hugh hemphill wrote:
>
> Keith,
>
> You may or may not be lucky. I have allergy induced insomnia, so at 2:30
> AM, I just happen to be still available to answer your question. My great
> good fortune to actually know the answer.
>
> Southampton is a body style name. It refers to being a hardtop. What is a
> hardtop? It can be two or four doors but it has no 'B' pillar, or a
> truncated one, which means with the windows down nothing between the wind
> shield 'A' pillar, and the rear window's 'C' pillar. So, there are two
> types of four door Imperial. A traditional sedan, which has a 'B' pillar
> and regular, full frame doors, and the Southampton, which has fully
> recessing window frames, which meet up to one another when in the up
> position. The easiest way to tell the cars apart is that the sedan has a
> third window on each side, as the roof does not need all the structural
> support at the back 'C' pillar that the hardtop does. Also underneath, the
> four door Southampton has a huge 'X' shaped strengthening piece in the
> chassis, as does the convertible. The sedan and the two door do not.
>
> Technically speaking their was no coupe in 1958, just a two door hardtop. A
> coupe implies a different body shape from the four door version, one that is
> 'cut,' reduced in size and weight in some way. Very often, what are called
> coupes are really two door sedans, but that it another story.
>
> The use of Southampton as a designation for hardtop was discontinued at some
> point in the early sixties. But the base model would gain a name of its
> own, the Custom model. Chrysler Corp's naming policies were a law unto
> themselves, devoid of logic and inherently confusing (such as Crown Imperial
> and Imperial Crown) to the public, who never really got around to calling
> the cars simply Imperials. Maybe because of their long history prior to
> 1955, when the cars became a brand unto themselves, or because they were
> still sold and serviced at selected, but regular, Chrysler dealerships, and
> were never a mass market vehicle, most people stubbornly continued to refer
> to them as Chrysler Imperials. Probably the most common question I get
> asked about mine is, "Who made it?" No one asks that about a De Soto or a
> Plymouth, I'm sure.
>
> >From a New Zealand perspective what you are going to have on your hands is a
> true mystery machine. You might wish to make something up when asked of the
> car's provenance. I suggest either South Africa or India. Both have
> automobile industries. You just might get away with it.
>
> Hugh
> Keith,
Just wanted to add that the last year the Southampton name was used with
the Imperial was with the 1963 models. There is a pretty good book
called the Encyclopedia Of American Cars that has very good info on all
makes in the U.S. It is almost 900 pages and lists all years from
1930-1996, prices, weight, production numbers as well as a chapter on
each manufacturer. The Imperial chapter is pretty decent and covers from
1955-1993, with photos of most of the years represented, too.. I'm sorry
I deleted your email after reading and if you would be interested in
this book, I would be happy to get you a copy and forward it on to you.
The cost of my copy was $29.95 U.S. plus whatever it would cost to ship
to you. Congratulations on your new find...Michael
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