high because Imperials were built so strong they were banned from the demolition derby.
Convert it to disc brakes, put on fuel injection, and a set of good radial tires on alloy wheels, and I would take it cross country. Last year of the mighty 392 Hemi.
If you crossed a Lincoln with a Cadillac, I suppose it would look something like that. Strange that they would use “black and white” pictures to describe a “luxury car.” Even stranger that black and white pictures would be used to describe the “upholstery colours!”
Many of these "luxury" features were incorporated the 1961 Dodge Dart, which was my first car. I paid $75 for it in 1968. It was probably the ugliest car Detroit ever produced, which is saying a lot!
Everyone feeling sad for the past but if western countries actually practiced Capatalism this wouldn't of happened. America was a powerhouse after the war but lets be honest. We had no competition and the big 3 had government protection. All the american companies got lazy cause they knew they had protection and if they got into trouble the Government would come to the rescue.
@@rjalexander4765 Protection did not stop. The gas guzzler tax was and is a direct attack on German cars (and conveniently has never been applied to SUVs, an American staple), and the Japanese were forced to open plants here in order to appease the government/US manufacture cabal. Seems American companies are incapable of competing in a fair fight, ever, so run to government mommy to bail them out.
Non of the USA car manufactures survived the 1957 Eisenhower recession well. Historical perspective has given the idea that the immediate need for new cars was greatly filled by the end of 1957. To add to the financial crisis, for the 1958-9 year USA car manufactures were all pushing limits on new very expensive to build luxury cars that even in the best of time might not have payed for themselves, but during a recession that especially hit new car sales it was a disaster and the cars got blamed. It was too late to change the 1959 models designs, production was already set. Most of the USA economy recovered fairly quickly from the 1957 recession, but not the car industry. Detroit got to an unemployment rate of 20% in 1960. Out of the panic cheaper to design, engineer, build and less risky cars to market where the result with Chrysler board going the farthest of USA car manufactures recking havoc with their cutting edge design and engineering people effectively eliminating the company's cars from premium new car interests for decades. It was 1964 in the USA before some attempt was made to reignite car interest, but at the midlevel and compact level with the Pontiac GTO and Ford Mustang. By 1965 all the major car manufactures were large suppliers to the Vietnam war and their corporate boards didn't really have to be interested in cars. This short term thinking in high technology driven products such as cars had long term consequences.
Watching this makes me sad for how pathetic Chrysler has become. Maybe they should look back at their old material and start fresh. They have an opportunity to really turn the company around. They currently only have 2 models they sell. They have the most unique opportunity to save the brand and really offer some serious contenders. I'm not sure why they think the 300 will be the saving grace for the company. And that car is so long in the tooth. The Pacifica is bland and cookie cutter.
I disagree. The American designed 300 (which was on the drawing boards and being tested well before Mercedes-Benz entered the picture) is an outstanding automobile in every aspect; styling, engineering (the only Mercedes-Benz items on it were the transmission and rear suspension both of which were jettison around 2010) handling, HP/torque (exceptional Hemi engine), fuel economy with a decent resale value. This platform (LX) and its variants (shared with the Dodge Charger (LD) and Challenger (LC) ...on a shorter wheel base) has proven themselves noteworthy receiving numorus accolades since their introduction. These cars have noteworthy performance manners and the LD versions are now the backbone of Police service. The new Chrysler Pacifica with all its features (highly touted V6 pentastar engine, stow and go (people hauler to panel van within a minute), info system, modern sleek styling, sedan like handling, are not "cookie cutter" in anybodies logical estimation. Sir, with all due respect, your claims of "long in the tooth" and "cookie cutter" are meritless, uninformed statements. If it works well, if it sells (their is a demand) and makes a profit, if its better than the competition (it is), if it has an excellent reputation (it does), than there is no logical reason to change it.
My older brother scored a 58 Imperial through an estate sale. Since it had been chauffeur driven it was in top condition. He let me drive the beast before I got my license on the Interstate! Cruising in that Hemi was extraordinary, to this day I have no clue how I managed it. He also taught me to drive standard on his Austin Healy Sprite! What a guy.
