The only ornamentation on the hood of a '56 Imperial (or a '55) was the small gold-plated emblem with the word 'Imperial' on the lower edge in the center. The original owner of my '56 sedan had the chrome bird from a '56 New Yorker fitted to his car before he took delivery in December of '55. Although not original factory equipment on the Imperial, I suppose it could be referred to as a "Dealer-installed accessory". Personally, I think it looks great, and it fits perfectly with the exixting emblem. Ross Klein '56 sedan '68 sedan '78 NYB 'Life's too short to drive 'ordinary' cars" ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Hulse" <thulse@xxxxxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 8:26 PM Subject: RE: IML: A Local Imperial > Happy New Year to all. I have a question for some of you. Did the 1956 > Imperial 2-dr Southampton ever come with a hood ornament. My hood does have > 2-hole for it but no ornament. Ireally do like them if they're tasteful. > > Tim Hulse > > -----Original Message----- > From: mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of > Crown58imp@xxxxxxx > Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 6:12 AM > To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: IML: A Local Imperial > > > Last night I attended a local car show. It was a small show in the parking > lot of a local K-mart. I was delighted to find a 1957 Imperial LeBaron > four-door sedan. It was sea foam green. The car had the hood eagle and the > hood ornament anodized in gold. What this a feature of the 57 LeBaron? The > anodizing looked old and in need of a redo, so I don't think that it was > done > by the current owner. The owner popped the hood for me and I was pleased to > find that he had installed a modern GM alternator. I asked the owner about > it > and he told me that it was the best decision he made. The alternator works > great and a replacement was only as far as the nearest auto parts store. > Sounds reasonable to me. Other modifications included a chromed round air > cleaner assembly and a dual exhaust system with glasspacks and straight > pipes > which made the Hemi sound soooo good. I really took notes on some of these > features and maybe they'll end up on Priscilla. It was really great to see > another Imperial locally. This car proved to me that an Imperial doesn't > have > to be 100% original to be beautiful. I had a great time. Bye for now. > > Doug > 58 Crown coupe > >