Re: IML: Back in 58 it was different, of course

[RandalPark@xxxxxxx]

In the late '50s and early '60s dealerships in major metropoliton areas were set up as either Imperial-Chrysler-Plymouth, or DeSoto-Dodge-Dodge Trucks. For a very short time, I believe that the later was DeSoto-Dodge-Valiant, but this changed quickly once the Valiant was added to the Plymouth line. 

Paul W.

In an email dated 11/8/2005 8:38:02 am GMT Daylight time, "Hugh & Therese" <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx> writes:

>Our spirited discussion today led me to thinking, always a dangerous time, 
>mainly for me. ?Anyhoo, back in 1958, Imperial production, at 16,133*, made 
>it the 16th largest name plate. ? Plymouth, by comparison, made 443,799 
>cars, at number three. ?Sales of all cars slumped in 1958. ?In 1957, by 
>comparison, there were 37,593* Imperials built, but that was a peak year, 
>with the introduction of the new body style. ?In 1959, the number went up 
>slightly to 17, 269*.
>
>*Source: 100 Years Of The American Auto (Publications International, Ltd), 
>2002
>
>The math becomes interesting if you break it down. ?At 16,133, there were, 
>on average, 1,344 cars a month being sold. ?(A number of these cars would 
>also have been sent abroad, particularly to Canada.) ?I am obliged to guess 
>how many MOPAR dealerships there were in the entire USA at this time. ?As 
>mentioned in a previous message, none of these was a dedicated Imperial 
>dealership. ?My own 58 was purchased from a Plymouth dealership in a very 
>small town some thirty miles from San Antonio, Texas ?Does 2,000 dealerships 
>seem like an appropriate guess? ?That would be only 41 in each state, 
>remembering that Alaska and Hawaii had yet to be formally designated as 
>such. ?That seems a little low, but lets go with it anyway.
>
>That would means that each dealership would only have to sell 8 Imperials 
>throughout the year to absorb the entire production run. ?Selling them was a 
>bit of a pain. ?You might have one on the lot but more than likely all you'd 
>have is a plastic model and a lot of sales materials stating trim levels, 
>color combinations, materials and equipment. ?It also meant your repair shop 
>would have to carry tools to work on the car and a certain amount of spare 
>parts as well. ?I met a man who ran a Plymouth dealership in an even smaller 
>Texas county town called Karnes City. ?He said that the Imperial was just a 
>pain in the behind, in every respect. ?He wanted folks to buy what was on 
>his lot, not have him fooling around on special orders that were complex in 
>every respect.
>
>In passing, I don't know if you could buy an Imperial at any MOPAR outlet, 
>such as Chrysler, Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth. ?I have somehow come to hold 
>the idea that Imperials were mainly sold at Plymouth dealerships but cannot 
>recall upon what this supposition is based.
>
>Many features of the Imperial were also on the company's lesser name plates. 
>The idea was that the press would talk up these features and then the 
>salesmen would be able to sell the Plymouth on its close relationship with 
>the Imperial, hence giving the owner a sense that he was getting some of the 
>Imperial's prestige when he bought his Plymouth.
>
>The actual Imperial buyer would have quite a set of choices to make when he 
>made his purchase. ?Only one engine and only four body styles narrowed the 
>choice quickly but then you'd have to begin thinking about colors, and cloth 
>or leather, and trim levels. ?I recently had the pleasure of seeing Patrick 
>Moore's base model 58 Imperial. ?It was black outside, with a black cloth 
>interior. ?The main difference, as near as I could tell, was than his car 
>does not have rear A/C whereas mine does. ?Other than that, except for 
>color, the cars are remarkably similar. ?They both have two cigarette 
>lighters, whereas the Crown and the LeBaron have three. ?With its lack of 
>two tone paint, less interior and exterior trim and cloth seats, the base 
>model makes a different statement that the Crowns. ?It was more understated, 
>you could say, but it could still have all the mechanical bells and whistles 
>you might want. ?The only thing I miss is the passenger side mirror.
>
>Once you chose your trim level, the number of options kept on reducing. 
>Certain decisions on the part of the buyer, such as a dislike of leather, 
>obligated him to go with the lowest trim level, but, then again, not 
>everyone wanted two tone paint, either. ?On the other hand you could still 
>get as much "extra" equipment on the car as your pocket book allowed.
>
>The amazing thing is how varied these cars were once you get down to 
>specifics. ?For such a low production car, there were no less than three 
>different types of wheel cover, one for each trim level. ?In 1958, the 
>Imperial was built at the same factory as the Chrysler, but on its own 
>production line. ?It must have been relatively leisurely paced. ? 63,681* 
>Chryslers were built that year, almost four times as many.
>
>Hugh
>
>
>
>
>----------------- ?http://www.imperialclub.com ?-----------------
>This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please 
>reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be 
>shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the
>Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm
>
>


-----------------  http://www.imperialclub.com  -----------------
This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please 
reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be 
shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the
Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm