Hi Rog and All:
...no 'brickbats' from me! LOL! I think its an
interesting point... "Chrysler Imperial" DOES kind of
have a nice "rhythm" to it (kind of like "William-
Morris Agency" and "Pierce-Arrow")!
Maybe one reason that the "Classic-era" luxury buying
public 'accepted' the "Chrysler Imperial" as a
prestige car is that the "Chrysler" nameplate was
itself marketed as a decidedly "upper-middle" bracket
vehicle in the 1920's and 1930's.
Staring in the mid-1950's, however... Several noted
writers have mentioned (including Jeff Godshall in his
recent Collectable Automobile article on the 1967's),
that Chrysler kept bringing the Chrysler
Division 'down-market' in search of greater volume
(and canibalizing their own DeSoto Division). By the
early 1960's they were marketing Chrysler Newports
with rubber floors instead of carpet, radios
as 'delete-options', etc... That kind of 'stripper'
model would have been unthinkable a decade prior.
With Imperial's name so strongly attached to Chrysler
(historically), that couldn't have helped Imperial
Division establish itself with the 'carriage trade'.
Jim Byers
I.S.O.
'60 LeBaron Southampton or
Crown Coupe
--- Original Message ---
From: "Rog & Jan van Hoy" <vanhilla@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: IML: Ah, the sound of Imperial
>Ah, but what speaks more powerfully than the name
>"Chrysler," a self-made man who accomplished his
vision? A
>real modern-day historical figure.
>
>"Chrysler Imperial," has a nice ring to it, doesn't
it?
>Like Cadillac Eldorado or Lincoln Continental.
>
>I'll duck now as you throw brickbats.
>
>--Roger van Hoy, '55 DeSoto, '42 DeSoto, '66
Plymouth, '81
>Imperial, Washougal, WA
>
>----- Original Message -----
>| EXCELLENT discussion-point you brought up about the
>| very name Imperial itself. As you point out,
Cadillac
>| and Lincoln speak to great historical figures.
>| Lincoln bespeaks "American solidity and strength".
>| Cadillac (and LaSalle) 'reference' a kind of
>| continental exoticism and 'pedigree' (family coats
of
>| arms, etc...)...
>
>
>
>
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