Actually, the serial number in the ad: Y353220916,
indicates the limo started life as a 1965 Lebaron,
thus it is a Spanish built one.
All 1964-5 Ghias have serial numbers starting with
9343.... usually followed by several zeros since they
were among the first 20 cars off the line.
Chris H.
--- PAUL WENTINK <randalpark@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I think your friend is right. The information on OIC
web site pretty
much confirms it.
Paul W.
-----Original Message-----
From: mopar37206@xxxxxxx
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 9:55 am
Subject: IML: 1965 Chrysler : Imperial Limousine
I looked at buying that car when it was advertised
for sale in
Hemming's back in the early 90's. It was being
offered by Bill
McCloskey of Silver Spring, MD, and priced around
$14K. There was
documentation and placarding on the car in Spanish
and the story I was
told was that the car was built for Gen. Franco, but
never used because
it was not armored. Later in the 60's Chrysler took
the car back and
placed it with a Washington, DC area dealer to
sell. The buyer was the
chairman of Mutual of Omaha who owned the Washington
Redskins at the
time. The car was kept in DC so that at any time he
could fly in and
be driven to a game or other affair. It was brought
up from its
parking place once a week and washed so it would
always be at the
ready.
A friend of mine insists that the car is a
Spanish-built car, but I
believe it is Ghia built. It has some '64, updated
to '65 bits
including the dash and grille opening, and as you
see, sports a '66
grille. Note the '64 LeBaron script on the front
fenders. I believe
that the Spanish limousines built by Barreiros were
based on '66
LeBarons and have slightly different side windows.
I remember the car having a gray broadcloth interior
that showed some
water stains due to leaks from the frequent
washing. The rear-facing
jumpseats are a departure from the usual Ghia
practice.The car also had
its original black lacquer paint showing many cracks
as well as a few
patches that had flaked off. We went for a short
drive in the car--I
sat on one of the jump seats--and I remember
thinking that the interior
wasn't all that warm and inviting. That austere
luxury was, however,
correct for the period as I have the brochure for a
'63 Roll-Royce
Phantom limousine that is similarly restrained.
As far as the front compartment, it was normal for
the driver to have a
more plain interior for his work environment. I
recall that even the
throwover door handles were upholstered in leather
to tone it down from
the color-keyed plastic insert.
It was at the yard in Silver Spring that I first saw
the '55 Crown
Imperial that I later came to own. I was told that
it was Mrs.
Eisenhower's car, tho I've come to learn that she
had a Derham-modified
Crown. I remember seeing all the rust and badly
pitted potmetal and
thinking how it was too far gone for me to restore,
as badly as I
wanted one at the time. There are pics of the two
Eisenhower Crowns as
modified by Derham on the OIC site. Unfortunately,
the captions are
not correct.
Greetings of the Season,
Roger
'55 Crowns x2
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