The Alphabet Soup of Designations

[Christopher Hoffman <imperial67@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Since you mentioned my name...

A "carline" exists within a brand. It is also known as a model series. For
example, Chrysler Newport is a carline. Within a carline there are usually a
number of trim levels, such as Newport (base) and Newport Custom. New Yorker
is generally considered a separate carline from Newport. Imperial was both a
brand and a carline because there were no other models within the Imperial
brand (during the years that Imperial was its own brand, or make, or
marque). For Imperial, the distinction between carline, model and trim level
is a bit blurry. (Then again, so is "New Yorker Brougham" for 1975-77, since
all NYers were Broughams... officially, it is a three-word model name with
no trim level. My '78 Salon would be the only NYB trim level ever offered...
St Regis was just an option package... essentially a vinyl roof treatment,
not a trim level.)

A body designation indicates the platform upon which a model or carline (or
several carlines) was built. The C in C-body does not stand for Chrysler, it
was simply the largest Chrysler Corporation platform (fullsize Dodge and
Plymouth, too), with the B-body for the midsize (Charger, Coronet,
Satellite, Belvedere, Road Runner, Cordoba, Magnum, etc.), and the A-body
compact (Dart, Valiant, Barracudas through 1969, Demon and Duster). By the
way, the C in the VIN only began in MY1965.

That C-body and Chrysler begin with the same letter is coincidental. After
all, Dodges were also C-bodies (though they had D VINs), as were Plymouths
(and they had P VINs). The fullsize cars' VINs, however, DID represent their
make, a holdover from when there was only one size of Dodge, Plymouth or
Chrysler (up through '59). Most of the other Chrysler VIN series similarly
did not match the first initial of their names. (For example, Valiant was
launched as a separate make--not as a Plymouth--in 1960, but Valiant VINs
didn't start with V until 1964, by which time they were badged and marketed
as models within the Plymouth line.)

To address Mark's point, the body designations were indeed from Chrysler,
not affixed after the fact by enthusiasts, but they were used only
internally, and in an age where such information rarely became part of the
consumer's vernacular. Chrysler still does this, although they tend to give
an all-new platform generation a new series designation. For example, the
original cab-forward Dodge Intrepid, Eagle Vision, and Chrysler Concorde and
LHS were the LH platform. The current ones are the LX, and I honestly cannot
remember what the new RWD 2005 300-Series (yes, that's officially the name,
with "300" base, "300 Touring" and "300C" being the trim levels in ascending
order) and Magnum (wagon only but expect a sedan to follow soon after when
the sales figures don't pan out) are...

GM did the same thing, starting in the 1940s or even earlier, but in reverse
order. Cadillacs, top-line Buicks and top-line Oldsmobiles used the A-body.
Chevys, Pontiacs and low-line Buicks and Oldses used the B-body. By the
1970s, they even made hybrids: Bonnevilles and Grand Villes used the B-body
wheelbase but an A-body roofline. But this is not a GM list, so enough about
that!

As for VINs, it was not until the standardized 17-digit VINs were introduced
in 1980-81 that any manufacturer's VINs became uniform across the industry.
In this system, the first digit indicates the country of manufacture (1=US,
2=Canada, 3=Mexico, W=Germany, etc.), and the 2nd and 3rd indicate the
automaker. But prior to this system, every automaker used their own system.

Many all-Mopar shows tend to lump all fullsize models under C-body,
including pre-'67 Imperials, even though they did not share their platform
with the Chryslers, Plymouths and Dodges from 1957 through 1966. It's a
sloppy error, again, probably of convenience. Many shows do separate the
Imperials, of course.

Anyway, that's the world's longest answer to a question about one letter.

C ya!

Chris in LA
67 Crown (C-body, Y VIN)
78 NYB Salon (C-body, C VIN)


Mark McDonald (tomswift@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote:

> 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."