Speaking of which, to the best of my knowledge, 1958 marked the first appearance of the Imperial Crown Limousine with the body handcrafted in Italy especially for Chrysler by Ghia.
@@johneddy908 ah, my favorite less known American crossover automobile the Chrysler Gia 1953.
My friends mother had one. She would see us riding our bikes home from school and stop and throw our bikes in the trunk to give us a ride home. I loved that car.
Nice neighbor.
@@Johnnycdrums And a big trunk! lol
I owned a '58 SEDAN, which was one of less than 600 made. Wonderful car.
To the best of my knowledge, the Sedan was supposed to be the lowest-price Imperial model for 1958, with the LeBaron being the top-of-the-line and the Crown in the middle as far as price was concerned.
My late father, being the great dad to me, took me to a junkyard as a small boy in the early sixties. He spent a morning sawing this instrument panel out of a junked Imperial, took it home and set it up for me to play with on the patio. What a car!
These videos are actually filmstrips with an audio cassette delivered to the dealership. The little sonic "dinks" are a signal to the filmstrip operator to advance the film.
Beautiful car, inside and out! The best engines, best transmission, and best suspension of anything at the time.
I don't live stateside but having had a 225 Slant six with Torqueflyte trans down under, US was lucky to get the Hemi but we all got the bulletproof Torqueflyte trans, Dealers even told customers the the firm shifting of the trans meant it would last much longer than the oppositions smooth "slush box " trans.
@@adoreslaurel
But you got something we didn't get, the 265 inline six. What a great engine!
@@20alphabet We did get a vertical 6 inline, can't remember the capacity, was that the one that in fuel injected form went into the Jeep?. by that stage the trans was a Borg Warner, although one trans specialist told me that about a 1,000 Valiants got a Torqueflyte trans early on because the BW trans was not available immediately with the vertical block. Lucky if you got one of those.
@@adoreslaurel
Here it is: www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.valiant.org/valiant/hemi-six.html&ved=2ahUKEwia35yTzcrmAhUTLX0KHd7rAXkQFjAcegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw2O2rn36_9tDSh8CcH0euk7
I can possibly overlook the fact that EVERY body panel INSIDE and OUT is misaligned (nothing new with Chrysler , even to this day), BUT whoever came up with that god awful interior scheme, should NEVER, EVER be allowed to design anything! It is by no coincidence that the word "QUALITY" wasn't mentioned ONCE, because there WAS no quality. All the "extra" hours that went into building these abortions, did nothing but fatten the workers paychecks.
look at that beauty! yes!
Jimmy "Snub Nose" Maglucia recommended these as you could transport up to TWO, yes TWO bodies in the spacious trunk if you curled the top one up to fit inside the beautifully detailed, sculpted spare tire cover. Besides that, the rear seat provided more than enough space for a large man to place his feet comfortable on the back of the front seat while strangling the front seat passenger with a length of rope, reducing the instances of wrist and elbow strain. With those wide, wrap-around windshields, you could see rival mobsters slowly creeping up next to you in their inferior cars and have plenty of time to fire at them first. All in all, a fabulous car for the day!
🤣😄😊
Love these ones! DINK!!
Iceair 767 I’d love to buy a DINK! A 2020 DINK 4 door sedan. With radio, heater and seat covers. The famous DINK-MASTER 6 cylinder engine. Those trunks could hold an awesome lot of late votes come a few days after Election Day. A lot of bodies too!
It looks great! I can't wait to get to my nearest Imperial dealership and pick one up! lol :)
They were built so tough most demolition derbies banned them back in the day.
Nice, My Grandparents had a 1956 Imperial . 😀
MY DREAM CAR!!!!! thank you for posting this fabulous video!!!!!!
i like those front bench seats in the old cars they always seem more comfortable
UNTIL you come to a corner!
The recessed safety door handles sold it for me as far as safety is concerned!
2:50 I noted that as well. They respond to the merest touch, though I'm concerned my thick, coarse-furrred knuckles are better suited to bludgeoning and ruin. Have I what it takes for so élite a motorcar?
