Thanks, Rob and Ken--I'm really glad you enjoyed it! You're right about the
Falcon; it's a very cool car, that I think would have competed very well,
right in between the Corvette and Thunderbird. There's a picture of it from
the 1956 "Idea Cars" brochure, at the bottom of this page:
http://www.imperialclub.com/YearbyYear/1956/IdeaCars/index.htm
Hopefully, I'll get a chance to ask him about the Falcon, as well as the
other questions I didn't get to, in a future follow-up interview.
Those BAT cars are really something else....has anyone seen any of them in
person? From every angle, they're amazing to look at...in 2003, much less
1953!
Rob, you mentioned that Exner drove an ex-Indy car on the street for a few
years (and Ex, Jr. refers to a "black race car" that he drove)...do you have
any more info., or a source of info., about that? That's really cool!
One last thought for now... a few years ago, John Corey did some very
interesting sketches of a modern "1961" Imperial concept:
http://www.dte.net/project61/StylingSalon.htm
John, I think it would be cool to get Mr. Exner's opinions on your ideas,
and--even better--see if he'd be interested in doing some concept sketches
of his own, for fun, of a "revival" Imperial, along the lines of the retro
cars that he and Ex, Sr. did in the '60s. Do you mind if I show him your
sketches some time and see what he thinks?
Mike Trettin
1956 Imperial Sedan, Turquoise
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