Since we're telling stories about smashing Imperials, I'll throw in two of
mine...
About two years ago, my beautiful wife was exercising our '61 LeBaron and upon
returning home, parked it in the driveway. She probably should have used just
one more click on the parking brake, and as soon as she closed the door, it
began to roll.
It gained speed, and rolled over the neighhbor's lawn, missing their S-10 truck
by inches. It continued rolling across the street, and smacked right into a
telephone pole. She says that it shook the pole so hard, she thought a street
light was going to come loose and fall on the car. Thankfully, it did not.
I guess it was also lucky that the Imperial hit dead-center in the middle of
the bumper, as this spared the much larger L/R bumper pieces from any damage.
It also did minor damage to the fuel door.
So I might as well ask: Is anyone willing to sell the approx. 15" wide
removable center section of a '61 Imperial bumper? ('62/'63 are probably the
same.) I've been too embarrassed to drive it since then, so I'd like to get
this part.
Story #2...
Years ago, I bought a '78 NYB coupe with terminal cancer as a parts-car for my
'77 NYB. The only catch was, this rusty NYB had absolutely no brakes. Having it
flatbedded home was over $100, and I had to remove it the same day to cinch the
deal.
I ended up renting a U-haul box truck for $19.95. This truck used a section of
1/2" I-beam for a rear bumper. (Can you see where this is going?)
I put a friend of mine behind the wheel of the NYB, and a big chain under the
frame, while I drove the U-haul. I tried to catch green lights, but on the
occassional red, I tried to slow as gently as possible and allowed the NYB to
"tap" itself down to speed.
Naturally, some stops were harder than others. During one of these hard stops,
the NYB slammed right into the rear of the truck. While I sat at the light, a
woman began frantically waving her arms, telling me to roll down the windows.
I did, and she exclaimed "I saw the whole thing! that guy didn't even try to
stop! Do you need my number?"
By the end of our trip home (which my friend got a great kick out of, ramming a
truck and all) we expected the NYB bumper to be toast. Well, in fact it had
nothing more than a few scrapes on the chrome.
Carmine F.
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