Okay. Let me dive in here and clear/confuse this up.
As far as I know, Chrysler did not refer to their cars in terms of "A
body," "B body, etc." These terms were the invention of enthusiasts
who came later. (??? - Big Question Mark?)
What the "Y" refers to in the FSM is the CARLINE. "Carline," not
"body." A subtle distinction, but real. "Carline" is an industry
term, body is not-- unless you mean "body type," as in "2 dr. hardtop."
I think Chris Hoffman could probably explain the breakdown better than
I as to what precisely "carline" means.
But-- if you go to a show (at least this is true of all the ones I've
been to)(all two)-- an Imperial is classified as a "C body," like it or
not.
But again, the "C" in "C body" stands for "Chrysler" -- meaning the
carline. They didn't use "I" for "Imperial" presumably because an "I"
can be confused with a "1."
There. I'm sure no one has any more questions at this point. :)
MM
On Wednesday, December 3, 2003, at 08:03 PM, Ken & Tracie wrote:
> Dave is correct.
>
> Imperials are "D" bodies. On another list, there was some debate as to
> whether or not some New Yorkers were also "D" bodies like Imperials or
> if they were also "C" bodies as Newports were. Some
> people believe Imperials became C bodies after they adopted unibody
> construction in 1967. Others debate whether or not E bodies are merely
> short wheel base B bodies, so we aren't alone in these
> debates. :-)
>
> Calling Imperials "Y bodies" strikes me funny. Nobody ever ever calls
> my '72 Satellite Sebring an "R body" because its V.I.N. begins with R.
> Nor has anybody ever referred to the '68 Charger R/T I
> once owned as an "X body" because of that letter's use as the lead off
> in the V.I.N. Both are B bodies.
>
> One friend, familar with Mopar's designation system, was surprised to
> find Imperials V.I.N.s also used the "L", "M" and "P" second letter to
> identify the price class. As far as he's concerned, ALL
> Imperials are P (Premium.) :-)
>
> Ken Josephson
> '68 Crown Four Door
> '72 Plymouth Satellite Sebring
> '59 Plymouth Suburbans (two)
> '59 Impala
> '66 C-10
>
>
>
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