(first posted 9/22/207) There’s a new arrival or visitor in my neighborhood and it’s from outer space. It certainly isn’t from this world, where aerodynamic plastic-clad fish-mobiles with bulging eyes and wavy sides noiselessly swim the streets. No, this burbling extra-terrestrial visitor, still covered in space-dust, is clearly from another world, and there’s little doubt that its home planet is not round, but square. How else to account for its shape?
Presumably, its body makers have not yet discovered the curve. Straight edges are obviously all that’s available to the designers from planet Box. Keeps things simple. Maybe they just outsource their design work to kids in elementary school. Gives meaning to the concept of “three box car”. But they could do worse.
I’m an aficionado of boxes on wheels; I have two of them. Personally, I find the one box or one-and-a-half-box approach considerably more pragmatic and useful. But then my boxes weren’t exactly designed for interstellar travel. The demands for that might well explain the reason for such long boxes in front and back, and such a small one in the middle. I can’t imagine what other reason there might have been.
A power plant capable of such vast space journeys needs to have exceptional capabilities. Starting with immense displacement of internal space, like all of 440 cubic inches of it. With a giant quadruple-orifice vaporizer to feed its immense thirst for rocket fuel. It may sound totally absurd given what powers our planet’s vehicles, but the proof is sitting here in front of you. Of course, all that inner space displacement requires transformation into forward thrust, and there was no finer mechanism in the galaxy than its Torqueflite transformer. What else could convert immense torque into flight more effectively and reliably for the truly long journeys in the interspace highways?
Of course it’s an Imperial. Who else but the Empire could build such an unlikely but yet effective conveyance?
Shall we look into its accommodations?
The helm is well designed for its intended purposes, with extensive use of white materials to reflect radiation. And of course there isn’t a single electronic component used in its operational functions, to assure its ability to pass through any and all electronic-destroying defenses. The non-essential radio might conk out, but radio is a vast wasteland now anyway; here and in outer space. Unless of course one encounters stray radio emissions from 1967.
Instrumentation to monitor vital bodily fluids and power plant functions are more than ample. A blue spinner on the pilot wheel substantially simplifies close-in navigation, given the 43 turns of the wheel lock-to-lock. A compressed fluid system provides boost for its operation without any undesirable feedback. Who wants to have unpleasant sensations when encountering rough ripples in the space-time continuum?
Of course the wearer of the crown may well want to experience the Imperial’s long-distance capabilities from the back seat, which has no door, since extravehicular activities are typically relegated to the crew. Extra belts are provided in case of bulging waistlines from lack of exercise on longer trips.
I wonder what particular purpose this Imperial’s trip is? To gather facts about automobile technology on our planet? To pick up some French curves at the art supply store? To instill awe and wonder at the other-worldly noises emitted by its twin spent-gas emitters? Or to just remind us that although our design and technology might be more advanced, it’s not necessarily better in every way.
…Mentally cues up the Stones 2000 Light Years From Home… yeah.
It’s a beautiful ship, to be sure, but how fast can it do the Kessel Run?
What was in the Falcon that holds the record, 289 and 4 speed? (Or did Han swap in a “warm” but still quietish 351W?)
All I know is that Han wrecked the Blacktop 150 he had before he won the Falcon from Lando. He was racing some guy who later saved a millionaire from being abducted by Area 51 escapees.
Given what we’ve seen of Han and his creative approach to engineering and maintenance, there could be absolutely anything under the hood. Ferrari V12? Trabant motor? Ford V-8? All three welded together? I wouldn’t ask Chewbacca, either; Wookiees don’t take kindly to car care questions or losing at holo games.
Beautiful ! .
-Nate
…Mentally cues up Spaceballs….
No, that’s too slow! We need ludicrous speed!
I’m not sure if it could hit ludicrous speed, but I would like to see it try.
I wonder what would happen if it went up to plaid…
Did you know Dark Helmet shops at FAO Schwartz? I didn’t either.
A beautiful, memorable car indeed. The exterior styling is so much more pleasing to the eye than that of the garish, baroque body of the ’67 Cadillac and is also a mile ahead of the ‘beached whale’ look of the completely outdated ’67 Lincoln Continental. The Imperial has a much more modern-looking dashboard, too .. and those seats are something else.
The Imperial handled better than either the Caddy or the Lincoln and was more stable at high speeds due to its torsion-bar front/leaf spring rear suspension.
The ’67 Chrysler 300 2-door hardtop is even better-looking, has a similar amount of interior room and also offered the 440 TNT (440 Magnum, 375-horsepower, 480 ft. lb. torque) high performance engine that was available in the Plymouth GTX, Dodge Charger and Dodge Coronet R/T.
I was going to say, the “blade” sides and the general front-end styling scream “Continental” to me.
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/1964-Lincoln-Continental-Pictures-c13580#pictureId=35730876
Sort of a spaced out tribute to the ’64Conti. Really got dusted by the Comet’s tail.
But the 440 Torqueflite will go into higher warp speed then the old 413.
Blade Runner.
It’s not surprising. Elwood Engel designed both vehicles; the original 1961 Connie and its 1964 retrograde restyling away from the compound-curved glass in the greenhouse, and the ’67 Imperial was the first restyle of that marque under his aegis while at Chrysler Corp.
I’d love to see what he would have done with Cadillac. After the 1965 models, anything would have been an improvement. Their ’67s were too gaudy for my taste.