Not the wrap around windshield with its 1inch wide A pillar?
Not good for ladies fingernails
An Incredibly Beauuuutiful Car!
The 1960 Imperial is still my favorite.
@kirby waite I've read the 1959 Cadillac had the tallest tailfins ever but maybe not by much.
@kirby waite In 1989 in Fresno there was a 1960 Imperial LeBaron Southampton in mint green that was about 3 miles from my apartment sitting in a driveway. All of its wheelcovers were missing but the body was straight. I was so interested in that car that I talked to the owner and he let me test drive it. It ran rather roughly but he would sell it for $950. I was young and probably had $500 in the bank so I couldn't afford to buy it....yet. Later that year my grandmother died and left me some money but the car was no longer in that driveway. Around the same time there was a 1958 Imperial Coupe in a Fresno junkyard that was auctioned off. I went to the auction but didn't buy it...another man picked it up for $600. Now both of the cars would be about 5 times more expensive. But I did buy a rare 1960 LeBaron wheelcover at that time and I still have it. I really regret that I didn't eventually buy the LeBaron.
@kirby waite Are you a collector of old Imperials?
By looking at some of the comments I would say some are just to young to appreciate when cars were cars and you actually had to skills to drive. When you needed to Pay attention to the road when you didn’t have warning lights if you are to close to someone or someone in the lane next to you when things were simpler when you could work on your own car without needing a computer
I remember in those days the excitement of seeing the new cars Detroit was coming out with each year. Then sometimes it was like...Well hell..all they did was change the grill. And no one in my entire family could have afforded that Imperial.
I believe you are right.
some people have never ever driven mopar let alone an imperial, so they will never ever know what a true prestige car is
@@georgeszaslavsky and that suspension, was that a railroad or...no probably just a grate.
IMPERIAL 58. 2020 The best of the best in luxury motor cars
As you can see colors are very carefully harmonized.
At 5:03 : The *IMPERIAL 392 HEMI V-8!!*
And used in top fuel dragsters.
My neighbor had one just like the one shown back when I was a kid in the seventies,
The tail light shown at 2:10 is also the fuel filler cap. I'm not sure who decided this was a good idea, but I admire their dedication to not breaking the lines by having it on the side.
Imperials were also the last cars in America to get that deep grain look on the interior wood by using whale oil.
I totally agree
This was one of the first cars to have curved side windows. The Audi 5000 of decades later would be the next.
Did anyone notice the emergency brake assembly behind the transmission? Torqueflytes in those days didn't have a parking sprag or "P" button to push. That single emergency brake didn't work very well (would fade rather quickly). My mom's Plymouth had one, and I found out the hard way.
It was the first actually
They sure don't make em like this anymore!
And am I GLAD!
@@TheOzthewizOk Moron, so you think the crap they produce now is better?🤔I quess the name gives you away!!!🙄🤨🧐😝💩
I'm not normally into 50s cars, but MY GOD.
Awesome!
Simply magnificent Automobile
Worthy of a design study between it, Cadillac and Lincoln
I’ll take it!
This car is a work of art.
"As you can see, colors are very carefully harmonized'" says the guy on the black and white filmstrip.
If you were watching this, you were inside the dealership surrounded by several cars and you could see the colors. The dink bell is so the salesman knew when to change the slide with the remote control connected by a wire to the slide projector.
How did Chrysler go from the 1958 Imperial to K cars of the 1980's?
Good old uncle sam changed that!
Good old Arab oil embargo changed that!
Ten Four!
You forgot to mention the 1981 through 1983 Imperial coupes.
Simple: a bad recession and no one with much disposable income.A modern Imperial was available in early 80s and as far as I'm concerned is the most beautiful luxury car ever built by Chrysler.But with bad recession didn't sell well.If I had the money today I'd own a Frank Sinatra edition Imperial.Gorgous car.
Got to admit, it's a beauty. Too bad Mopar years later started to make them basically a clone of the New Yorker and other full sized Mopars.
