IML: The Survey

[Mark McDonald <tomswift@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It ain't easy being green
-- Kermit the Frog

First of all, I'd like to apologize to all the members of the IML for my last post on this subject.  

I'm not apologizing because I think I was wrong or because I've changed my mind on the name change, but because I did something I don't normally do, which is to lose my cool and respond to another member's e-mail in an angry way.  That message was not appropriate for this group and I'm sorry I sent it.  I'll try to keep things lighter in the future.

Having said that, I'd like to try to explain why I think the name for the '67-'68 years should be changed.

In case anybody couldn't tell, I am very passionate about Imperials.  While collecting cars is just a hobby and supposed to be fun, for me it is also a matter of preserving the past and all that the past represents: the values and accomplishments of past generations, family members who have worked in the car industry, my own childhood memories, etc., etc.  This is kind of hard to explain, but cars to me have always been about more than just cars.  They're about who we are as a country, where we were, where we're going, our mark on history, and so on.  Not to get too misty eyed here, but cars are Important.

Second, the '67s and '68s are my favorite years.  To me, they are the most beautiful cars ever made.  But I recognize other people have their favorites, and I always try to respect other people's choices.  In my opinion, all years of Imperials have something good going for them-- even the ones you think you don't like.

Okay.  As I recall, the Haze Green name started as an in-joke between two people on this list, one of whom owned a Haze Green Imperial.  I have no problem with this.  As long as that term was being tossed around like a joke I laughed along with it, and still do.  But somewhere along the way it ended up on the website as the "Official" designation for the '67-'68 years.  This is where I begin to have a problem.

If you look at the others years of Imperials, they all have names that are complimentary and somewhat prestigious, as befitting the cars themselves.  Here's a few examples:

$100 Million Look
Finest of the Forward Look
America's Most Carefully Built Car
The Incomparable Imperial

Even the years that don't have particularly prestigious or fancy names have names that are neutral or based on historical context:

Designs by Ray Dietrich
Postwar Imperials
The K.T. Keller Era
The Fuselage Era

And then we come to 1967-'68.

The Haze Green Era

Hmmm.  Sounds less than impressive, doesn't it?  In fact, it sounds kind of . . . well, downright puny.  As if all these cars had to offer was a not so popular color choice from an era of poor taste.  Is that really all that distinguishes them?

Imagine you're walking through the Baseball Hall of Fame and beneath every statue of every great player you see a plaque that reads:

"He Was Great."  "He Was Great."  "He Was Great."  And: "Wow, He Was Really Great."

And then you get to your personal favorite, your boyhood hero, the one you collected ALL the cards for, and the plaque reads:

"He Wasn't Too Bad."

Are you going to think this is funny?

Now, I am not going to lose any sleep if this name stays the same.  I haven't yet woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat screaming out the words "HAZE GREEN, HAZE GREEN, OMIGOD, HAZE GREEN!"  But it would be nice, I think, if the owners of 1967 and 1968 Imperials had a name on their website that was as nice and as worthy of respect as the cars themselves.

BTW, I love green and just bought a Forest Green '68 LeBaron.

Thank you all for reading.  We have a great group here.

Mark McDonald