Re: IML: No chryslers/Imperials at local car show?

What has been pointed out is not a new phenomenon. The reason that there aren't any now is because they were never widely known in the first place. This prediction may seem accurate when considering the local "car shows" which to me are a ghost of what car shows used/should to be. If I expect to see an Imperial there, 90% of the time, it came out of my own garage. To find us, one needs to look to the OIC and the list of members and their cars. This is part of what it means to select an Imperial as one's collector car of choice.

The Northern California group of a couple of decades ago came the closest to getting our cars back on the map. Many of the cars that were part of that effort are resurfacing as beautifully restored examples. Others have yet to be rediscovered.

Imperial owners have always been a somewhat small and obscure group. If its popularity that the old car buff is looking for, then a Mustang, Corvette, or customized 1964 Impala would be more appropriate. What we are preserving here is the surprise that awaits anyone who for the first time has the experience of driving the finest superbly appointed road car ever built in the United States of America. Seeing one is a store parking lot is fine, but the real fun comes while driving down the highway. Under the right set of circumstances, that surprise can be as enlightening today as it was when the cars were driven off the show room floor.

Hello fellow Imperialistic members. Here's the beef! I go to a local shopping center every week to see the classic car show. What I see are many muscle cars and few classic Caddys or Lincolns. I've never saw any Chrysler Imperials ,but tonight I did see a 1957- 300. It made me think either these cars did not stand the test of time or they are just not desirable enough to keep them alive. I even went to a local booth there where he sold toy cars (Hot Wheels/ models). I asked him if he had any Chrysler Imperials and he said no I don't- you’re the first person to ask for them in a long time. Looking around for myself he did have one on the table - the "Green Hornet" imperial- pathetic or what!! I'm so disappointed to this end- that no one knows of an Imperial or Chrysler as a Classic American car. And fellows, as we go to meet are maker so too will the Legacy of our Imperials. -Unfortunately and a sad TRUISM - Anthony

P.S. Let's face it , 40 years from now or soon the classic cars at these shows will be Toyota's, Lexus and Honda's, Volvos, Infiniti etc.