The reason for that was low sales...the Imperial only sold decently when the styling was significantly changed (1957, 1964, 1969). The model years in between when there were modest changes like the grill, etc. resulted in weaker sales. Cadillac during that 1955-1975 era consistently sold well year after year and its sales trend was positive over the long term. Imperials during that era had two big negatives...an image too closely tied with plainer Chryslers and fluctuating quality control.
Beautiful 😍😍
My uncle in Wichita would buy a new Imperial every 2 years or so. When we would visit I would think, "Oh, why can't we have a neat car like this?" Not at all realizing just how much they cost compared to my Dad's income. My uncle was a surgeon so he had the money, the 2 story brick home,gardener, country club membership,too.
Un enorme carro...súper cómodo internamente y su aire acondicionado siempre fue poderosamente frío. Se disfrutaba mucho en autopistas por su poder de aceleración y si estilo sobre todo el Imperial 1959 era hermoso
Se vendió en mexico o cuba?
Im not so old i do remeber the cars from the 80 `s they all had analoge instruments in the dash plus lights that lighted up when a problem came up. Now days you can be glad if you can drive at all if a light lights up in the Rolling computers for cars.😀
These luxury automobiles were throughly tested after being built. When automobiles has character and made a statement.
You got this commercial mixed up with the one for Rolls Royce!
Like • Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway 🚂
I'll take your entire stock!!!
Safety padding on the steering wheel and dashboard. I guess they figured that you would be protected while being thrown through the windshield on impact. 😬
Pure HYPE for their brochures!
Awesome
I can dig it!!!!!!!!
Well if you dig the hole, I will help you bury it!
Never a sexier...more beautiful car ever made! I had 4!!! 57....64....65...66....all beautiful beasts!!!
"As you can see (in the black and white pics) interior colors are carefully harmonized " 😂
They kept them B&W, so people wouldn't be throwing up after seeing that hideous design!
Spectacular luxury motoring
At about $1 per pound, the 1958 Imperial was, in some places cheaper than sirloin steak!
Tom McCahill was a big fan of the late 50s to early 60s Imperial.He said there wasn't a better handling road car.
Tom McCahill was a big road test writer for Mechanix Illustrated Magazine form the forties to the seventies.
If you compare 1957 Model Year Production of 37,593 cars sold to 1958 Model Year Production of 16,133 its is amazing.
1957 was the most popular year for the brand. I think it was the only year that Imperial outsold Lincoln. EDIT. 1958 sales crashed, from 6.1 million sold in 57 to 4.3 sold in 58. That's rough.
Also the 57 models had many quality issues
The luxury car market was tough back then unless you worked for GM. In the 50's and 60's Cadillac pretty much owned that corner of the car industry. They outsold both Lincoln and Imperial combined every year.
@@chrisxaf1237 Likely true compared to Cadillac and Lincoln because they were rushed into production in order to be style leaders...but the 1957 Plymouth and Dodge were by far the worst for quality problems.
@@SpockvsMcCoy it took chrysler many years to recover from the bad reputation they got with the 57 models
This is a dealer information film. The idea is to help the dealer sell the automobile. The automobile the dealer will be selling is the Imperial. The more Imperial automobiles the dealer sells the more money he and the motor company will make.
I had a great uncle that was a used car dealer in Florida. He specialized in imperials and nash,packards,. He had some astonishing imperials,they were works of art,as well as extremely comfortable. I wish l had been able to make an imperial my own. Instead,he gave me his tools,some of which l still use. Thanks for the memories,Uncle John....
Truth, justice and the American way! LOL Great clkassic cars indeed!
As you can see, colors are carefully harmonized? Dude, it's black and white.
i think this was color but it faded. there's still a bit of color here and there
As you can see, it's a faded 60 year-old film, dude.
As you can see, the harmonized colours. . . in a black and white promo. . .
Too funny!! 😁😁👏👏
Until the early 70’s, the Imperial was the American luxury car. They were always ahead in technology and luxury.
Man what a dam tank
legendary mopar prestige car
how secure do those bench seats hold you on cornering?
i've only ever know bucket seats.
