Cars from 1981 and on are easy to figure out The second digit on the VIN is the car make while the 5th digit shows the car line in the early 1980's and after that the car body.. The 1981-83 Imperials had "A" for the car make and not "C",. which was for the Chrysker car make. Thus the 1981-83 Imperials are Imperials, and not Chrysler Imperials. The 5th digit was "Y", for the Imperial car line. . The 1990-93 Imperials had "C" for the car make, and thus are Chrysler Imperials. The 5th digit was "Y", for the car body, which was shared with the Chrysler Fifth Avenue. The 6th digit is for the series, with the Chrysler Imperial using "6" and the Chrysler Fifth Avenue a "5". Hoever, the same cannot be said for the pre-1981 VIN. The first digit on the 1960-1980 VIN was for the car line but there was no digit for the car make. For example, 1979 Chrysler had three car lines, LeBaron (F), Cordoba (S) and Newport/New Yorker (T). Those three letters were used as the first digit in the VIN but there was nothing ekse to denote the car make was Chrysler. And thus Chrysler could use "Y" for the 1958-70 Imperial and 1971-73 Imperial by Chrysler. Just as Dodge used "W" to denote Coronet, Monaco and Charger from 1965 through 1978. And "X" was used for Charger, Magnum and Mirada. Just have to be careful as to the year of the vehicle. Bill Vancouver, BC ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nat Hall" <nathall@xxxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 6:31 AM Subject: Re: Imperial or Chrysler Imperial? was RE: IML:Now Its Heads & Gaskets, not Exhaust Manifold What Year? > >"Hardrick, Brian" <HardrickBG@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > Please take me to school on that subject regarding the history of this > >car! I have heard on several occasions that there is no such thing as a > >Chrysler Imperial > > > >There are Chrysler Imperials, and there are Imperials. The short answer > >is that Chrysler Imperials were produced from 1926 to 1954. Starting in > >1955, Imperial was considered a separate division (just like Dodge, > >DeSoto, Plymouth, and Chrysler (the car brand, not the corporation)), and > >had its own model lineup each year (i.e. Imperial Custom, Imperial Crown, > >and Imperial LeBaron). > > > > Chrysler's own advertising was often inconsistent during the '55-'75 > >years. Some ads state "Imperial Division," while others still call it a > >Chrysler Imperial. They seemed to push Imperial as a brand pretty > >strongly until 1971, when a small "by Chrysler" badge was slapped on the > >trunk beneath the Imperial badge. This "by Chrysler" badge appeared on > >SOME 1971-1973 Imperials, but not all (I know of original cars from this > >time period that did not come with this badge, while both of my '71 > >Imperials did have it from the factory). The "by Chrysler" badge was > >dropped for '74 and '75. Go figure. > > > > I would say that all '55 to '75 Imperials are Imperials, NOT Chrysler > >Imperials. The VIN designations for these years support that claim. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Elijah > > > > > Now what about the 80's and 90's cars? > > It's arguable that the 80's cars were Imperials, as there is not a Chrysler > badge to be found on these. While the 90's cars are Chrysler Imperials > since I believe all of those had a Chrysler badge on the trunk. > > -Nat > > > ------------------- > Nat Hall > 1982 Imperial Coupe > 1987 Chrysler New Yorker > http://newyorker.digital-forever.com > ------------------- ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm