----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 6:42
AM
Subject: IML: 57 Imperial in
England
Ken,
Driving a 57 Imperial on the wrong side of
the road in England is quite a mind boggling proposition. Before I left
the UK in 1991, I used to own a Citroen 2CV. I rarely saw older cars on
the roads where I lived. I don't quite know what happened, but I ended
up being entranced by a 58 four door hard top, so I can relate to the
attraction. Interestingly, my car also has fifteen inch wheels.
I'm not sure what, if any, the benefits are of the larger size wheel. I
had an opportunity to acquire a set of correct fourteen inch wheels but
decided against it. As I understand it, the actual circumference of the
tire is the same, with less sidewall. My car had Lincoln hubcaps on it
when I found it. I have substituted 67 / 68 Imperial hubcaps. They
look OK to me and the turbine style matches the front grille very well, in my
opinion.
Good luck with "Lady Marmalade." I wonder
how many people on this predominantly American list even know what this
comestible is. It was never to my taste though my mother loved
it.
Hugh
Our car is a 1957 Crown Southampton 4-door hard
top, recently imported from UTAH - we collected it from Bristol docks a
couple of weeks ago. On arriving at the docks we were told it was a
'non-runner' and that a trailer was required to transport it home. A
couple of hours later, with battery charges and fuel we were on our
way. As far as we are aware the car is a one owner from new, purchased
in December 03 from an estate sale. The mileage is 48,000 and
hopefully that is the correct mileage. Some work needs doing to get
into good shape, although it looks pretty good at the moment. The
colour of it is like a metallic bronze and my wife calls it
'marmalade'. It is in pretty good shape at the moment, there doesn't
appear to have anything missing but the 15in wheels that someone has put on
look a bit out of place and may be changed at a later date. It has
however failed the Ministry of Transport Inspection. All the front
suspension bushes were totally worn out so we have ordered new ones.
What we do need to try and locate are wiper-blade retainers and the rubber
wiper blades. Ours are in such poor shape, we dare not use them in
case the metal catches the screen. If anyone can help us to locate
some new ones it would be very much appreciated. We hope to spend some
happy hours in the garage during the winter getting her ready for the summer
cruises.
Ken &
Annette
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