Re: IML: Were most Imperials bespoke?

[aeyn <mr85000@xxxxxxxxx>]

John,
   However, by 1971, wjem I was looking for a car for me, I found
only one used one in the Phoenix metro area and it was in
Scottsdale.  I had also looked in Tucson and only found one
there, too.

Æyn

--- john sadowski <jsadowski@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> I recall back in the mid sixties that there were not too many
> new Imperials 
> on the dealers lots. Some of the larger dealers may have had 20
> or more used 
> ones to choose from. My dad & I used to spend a few hours about
> every other 
> Sunday going to look at cars. I was pretty well versed in
> Chrysler products 
> in those days.
>    John
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Hugh, 58 Imperial" <imperial58@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2007 10:18 AM
> Subject: IML: Were most Imperials bespoke?
> 
> 
> >I wonder if most Imperials were not bespoke, at least outside
> the major 
> >cities.  While on any dealer's lot you might find whole rows
> of Plymouths, 
> >Dodges, De Sotos and even Chryslers, I cannot recall seeing,
> outside of 
> >factory pictures, a whole row of more or less identical
> Imperials available 
> >for sale.  When one was looking for a prestige automobile in
> the 1958 in 
> >the USA, there was a choice of Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial.
>  (Foreign 
> >makes might be available but their numbers were incredibly
> small.) 
> >Cadillac was the most obvious choice.  Lincoln was at its
> lowest ebb.  No 
> >one has anything good to say about them.  The Imperial was,
> unfortunately, 
> >coming off of its highest point.  The entire range of Chrysler
> Corporation 
> >vehicles had swept the boards in 1957 with their stunning good
> looks, but 
> >the company was caught flat footed by the sudden high demand
> and sacrificed 
> >build quality in an effort to cash in.  The astonishing
> variety of adverts 
> >for the 1958 spoke to this crisis.  It was all too much, too
> late.  The 
> >damage had been done.  Surveys performed at the time indicated
> that many 
> >first time Chrysler product buyers would not ever choose to
> buy one again.
> >
> > It was a buyer's market.  But how did people buy their new
> Imperials? 
> > Smaller dealerships would not have one on the lot to even
> test drive.  All 
> > they might have was a plastic model and some admittedly
> gorgeous brochures 
> > that gave  prospective buyer some idea of the cars overall
> look and the 
> > range of options available.  I surmise that it was on this
> basis alone the 
> > cars were acquired.  Following this logic, a good review from
> Tom McCahill 
> > in "Mechanix Illustrated" or other popular magazines such as
> "Science and 
> > Mechanics" must have been worth its weight in gold.  We like
> to think, as 
> > modern Imperial aficionados, that "common" wealthy people
> bought a 
> > Cadillac but the more discriminating individual would want to
> stand out 
> > from them in the church or golf course parking lot with
> something 
> > demonstrably better and more refined, something that was
> less, shall we 
> > say, vulgar.  Showing off wealth more discreetly by
> demonstrating taste 
> > and discernment is a very effective form of snobbery in its
> own right.  A 
> > more cultured outlook denotes superiority over parvenus and
> their penchant 
> > for trashy and ostentatious demonstrations of their obviously
> newly 
> > acquired spending power.
> >
> > Of course a great many were indeed bought on the strength of
> the vehicles 
> > impressive good looks, basically sound engineering, advanced
> technological 
> > innovations, such as cruise control, introduced as an option
> in 1958, and 
> > a certain amount of faith that what you would get would look
> as good as 
> > the model you held in your hand and all the glossy Saturday
> Evening Post 
> > adverts.  Another attractive element would the almost forced
> obligation to 
> > tailor your purchase from the lengthy list of trim options
> available.  On 
> > the one hand there were three basic levels of trim.  In 1958
> the so called 
> > base model did not even have a name.  The mid-range, always
> the most 
> > popular, was called Crown, and the highest tier was the Le
> Baron.  But, 
> > even so, you could still get just about all the good stuff on
> the base 
> > model.  My car lacks a second name, so its "just" Imperial,
> but it has 
> > such fancy stuff as front and rear air conditioning and most
> other 
> > goodies, too, but not the "Auto-Pilot" or the limited slip
> differential. 
> > On the other hand I have seen a picture of one so "stripped"
> that it even 
> > lacked electric windows.
> >
> > I was told by the original owner's niece that the original
> owner of my car 
> > could not stand leather seats and the only way to avoid them
> on an 
> > Imperial was to get the base model.  However he then selected
> most other 
> > options from the catalog.  Being able to option your car to
> your own taste 
> > also gives you bragging rights enjoy being one up over your
> fellow horse 
> > breeders.  The first owner of my car owned and showed
> Tennessee Walking 
> > horses, a breed known for its smooth gait, gentle temperament
> and stamina. 
> > They were bred to carry owners of southern plantations around
> their lands 
> > in comfort.  Such animals are shown for their distinctive
> walking style 
> > but they are never raced or used in any other sports except
> trail riding, 
> > for which they are ideally suited.  One might even say the
> Imperial is to 
> > automobiles what the Tennessee Walking Horse is to other
> equines.
> >
> > I wonder if tailoring the Imperial was always the most
> frequent method 
> > when buying them new.  I also wonder how long this lasted. 
> Without a 
> > doubt ordering a car to your own taste is a lovely thing.  I
> have only had 
> > the pleasure of doing it once, for, of all things, a humble
> Ford Escort. 
> > Despite there being dozens on the lot, my wife, who is petite
> and liked 
> > the car for a number of good reasons, wanted certain colors
> and features 
> > and that could not be found without it being special ordered.
>  I don't 
> > think I've ever seen a dealership less happy.  (The discounts
> they offered 
> > us to take something off the lot that was close to what she
> wanted were 
> > very tempting to me, but which married man out there thinks I
> even had a 
> > choice in the matter.)  In the muscle car world, altering the
> car is 
> > almost the whole point of the exercise.  People tweak stuff,
> add more 
> > power, change out the interiors and repaint the cars to
> create their own 
> > custom dream car.  We Imperialists do not favor this approach
> anywhere 
> > near as much.  Maybe its because our cars were pretty much
> one offs to 
> > begin with.
> >
> > Hugh Hemphill
> > 58 Imperial
> > San Antonio, Texas.
> >
> >
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> 
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