>Whoa.. I was uhh... 19 when I bought my '66 Imp a few years ago.
>I am always surprised when I hear about someone in their 20's owning an
>Imperial.
>
>-=snip=-
>
>I'm curious what draws a younger person to an older car, and in
>particular to an Imperial?
When I bought my Imperial, I was fresh from Athens Greece (6 or 8 months)
in undergraduate Engineering school, and was looking for a car. My father
was driving a 65 Volvo back in Athens for a few decades, so was not scared
of old cars. There is a severe limitation in most European counties on the
engine size of your car, so most cars have tiny 4's (my father's car was
1.8 lit, and that was considered big!). So, I liked the idea of owning an
old American car with a real big engine. However, I was disappointed by
friends' American cars with their real poor performance and handling. It
seemed that my little Volvo I could outrun cars with 4 and 5 liter
engines. So, when I bought my 68 sedan (for only $800) mainly because it
was inexpensive and nice/unusual styling (I liked the idea of driving a
7.2 liter engine, 4 times bigger than my Volvo), I was not expecting
much. I was a bit concerned about its size, but being trained to drive in
Greece where the roads are very tight, it was not a problem. Eventually, I
started to realize that this car had a lot more performance that its peers,
and even more performance than performance cars, even though you never felt
it. Then, I slowly did my research and learnt what Imperial and in general
Chrysler products of the period were all about. In other words, I was just
lucky running into that car at the right time and the right place! Then, a
college friend introduced me to working in cars (rarely in Europe people
work on their cars compared to the US), and that was it. Now, I combine
transportation with fun, and save money in the process by avoiding car
payments.
D^2, 68 Sedan, 68 LeBaron
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