A couple of weeks ago I was going to the local wrecking yard. There was a car on a trailer leaving that immediately caiught my attention. I knew that it was a Mopar, but one that I had never seen before. I stopped and talked to the people who had it. The car turned out to be a 1960 Belvedere 2 door. It had a 383 and was pretty beat, needing a total restoration. However, the style was amazing.
I threw this comment in to support that nothing else looked like the late 50's early 60's Mopars.
----- Original Message -----
From: randalpark@xxxxxxx
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: IML: 1960 Imperial Stuff Everywhere Today
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:05:11 -0400
Its great to see all of this flap today about the '60 Imperial! Here we are 46 years later, someone wants to know what they are worth, there is a cherry one Ebay today, another raving about the wild styling! How could anyone think that Imperial never had a distinguished style of its own? How's your sporting blood on this fine day???All of this, as I have spent the last three weeks working on my...guess...1960 Imperial. The IML never fails! I am getting my mother's Alaskan White Imperial back on the road again, so that she and my dad can have the car back for a week to run around their town in it. The last time it was out and about was for their 50th wedding anniversary in March 2001. I have had the front suspension reset, the right hood hinge replaced, and a major tune up. Before they can have it back, I need to do some other major work, which will be done, even if I have to take a week off work to do it.While it was at the body shop with the hood off, our Chief of Police spotted it and raced over their to find out if it was for sale. My body man was amazed! Our Chief is a "young-un" at 39, meaning by the time he was born I was learning to drive, my car was seven years old, and by the time he was old enough to drive, most '60 Imperials were parked.Thank you everyone for keeping my energy level on high!Paul W.
-----Original Message-----
From: shelbyguy@xxxxxxx
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 5:40 PM
Subject: Re: IML: Imperial- Under achiever..SAY WHAT???
You got that right Paul. After looking at the lines on my 60 Imperial, there ain't never been anything that looked like the late 50's early 60's Imperials except maybe the Chryslers and DeSotos of the same vintage...but even they look pre-steroids!!!Tom----- Original Message -----From: randalpark@xxxxxxxSent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 8:16 PMSubject: Re: IML: Imperial- Under achiever..SAY WHAT???It is unfortunate that such an opinion has been based on a total stranger mistaking an Imperial for a Lincoln. Was this person a car collector? Were they interested in cars at all?I can name several years of Imperials that had a distinguished style of their own. Maybe by calling them Chrylser Imperials, you aren't discussing the same cars that I am, but The word never doesn't apply here. It seems to me that a 1991 Imperial looks no more like a Lincoln than the man in the moon. I have had uninformed passengers ask me if my 1980 Lincoln is an Imperial, not because it looks like one, but because they know that I collect Imperials, and because they are uninformed.There were some years where the styling of the Imperial closely (and possibly deliberately) mimicked the style of the Lincoln. That was mostly because the same man designed both cars. I don't think an Imperial ever looked like a Cadillac, but that is my opinion, to which I am also entitled, and that is all it is.As far as "History" is concerned, it's already out there. We are talking about old cars here. That means they were built a long time ago. Some models have already been classified as Milestone Cars, which was a category created to denote and recognize a particular group of automobiles that stood out from the rest, not cars that looked like (or were) also-rans of some other make. These cars could not be called Classics due to the fact that Classic Cars denotes another group of cars that were designated as such for a specific reason many years before.The automotive hobby, just like everything else, is in a state of continuous change. I am sorry that someone thought that your 1991 Imperial was a Lincoln, but I wouldn't use the incident to make such a broad statement as "Imperial never held on to a look of its own".Paul W.-----Original Message-----
From: mamrom@xxxxxxx
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 2:57 PM
Subject: IML: Imperial- Under achieverTwo things that come to mind when you talk about the Chrysler Imperial. One is that it always finish in Show (3rd place) for you non- horse fans and it never had a distinguish style of it's own. Let's face it- the Imperial adopted a lot of style from Caddy and Lincoln over the years and even today the concept car of 2007 looks like a baby Rolls. In my Opinion, in which I'm entitled to- is that The Imperial never held onto to a look of it's own that you knew it was an Imperial. Point in case, I went to a strangers home with my '91 Imperial and He said; "Nice car- "What is it a Lincoln"? So my question is out there for comments- Will the Chrysler Imperial be noted in History as an underachiever because of what I've mentioned- Lack of distinguishation-my word
Fred Joslin
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