I'll throw in some uniquely 1950s peculiarities from the Aquitania:
The turn signal toggle that is on the lower left corner of the DASHBOARD (!) beneath the transmission pushbuttons, where instead of simply flicking it with one's fingers whilst they're on the steering wheel, one must lean forward and reach down to move it right or left.
The automatic headlamp dimmer, that starts out on high beam (as it was designed to do), and then switches to low beam when it senses ambient light. On my '59 and a friend's '68 Imperial, both result in a constant high/low/high/low switch that I find annoying, and can only imagine what it would be like to a driver 1/4 mile in front, constantly having to adjust his rearview mirror.
While my Mirror-Matic doesn't work, I've been told that the unit never worked very well. Even the lighting of a cigarette in the back seat would make the thing think there was a car approaching from behind.
And while not having direct experience with the '81-'83 models, I'd venture an opinion that the fuel injection and the electronic dashboard were not-quite-ready-for-primetime gimmicks. I remember taking my '77 Cordoba to a Chrysler dealer for some work in 1983, and an almost new Imperial was in the adjacent bay. I commented about what an attractive car it was, and the service manager said the electronics were junk, and he'd never own one. That particular car had been in twice for the dash (went completely dark, and the owner had no idea how fast she was going, how much gas she had, etc.) and just then was getting the fuel injection system replaced with a carbureted one. The car was yellowish, and the guy compared it to an air-headed blonde - all style & no substance.
Neal Herman
1959 Imperial (the above-mentioned gimmicks + swivel seats and push-button transmission)
1965 Pontiac Bonneville (AM/FM with the "Verbra-Phonic" reverb; Automatic Temperature Control Air Conditioning)
1972 Buick Riviera (relatively gimmick-free, so over-compensated with flamboyant boat-tail styling)
1983 Chrysler Cordoba (the aforementioned Imperial's more reliable down-market sister)
1997 Buick Riviera (all the comforts we've come to expect in new cars; not much is a gimmick these days)
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