Hmm, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then some folks need to visit
their optician. If 59's are soooo good why do there owners always want to
"improve" them. Pinnacle of the breed, indeed.
(The above is intended as a humorous retort. A joke, in other words.
Sigh.)
But, here's a thing. I don't think there are ANY Imperials on the Classic
Car Club Of America's semi-official list of cars that can truly be described
as design classics. Maybe one or two or the coach built one off cars from
the 30's, but nothing else. From my preferred era I think a 300 C or maybe
the D makes their cut. Can anyone confirm or refute this?
I caught the back end of a show on the History channel the other day about
the GM motorama car series, the so-called "Dream Cars" episode. What caught
my attention was the interview with some of the actual GM designers, now
elderly, of course, who were thought of as the young Turks within GM's
design ranks at that time. They thought Harley Earl was past his best work
and that the designs coming out from Chrysler Corp were leaving them in the
dust. They may have sold better but both the 58 Cadillac and the 58
Lincoln - an abomination designed by one Elwood Engel, it should be noted -
were poor designs in comparison to what Chrysler Corp was putting out. The
GM designers were wowed at the time by the Forward Look, particularly the
incredibly thin roof lines and the fully design integrated fins.
Behind Mr. Earl's back they began to create their own versions of the
forward look. What is funny is that this was well known and understood at
the time. The fins on the '57 Chevy were simply added on to the '56s, and
the car sold badly as it was regarded at the time as a poor cut and paste
job rather than a fresh design.
Dan Wing submitted a fun reminder of this from the December 1958 issue of
Road & Track. The magazine asks why Cadillac's by now glorified '59 - which
the "Dream Car" TV shows describes as the pinnacle of late 50s excess - is
simply a knock off of the 58 Imperial. The similarities are there to be
seen. I had the chance to scope one very recently and was very stuck by the
heavy handed duplication of many of the 58 Imperial design elements. Here
is a link to the Road and Track item:
http://www.58imperial.com/IMPCADDY
Hugh
PS. I had the joy, today, of seeing a lovely, virtually original 1957
Chrysler Saratoga. Less than 60K since new, original paint and looking
very, very nice. The owner has just joined our local club and was keen to
see our two cars together. Along with a 1958 Plymouth "Christine" clone,
which appeared last year, I am happy to report a growing interest in Exner
era Mopars.
On a more contentious note, I was asked to contact a local man who is
working on a 1961 Imperial and who needs help finding parts, especially for
the brake system.. He has some plans for the coupe that make me wince a
little, including chopping the roof line and making a "Hot Rod" out of it in
terms of appearance, while keeping the mechanicals intact. I have not
called him yet. As I understand it, the car is a basket case, abandoned a
long time ago. So, which is better? A parts car or a running but no longer
original car?
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network