@Rose White this was before racer marketing, where every damn car buyer was conditioned to aspire to being some kind of race car driver. That really began in the early 60’s with cars like the GTO, but really took off in the 80’s and 90’s. In the 50’s, you didn’t need bolstering in the seats, because nobody was expected to drive a luxury car like a formula one car.
These days, every retard crossover has dual exhaust, “aggressive” appearance, paddle shifters, spoilers - and side bolsters, etc. Because the image of race car performance sells cars, and makes average idiot drivers think they too have great driving skills.
@@mr.butterworth4216 Well written. Agree 👍
Those "bench" seats were only good for one thing, getting laid!
Do you have any original advertisements or promo videos for a 1961 Dodge Dart?
Brings me back except for the turn signal flipper. It was a flipper not a rocker switch. With a little button for canceling
*Although, at this point in history "Imperial" was a brand unto itself, The Imperial is still one of the finest automobiles Chrysler Corp. ever created. It's the dream car of George Jetson and Batman combined! Kidding aside, Chrysler was once known as "The engineering Automobile Company", as they were, almost always one of Americas main automotive industry innovators. Speaking of innovation, The famous Chrysler created Hemi 392-ci developed a whopping, (for the 1950's) 345-bhp! It's a shame they lost their way. Who would have ever thought it would become, "Chrysler/Fiat"? That thought would have been laughable in the 1950's.*
Don't forget the Green Hornet.
You're killing it Wikkiregurjoguido. 🤢🤮
Laughable, yes. . . well, we ain't laughing no more.
@@JSB103 *No, we sure aren't laughing now. It's heartbreaking to me what has happened in a once, industrially astounding America, in this case to the U.S. Auto Industry. It was once THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, so to speak. We had the entire world driving those advanced American horseless carriages from a vast variety of U.S. motor companies Many fell into hard times during the (created) "Great Depression". Later, the loss of the "Little One", The American Motor Corporation was a much deeper disaster than we had even realized at the time, it only got worse from there. We could have and, SHOULD HAVE done so much better! We truly did, 'Drop the ball to the detriment of all'.*
More than 345 hp, close to 375 hp. I think they had a 390 hp version too for the 392 but these hotter engines were in the 300s and New Yorkers. I didn't check if these were also Imperial engines
Dont forget the air bags and plastic headlights and aluminum engine
Similar to the one Tony Randall drove in Pillow Talk 1959.
“As you can see, colors are very carefully harmonized.” 3:46 -
These were band from demolition derby s for having a in fair advantage it's a tank
Tom McCahill: ”Imperial is the greatest car built in America!” Wonder what is the greatest car built in the World?
Didn't he buy a Rolls Royce before he died? I used read his car reviews as a kid.
In that era, Mercedes, OF COURSE!
How could a company that could make a car of beauty like this ever turn into Fiat?
The government is a big part of the blame,and the management of the company,like when the president of Chrysler sold off Airtemp,which had become a major supplier of commercial air-conditioning and a moneymaker for the company,and split the proceeds between management and stockholders, had that not been done the article I read said,they would have easily been able to transition from big cars to smaller cars.that happened in 1975.and now with ever more stringent emission and fuel mileage standards the government is killing the internal combustion engine,whether it be diesel or gas.more Bolshevik crap being pushed on us from the unelected and unimpeachable bolsheviks.we don't need it.
It gets worse. Fiat-Chrysler will soon be Fiat-Chrysler-Peugeot.
@@marcomalo02 At least they have the Dodge Challenger and Dodge charger....for now. ford only has a crummy PU and the new explorer which has so many problems, they can't even ship them.how in world do they sell the junk? Who buys them?
@John Strand look around, mediocrity has a way of enduring the most golden of eras. Nine times out of ten, most things aren’t as good as they were sixty years ago.
@kirby waite Ha, unions are not to blame, they serve the purpose of protecting the worker in an environment that will gladly fleece them without a union. Without unions, there would be far more people making peanuts, while the cost of living goes up every year. Blame it on the reality of living in a capitalist society (America) but don’t blame the unions.
