IML: two-toned Imperials

["Neal Herman" <chrycordoba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Re: IML: "trunk flight tire trunk"

To make a slight correction to Chris' statements about options/accessories/etc.  Two-toned Imperials were available through 1960, at least as it pertained to the roof.  The forward section of the '57/8/9 Imperials could be ordered in a contrasting color to the body.  In 1960, the small roof panels between the doors and the chrome strip about a foot into the roof could be similarly ordered.

 

There was only one year which could be ordered with, in effect, a three-tone treatment - 1959 - the two-tone; or the body color + the brushed stainless steel "Silvercrest" roof; either with or without a black textured-paint rear canopy, the "Landau".

 

The stainless roof inserts continued into 1960 & '61, but then only in the slivers over the doors.

 

In '64 & '65, two-toned paint was a $21 option, and perhaps also available (though not listed) for '66 on cars without vinyl roofs.  The sales literature doesn't indicate whether the sides, hood and trunk were one color, and the roof the contrasting color.  Perhaps, instead, it took the form of the only '64 Crown 4-door I've seen with a unique 2-tone.  The sides are Nassau Blue; the hood, roof and trunk are Wedgwood Blue.  The colors are nicely separated by the chrome trim along the tops of the fenders and doors.  It is a beautiful car, but I don't know whether it was ordered that way, or the owners repainted it at some point.

 

I know that in 1962 the Flight-sweep trunk option was dropped because, supposedly, Chrysler thought it made the rear too "busy", what with the free-standing tail lights on the vestiges of the fins.  However, people liked the Flight-sweep and had dealers replace theirs with '61 trunks.  Personally, I like the extra "jewelry".  If I had a '62, I'd not only want the Flight-sweep, but try to find the '61 chrome roof strips and stainless steel inserts to add as well.  The roof lines look the same, with the same ridge, so I'd think it would work.  Anyone done it?

 

Neal Herman

1959 Imperial Crown 4-door Southampton Silvercrest Landau (3-tone)

1966 Imperial Crown 4-door (with vinyl top, I guess a 2-tone) 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Christopher H

To: IML (main)

Sent: 11/19/2006 10:59:31 PM

Subject: Re: IML: "trunk flight tire trunk"

What Anthony seems to be referring to is called the Flitesweep decklid, and it was optional in 1957 through 1963 on any Imperial model, with the exception of 1962, in which is was not available (though you often see it added, either by dealers or subsequent owners over the years to these models... popular demand brought it back for one last year, 1963). Here?s a pic from 1957:

http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1957/FactoryPromos/index.htm

If you have a hump on your trunk on a later model like yours (1975), it was something done in the aftermarket and added by the dealer (or a body shop) to make it look like a Lincoln Continental Mark series. (I?d love to see a picture of this! A neighbor when I was growing up had a 1973 LTD with an opera window and fake tire hump added by the dealer...it always amused me because the little old lady who drove the car seemed so p rim and her car seemed a little flamboyant, even in nunlike white with black vinyl roof.) I would find such a period-appropriate customizing detail like this kinda cool today since it?s been on the car since it was delivered new, even if it is not factory-original.

By the way, technically an accessory is something added after the car is built (by a dealer, owner, etc.), whereas extra-cost factory-installed equipment is called an option, though people and even carmakers have loosely used the term accessory when they mean option over the years. And it?s shocking the things you can add at the dealer level through the 1970s, even power steering. Fuzzy dice or dealer-added air conditioning would be an accessory. Aftermarket (non-Mopar) items would be accessories. Floor mats could be either, but often the factory ones looked different than ones added afterwards. Anything that shows up on the original factory price sticker at extra cost is an option.

That said, I?m not sure I understand Anthony?s question. Few factory optio ns (since you are ?not talking about aftermarket stuff?) ever detract from the value of an Imperial, but rims, gold packages, woodgrain dashes (the kind of stuff you see added to modern Chrysler 300s to pimp them out and jack up the price at the dealer level today) were not factory options (or even common dealer add-ons back then). Wood trim either came standard in a given year (1965-67) or it didn?t. There were no wheel or even wheel cover options from 1957-75, though in some years LeBarons had more elaborate standard wheel covers than Crowns and Customs. Two-tone paint was not offered after 1956. Upholstery is, of course, a factory-installed selection. Well-equipped cars tend to be more desirable than low-option cars, but even a low-option Imperial is nicely equipped and sometimes the rarity of a low-option car makes it appealing just because it is unusual. But pretty much every Imperial option ever offered by the factory was done tastefully, unless you don?t happen to like the look of the Flitesweep decklid any more than you pre fer certain colors over others.

Chris in LA
67 Crown
78 NYB Salon


On 11/19/06 6:35 PM, Andrew A. at canafornia@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

You said: : "the trunk flight tire trunk was an additional cost"...??...On which year did this option appear?...are you talking about a bump on the trunk of the 1975's??..because I have one on mine and was wondering if it was an extra dealer option as the previous owner seems to think it was or was it an aftermarket item?...I can't find any record of this option anywhere on the net or from this group so far, so any info you may have on it would be appreciated.....if this is the option you are talking about that is.....

----- Original Message -----
 
From:  anthony romano <mailto:mamrom@xxxxxxx>  
 
To: mailing-list <mailto:mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  
 
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2006 3:52  PM
 
Subject: IML: Accessories on your  car
 

 
What's everyone's opinion out there with accessories on your car? Do  you think that if done tasteful that it doesn't de-value the car. There were a  lot of extras that could have been purchased throughout the yrs. of Imperials.  I'm not talking about after market stuff. I know the trunk flight tire trunk  was an additional cost, trunk racks, rims, gold packages, wood grain dashes ,  two tone paint jobs, Leather vs. cloth seating etc.
 
 
 
 I thought I toss this out there! -Anthony