Re: IML: 60 build quality vs 57

[RandalPark@xxxxxxx]

Our '60 Imperial required some repairs over the years, but overall, it was a good car.

I have never owned one, but I do remember friends bitterly complaining about the number of things that had gone wrong specifically with their 1957 Chrysler Corporation cars (but not particularly 1958 or 1959). One of the worst ongoing problems was water leakage, which seems to have been a result of sloppy fit and finish. I understand that severe rust was also a longer term problem. I knew of a couple of folks that liked the cars well enough that they "went the extra mile" with them getting things fixed, and did not have repeat problems. That would lead me to believe that the cars were designed well, but perhaps too hastily assembled. I know of one '57 Imperial that had over 200,000 miles on it in 1968. 

Another thing to remember is that many people bought these cars used and were disappointed in the number of repairs. Back in those days it was standard practice to do mileage roll backs or even change the odometer to read all zero's. Some folks thought that they were buying low mileage cars when in fact, they were often very high mileage.

Paul W.

In an email dated 2/5/2005 9:32:01 pm GMT Daylight time, DONALDDICKINSOND@xxxxxx writes:

>In a message dated 5/2/2005 3:29:55 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
>kss37215@xxxxxxxx writes: 
>> I can't believe that this is 2005 and we are still hearing about how bad 
>> Imperials were in the late 50's! ? I bought a 58 Imperial coupe in 1959 and had 
>> no major problem with it at all. ?Having "been there" gives one a different 
>> perspective of the time. ?As it is today with most "journalists" in the back 
>> pocket of leftist politicians, the 50's was a time of blatant payola on every 
>> front.
>> 
>I am glad you had good luck with your 1958. ?My experience with a 1957 (it 
>was my fathers car) was not as rosy and from what I have read more typical of 
>Chrysler product owners of that period. ?I will not list the problems as they 
>were documented in a previous post but were generic to the basic design and I am 
>sure many owners had the same problems. ?The bottom line is that owner 
>satisfaction was extremely low and no doubt had a very negative impact on the future 
>sales of Imperial. ?
>
>Don Dickinson
>Prospect, KY 
>
>1955 Imperial Newport, Canyon Tan and Desert Sand
>1967 Imperial Custom Convertible, Ivory and Burgundy
>


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