> <snip> There was no
> Imperial Division before 1955 or after 1975, and the 1981 models were
> introduced and marketed as Chrysler Imperials. A person bought a 1967
model
> from a Chrysler-Plymouth-Imperial dealer. The logo on the Monroney label
was
> just like the three-tier dealer signage that said
> Chrysler-Plymouth-Imperial, and next to it on the label are the words
> "Imperial Division."
To really split hairs, there was never an Imperial Division. Yes, the name
appeared on brochures, owner's manuals, advertisements, etc., but the
Imperial Division existed only on PR paper. If you check the corporate
divisional listings for any year, listing officers and managers, you will
not find an Imperial Divsion listed.
The Imperial was always designed, tooled, assembled and marketed by the same
divsion that built the Chrysler car. Briefly in 1959 and 1960 the division
was called Chrysler-Imperial Division and even had an Imperial Sales
Manager. No such position existed in the previous Chrysler Division. But
after the DeSoto was laid to rest, the Plymouth-DeSoto Division was combined
with the Chrysler-Imperial Division to form the Chrysler-Plymouth Divsion.
After creating the Chrysler-Plymouth Division, they had advertising
directors for Chrysler-Imperial and Plymouth-Valiant, promotional directors
for Chrysler-Imperial and Plymouth-Valiant, public relations managers for
Chrysler-Imperial and Plymouth-Valiant, and product planning/engineering
directors for Chrysler-Imperial and Plymouth-Valiant. It's no wonder
Chrysler could not separate Imperial from Chrysler in the public's mind.
They couldn't do it themselves.
The marketing people hyped the Imperial Division to separate it from the
Chrysler in people's minds (none too successfully) through to the end of the
1970 model year. For 1971 the "Imperial by Chrysler" became a product of
the Chrysler-Plymouth Division. And with that, no more references to
Chrysler-Imperial in the managerial listings. It was now Compact Car,
Intermediate and Special Car, and Standard Car managers.
In Canada, the Imperial was sold by the largest Plymouth and Dodge dealers
in any community through the 1960's. Chrysler of Canada did have two
separate sales divisions - Plymouth-Chrysler-Fargo and Dodge-DeSoto - from
1936 to 1960. For 1961, no more divisions. By the time of the "Imperial
by Chrysler", the Imperial was sold by virtually all Chrysler dealers,
although Chrysler of Canada never really stopped pushing the Imperial as a
separate make.
Bill
Vancouver, BC
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