My uncle had a 1958 cadi
No match for the Cadillac Eldorado Biartz
Aren't you forgetting something? The 1958 Eldorado Biarritz was a two-door convertible (there was also the Eldorado Seville, Cadillac's special model for GM's Golden Jubilee celebration, which was a two-door hardtop), while the 1958 Imperial Le Baron shown here was a four-door sedan. Cadillac's four-door sedans in 1958 were the Series 62, the Sedan de Ville, the Fleetwood Sixty Special and the Eldorado Brougham (the top-of-the-line Cadillac at the time).
THIS WAS A DIFFERENT TIME. BEFORE THE EUROPEAN CARS TOOK OVER THE LUXURY CLASS. THERE WAS "IMPERIAL", "LINCOLN" AND "CADILLAC". THAT WAS WHEN GAS WAS ABOUT 30 CENTS A GALLON. "GONE FOREVER".
almost bought one at a flea market in 1974 for 100 bucks
Mike Reiffin does that include the fleas? Wouldn’t want it without the fleas.
@@glennso47 Would rodent droppings do?
I would have snatched it up
I can see some flunkie running the film strip projector and turning to each slide when the tone from the record signaled it. 😃
It wasn't a Lincoln.
The 61 Lincoln was a game changer. It did away with the the fins, 2,000 pounds of chrome, and the rest of the Homer Simpson design features.
Imperials were so strong they would become the best demolition derby car in history & eventually get banned because of it.
円谷特撮ヒーロー『ウルトラセブン』におけるウルトラ警備隊ポインターはこれを改造している。
8:49 You shure about that?
This car was so good, it defied the laws of physics! Chrysler engineering at it's finest! LOL
*Information (12:24) cannot be guaranteed,
o.0
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Thank. 115
Sales weren't great because Cadillac dominated the luxury segment. Survival rate is high because Imperials were built so strong they were banned from the demolition derby.
Nice to know! If ever I specifically buy a car for a demolition derby, I will give CFA a try!
Chrysler Corp always made the most innovative and cutting edge designs, to this day! One problem , they're all shit after 18months, to this day!
Ok Bolshevik liar
Chrysler Corp WAY ahead of GM&Ford,Always was.
Chrysler was always WAY ahead in building the crappiest cars.
ojars zvaigzne dont be confused by the windmill brand (mercedes benz) creations
Not a Chrysler. The IMPERIAL was SEPARATED from Chrysler into it’s OWN MAKE in 1955.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_(automobile)
Push button Transmission
Foam filled seats...lol...wow
What else are they supposed to use?
The reason they mentioned foam seats as a highly prized option? Is what I was trying to stress in the commercial.
@@beezertwelvewashingbeard8703 Rubberized hair, plant fibers, etc. www.euromoulders.org/polyurethane-foam/history-of-car-seat-padding
Remember, it’s 50s technology. Synthetic foams and fibers didn’t exist in mass production until the late 40s.
power windows in 58,, they probably thought they were in the space age
They were a couple of years away from launching "flying cars"!
Face it.......alot of these were plucked for the 392 by 65' for racing......just ask Don Garlits
They should have left these cars alone in my opinion most well crafted vehicles ever made by Chrysler
and is a death trap :)
The unfortunate part was that the economy took a dump that year...affecting all the middlemen and the upper crust!
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They would have chromed the whole car but it was to heavy.
as the narrator says its a beautiful car I think that I was born in the wrong eara lol
It's not a Majestic Imperial! Majestic was a separate make!
Convert it to disc brakes, put on fuel injection, and a set of good radial tires on alloy wheels, and I would take it cross country. Last year of the mighty 392 Hemi.
Chrysler actually offered fuel injection on the 300 and DeSoto Adventurer in 1958, but it was a disaster.
The 1960 Imperial film strip talks about NEW NEW TOTALLY NEW but it's just a tweaking of this model, isn't it?
“Functional beauty” might be stretching things a bit. But it’s certainly not without some charisma.
