1954 Crown Imperial Limo & Thoughts on a Restoration

["kenneth leighton" <kenleighton@xxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I guess I have to through in my two cents on the 54 Crown discussion.  If this car was a Ford or Chevy or even a Cadillac people would be all over it.  Chrysler products have gotten a bad wrap for to long.  BIll B is absolutely right in his answer.  Too many of the parts that this car is missing are almost never to be found.  It is great that all these people have decided that they have the answer to the restoration problem.  The answer is that even the most dedicated restorer will have an almost impossible time restoring this car.  I applaud anyone that is willing to take on this project but the bottom line is that they will have to love it.  They will never see a return on there money unless the world shifts on it axis and people start to think different.  It was unfortunate that something like this was left to the elements as it has been.  Who ever let the car get to this point is the person to blame for the cars demise.  I have owned over 500 cars and have looked at countless more for sale that this has been done to and it is sad.  People read the production figures and think that they have a gold mine and hang onto the car and ask outrageous amounts for the car to any passerby until the car gets to this point.  Then they get into a position where they have to get rid of it and they start to drop the price.  Its to late.  If the car would have been offered at a decent price years ago when it was worth restoring that would have been great.  The thing to do now is to let this one go and focus our efforts on the cars that are still out there that are going to waste.  I am sure that all of us have a person that we know or have met that is doing this to a car that should not suffer this fate.  Try to use this as a lesson and educate the people that are doing this to cars to do the right thing.  Part this car out and sell the parts on ebay or the Imperial website.  They will get to the people that need them that are in similar situations.  

Ken    

 

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

From: TheCarNutz@xxxxxxx

Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 11:33 AM

To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Subject: Re: IML: 1954 Crown Imperial Limo & Thoughts on a Restoration

 

In a message dated 7/17/02 11:12:11 PM Pacific Daylight Time, dannobowen@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:

The early
fifties cars certainly were not the best Chrysler ever produced but they
are a part of Chrysler history. Stodgy, certainly not particularly sporty,
not at all, just to appeal to the average American.  They were boxy, maybe
even ugly, but they were what Chrysler produced.

Interesting how you would describe cars of that era, and then make the following comment about what someone else has said.
>  
Can you think of any other negatives to say about this car?

In actuality, Jim Martin was right on target regarding his comments about this 1954 Crown Imperial on eBay.  Since I already own 1951 and 1952 Crown Imperials, I may have a little more first hand knowledge regarding these cars.  I can tell you this car on eBay is already overpriced.  I would have interest in buying it but not for the price the seller thinks he can get.  Unfortunately too many people are unaware of real values, and/or the cost of restoration.  We see this mindset of "this is a rare classic and worth a lot of money."  If thats the case then why don't they put the $40 to $60 thousand dollars in it, so they can sell it for $35 thousand??  These are very unique cars in many ways and many parts are not readily available.  The disc brake system alone can in itself scare away the novice.  I have brake parts catalogues from the 50's, and they were already showing some of the replacement parts as NLA.(No longer available). Little items like power window switches and knobs were dif ferent from even the regular line up of Imperial cars.  Everyone should appreciate an honest evaluation, such as Jims, of a car and it's possible restoration costs.  It's just one mans opinion but from a person who's "been there done that!"
                                                       Bill B.

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