IML: dealership attitudes to Imperials back in the day
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IML: dealership attitudes to Imperials back in the day



While I briefly sold new MOPARS a few years ago, I was working with a semi-retired former dealership owner whose establishment was in Karnes City, Texas, the county seat of Karnes County, a rural and none too affluent part of the state maybe half way between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. His business dealt mainly with Plymouths. It is important to note that Chrysler Corp. never had a separate Imperial distribution chain. Imperials were tacked onto existing dealerships. The guy who started this thread actually enlightened me as to who sold Imperials in San Antonio as I could not find that out going through old business directories and stuff like that. Often there was some arm twisting involved in getting a dealer to carry, and therefore service, Imperials.

My friend from Karnes City refused to carry the name plate for a number of very good business reasons. He mainly sold Plymouths. A Plymouth buyer knew he was at the low end of the spectrum and his or her demands were relatively manageable. An Imperial buyer was a different breed altogether. Much fussier and more particular about every aspect of the car. It took far more time and effort to sell an Imperial than it did to get a Plymouth off the lot. I went through this myself with the Dodge Viper. In my seven months at possibly the worst job I ever had in my life, I could sell new Dodge Ram pick ups all day with little hassle. I finally managed to unload the dealer's one and only Viper, but it took months and months. Loads of rotten test drives involving way too much testosterone and far too little actual skill but that's a different story. The second reason why selling Imperials was bad deal was servicing them. He would have to send his mechanics for additional training, at his own expense, plus carry a whole different set of parts in his already crammed service area.

So, even back then, dealerships were trading off the prestige value of carrying the Imperial against considerable additional extra costs. The dealership where my car was originally purchased sold Plymouths and used cars. I was told by the niece of the original owner he bought a new Imperial every year, which made the additional effort worth it for the dealer.

Hugh Hemphill
58 Imperial
San Antonio, Texas


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