Don,
The "fall" of the Imperial does not correlate with
the ouster of Exner. There were some banner years subsequently, 1964, 1967
and 1969, coincident with the introduction of new body styles. The company
turned vehemently away from the "Forward Look" years and tried to shuck
off its unenviable reputation for shoddy workmanship. And Exner was
the fall guy, no doubt. Engel was ordered to make the line more
conservative to differentiate the new product from the old "bad" days.
Imperial did not exist in a vacuum, and something had to be done to keep up
volume sales of Plymouth et al.
Hugh
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