Arron:
I think you have hit the nail on the head. To start with, Cadillac had
the name--if you were a "wannabe", anything other than a Cadillac would not
do the job. In places where you wanted the luxury, but the hierarchy
wouldn't allow it, you could have an Olds 98, or a Buick Roadmaster,
Chrysler New Yorker, or Imperial, or Lincoln. Unfortunately, Chrysler
failed to consistantly market Imperial as a 1) seperate car: 2)
identifieable luxury line of an identifiable car. 3) anything at all.
Chrysler did some strange things with styling in the early 60s, especially
to Imperial. They were absolutely top drawer cars, but Imperial just didn't
have the reputation to do the outlandish things Cadillac could pull off.
Cadillac put the gold crest on Chevy Cavilers in the late 80s, and sold a
bunch oif them. Cadillac has paid the price, but that had more to do with
the fact the GM was keeping quality under control--anything is too good for
our customers--than the terrible things they did to the name plate.
Cadillac is still here, Imperial is gone--for now. Ford always kept Lincoln
at the top of the line. Even when they bent reality with the Versailles,
they outdid the Grenade platform it was totally and obviously based upon.
The last Imperial was 2 door, wasn't it? Luxury car owners buy 4 door
cars--they want a limo--or at least something that is comfortable for them
and their also not so small or nimble friends. I tried a new LHS. I think
it is ugly compared to the one called New Yorker back in 1995, but the
competition is ugly, too. There is a reason people who drive $40,000
vehicles buy Suburbans and Town & Countrys--we can get in and out of them
without pain. I see no point in buying something I hit my head on when I try
to get into it.
I have a customer who had been driving Mercedes for years. He merged
his company with a couple other people I knew. I noted that he went to
driving a Lincoln, and I asked him why. He said that he noted that when he
took his Mercedes in for service, they seemed to blame him for breaking it.
He had to stand in line watching others get the same treatment. His new
partner, who drove a Lincoln, simply called the dealer, who came with a
replacement, and appologized for the inconvenience, and swore not only
should it not have happened this time, it wouldn't be happening again. The
final straw was when he took a vacation in Europe and found his car used as
a taxi. Compared to keeping a Mercedes on the road, in the condition where
you might get some of your money back, the idea of driving a Lincoln until
you are tired of the color, and simply taking the plate off and leaving it,
is an economical proposition.
I certainly hope that if Imperial is ever brought back again., it is on
a fittingly superior car
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