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57 was a bad year for the whole corporation, due to
the hurry that was used to get the new styling introduced in 1957 to the
dealerships. A real shame actually, it hurt the reputation of Chrysler products
of all lines for a long time. At least the bumper
and rear frame section is still in place on my 58 Saratoga, while I remember 58
to 64 X-frame GM's of all kinds dropping their back bumpers on the pavement
when they were around 6 to 10 years old back when I was a kid in
the 60s.
Though I think in the late 50s, all manufacturers
had some quality issues.
The basic design of the 57's was sound, look at the
good use most folks got out of 58 to 60 model Mopar products which was
basically the same design with just minor trim updates. It was the hurried
execution that messed up the 1957's, but I'd happily own a 57 Mopar, the
driveline was still the basic built like a tank design that Chrysler had used
since the early 50s.
Phil <><
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 10:34
AM
Subject: IML: Quality of the 1957
Imperial
During my college years at Florida (go Gators) we lived in
Miami and my father owned a light blue Imperial four door hardtop. My
recollections of this car are of a very poor quality product, some items from
memory:
1) Door handle mechanism fell apart, we had to take the
doors apart and reassemble (I also remember we did some redesign as the pull
handle mechanism was poorly designed).
2) The seats were very
thin, not much padding, and wore out prematurely.
3) The side
windows were curved and never lined up properly front to back (hand one on
power window switch, hand two guiding the window).
4) The air
conditioning condenser, I believe, was right in front of the radiator and over
heating was a regular occurrence in South Florida's 90 degree
summers.
I also remember going back to the dealer, with my father for
service and seeing a very irate customer complaining about the poor quality of
his Imperial and him saying that he would never buy another one.
These
memories have stuck with me over the years and I often wondered if the 1957
(and probably 58 & 59) quality was the downfall of Imperial as they never
again came close to the 1957 sales volume. I would be very interested in
other members comments on this. What has been the experience of current
owners of 1957 - 59 Imperials?
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