IML: 61 Imperial beats 59 Caddy

[Joe Strickland <jwstrick426@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John;

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful trip and the events and cars with us 
all.  I certainly would have liked being there with you.

I agree that the '61 Imperial has a much more integrated look than a '59 
Caddy.  In '57 when the new body style Imperial was introduced it really 
put the Caddys at the time to shame too.  In my opinion the cars were 
more like 40-50 years ahead of their time in styling.  I liked the 
interiors of the '57-'60 Imperials better than the '61-'63 models.  The 
round gauge clusters just look more appealing than a rectangular shape 
to me.  I always thought the Imperial interior designers were caving in 
to the Caddy dash design when they did the later Imperials.  Of course 
each style has its pluses and minuses.  The Chryslers of the '60-'62 era 
had that fantastic 1/4 dome shaped instrument cluster that always drew 
quite a lot of attention too.

Imperials of the Exner era, especially the '57-'63 models had various 
bumper designs, both front and rear.  I liked the '59 rear bumper the 
best along with the '60 front bumper as having the most integral shape 
to fit with the overall styling.  I do like the separated headlight pods 
on the '61-'63 models, but thought the '58 and '60 front ends were quite 
good looking.

The fins that the Imperials had from '56-'61 were the most integral 
shaped fins in production Imperials.  The '62-'63 models were somewhat 
disappointing with shaved off fins.  Don't get me wrong, I like my '62, 
but would rather have had a '60 or '61 if circumstances had permitted.

The few times I have had my '62 on the road it has also gathered many 
stares and even some road wandering that nearly caused some accidents. 
These cars are so rare that most young people don't even know what they 
are.  The few who hazard a guess usually think they are Caddys.  The 
older generation like myself usually know what they are and give a broad 
smile and a thumbs up!

I'm sure glad that you were able to drive your Imperial to the event, 
thereby delighting many people along the way!  Keep up the good work!

Joe S.


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