The front looks Russian- the back looks space age and better than Ford's by a mile.
If you crossed a Lincoln with a Cadillac, I suppose it would look something like that. Strange that they would use “black and white” pictures to describe a “luxury car.” Even stranger that black and white pictures would be used to describe the “upholstery colours!”
Many of these "luxury" features were incorporated the 1961 Dodge Dart, which was my first car. I paid $75 for it in 1968. It was probably the ugliest car Detroit ever produced, which is saying a lot!
You don't hear that type of voice-over anymore. Classy. Somewhere between British and Midwestern. The Imperial? Meh.
Everyone feeling sad for the past but if western countries actually practiced Capatalism this wouldn't of happened. America was a powerhouse after the war but lets be honest. We had no competition and the big 3 had government protection. All the american companies got lazy cause they knew they had protection and if they got into trouble the Government would come to the rescue.
Yep. that's what big enterprise / government partnership is all about. You got that right!!
So why did the "protection" stop?
Why didn't protectionisn hurt the Japanese?
@@rjalexander4765 Protection did not stop. The gas guzzler tax was and is a direct attack on German cars (and conveniently has never been applied to SUVs, an American staple), and the Japanese were forced to open plants here in order to appease the government/US manufacture cabal. Seems American companies are incapable of competing in a fair fight, ever, so run to government mommy to bail them out.
Non of the USA car manufactures survived the 1957 Eisenhower recession well. Historical perspective has given the idea that the immediate need for new cars was greatly filled by the end of 1957. To add to the financial crisis, for the 1958-9 year USA car manufactures were all pushing limits on new very expensive to build luxury cars that even in the best of time might not have payed for themselves, but during a recession that especially hit new car sales it was a disaster and the cars got blamed.
It was too late to change the 1959 models designs, production was already set. Most of the USA economy recovered fairly quickly from the 1957 recession, but not the car industry. Detroit got to an unemployment rate of 20% in 1960. Out of the panic cheaper to design, engineer, build and less risky cars to market where the result with Chrysler board going the farthest of USA car manufactures recking havoc with their cutting edge design and engineering people effectively eliminating the company's cars from premium new car interests for decades.
It was 1964 in the USA before some attempt was made to reignite car interest, but at the midlevel and compact level with the Pontiac GTO and Ford Mustang. By 1965 all the major car manufactures were large suppliers to the Vietnam war and their corporate boards didn't really have to be interested in cars. This short term thinking in high technology driven products such as cars had long term consequences.
Watching this makes me sad for how pathetic Chrysler has become. Maybe they should look back at their old material and start fresh. They have an opportunity to really turn the company around. They currently only have 2 models they sell. They have the most unique opportunity to save the brand and really offer some serious contenders. I'm not sure why they think the 300 will be the saving grace for the company. And that car is so long in the tooth. The Pacifica is bland and cookie cutter.
I disagree. The American designed 300 (which was on the drawing boards and being tested well before Mercedes-Benz entered the picture) is an outstanding automobile in every aspect; styling, engineering (the only Mercedes-Benz items on it were the transmission and rear suspension both of which were jettison around 2010) handling, HP/torque (exceptional Hemi engine), fuel economy with a decent resale value. This platform (LX) and its variants (shared with the Dodge Charger (LD) and Challenger (LC) ...on a shorter wheel base) has proven themselves noteworthy receiving numorus accolades since their introduction. These cars have noteworthy performance manners and the LD versions are now the backbone of Police service. The new Chrysler Pacifica with all its features (highly touted V6 pentastar engine, stow and go (people hauler to panel van within a minute), info system, modern sleek styling, sedan like handling, are not "cookie cutter" in anybodies logical estimation. Sir, with all due respect, your claims of "long in the tooth" and "cookie cutter" are meritless, uninformed statements. If it works well, if it sells (their is a demand) and makes a profit, if its better than the competition (it is), if it has an excellent reputation (it does), than there is no logical reason to change it.
Well, you scarcely see either of these models on the road these days.
Haven’t seen a car this ugly since looking at the 2022 BMW M3…