Picture this car in front of a mid-century modern house and it works. Picture the same year Cadillac or Lincoln, and neither quite fits as well. This was more “modern” in the artistic sense than either other American luxury barges. I love it, and other than washing it and slapping on the wheel covers, I would do nothing to it, other than happily drive it.
My only gripe about the Imperials of the mid-1960s were those awful, Nash-style closed wheel wells in the rear. They made a rear-heavy-looking vehicle look even more massive and ungainly. Chrysler got it right with the 2010 300 and the Imperial certainly would have benefitted from a break in those slab sides.
Just my 2¢ worth.
Funny you would associate this car with space. Saturday Night Live did a skit in its early days about the cancellation of Star Trek. The crew detected a craft following the Enterprise and determined it was a 1967 Imperial. The passengers were studio executives coming to tell the crew that, despite stellar ratings, they were cancelled!!!
I remember that skit. Belushi played Kirk while Chevy Chase was Spock. Elliott Gould was one of the NBC executives who took Spock’s ears before he left.
I remember that one! Funny as hell. How come SNL isn’t that good anymore?
Probably not the right amount of “pixie dust”.
There’s another early SNL skit where they are interviewing Japanese car company executives who give their opinion of what the back end of an AMC pacer looks like that really had me going as well.
’cause now you’re old and have seen a lot of skits in the meantime. Everything gets repetitive after some time.
Thanks for this! Never had seen it before, but it’s on YouTube (just google “snl Star Trek Imperial”) and it is AMAZING!
Gorgeous and I would totally rock this “Star Destroyer” (it just needs a pearl white paint job.)
Stellar find!
Paint it white and you might need to arm wrestle Paul for it. He might want it as a companion for his other boxes. 😉
Your deductions about this craft’s purpose are spot-on, I’d say, but consider those unusual eyeball sensors on the interior C- pillars. This vessel clearly has an advanced, HAL-esque AI controlling its functions and monitoring the crew. The Luxury Intellect Diagnostic Operator, perhaps.
“LIDO, open the rear bay door”
“I’m sorry Paul, I’m afraid I can’t do that”
I especially like that large shuttle docking platform behind the aft viewing screen.
Does this shuttle docking platform make my butt look big?
Holy overhang! 😉
Why is the “time posted” about four hours too early? It couldn’t be my computer, could it?
The 1967 Imperial not only effortlessly moves through space, but time as well. It’s no coincidence it’s TARDIS Blue.
Makes sense.
I always thought the design and proportions are spot-on.
There must be very little things more difficult then make a hughe car like this elegant.
Oldsmobile did it once with their 1960 88 – ninety eight model.
Bentley with their 1953 Continental.
The owner did a pretty fair job crafting some new front parking lights. The fit is factory spec. but the lens color is off and the original had the Imperial eagle emblem. No doubt a tough item to locate after 50 years.
’67 Lenses were very vulnerable, at the 2015 Imperial meet, a very nice ’67 4 door had one of it’s lenses broken. I had several of these, and other years, I got good at fabricating things for Imperials. but they are worth it.
I noticed the odd park light lenses, as well. It’s worth noting that the upper grille located just above the main grille header and below the hood looks like it’s been blacked-out, too.
On a somewhat related note regarding the fragile Imperial lenses, on one of those lame cable car shows, they restored an old Imperial and one of the workers suggested using 3D printing to recreate the taillight lenses (the shop owner went with much more expensive NOS). From what I’ve read, Jay Leno is a big proponent of using 3D printing to recreate parts made of unobtanium, and plastic auto lenses are one of those items that are perfect to be made in that manner.
If you have the old lense, you can make a silicone mold of the part and recast it.
I thought he made those lenses for the custom look.
I very much like the ’67 Imperial but it’s the front and rear styling that really makes it. I love the chrome-capped bladed rear fenders with the gigantic taillights. I also love that complex multi-level grille with the frenched headlights. I heard that it was quite expensive to make. The ’68 grille wasn’t nearly as nice in my opinion.
I concur; I like the ’67 Imp grille considerably better than the ’68. It’s just right. A mighty blue beastie it is, too!
In 1967 I wouldn’t have looked at this car twice, but today … it is stunning! And I agree with some of the other comments, classic yet modern in a way that neither the ’67 Cadillac nor the ’67 Continental can match. Nicely written too, though I’m not a sci-fi fan.
Beautiful! Yes it’s all square and such, but still, the LACK of curves and points and angles are all conspiring to make me like it.
For me it’s the beautifully-integrated curvature of the front and read ends that does it. Whereas a Cadillac was much more angular at the extremities, and looked unmistakably American as a result, the Imperial looked much more, well, Imperial as a result – more in line with rest-of-the-world approach to car styling. That is, IF any European company had built a car this big in the 1960s…..
‘Uncle’ Tom McCahill owned several Imperials throughout the 50s and 60s and his road tests that were published in ‘Mechanix Illustrated’ magazine are very entertaining, insightful, brutally irreverent and well worth the time to read them all.
For younger car buffs, it might help provide a backdrop to the automotive mindset of the times that produced such memorable cars.
https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2005/10/-Uncle–Tom-McCahill/1281761.html
Uncle Tom McCahill pictured with his own 1962 Imperial LeBaron hardtop:
http://www.imperialclub.com/Articles/Uncle_T/Uncle_T.jpg
Interestingly enough, “Uncle” Tom was none too crazy about the ’67 Imperial.
http://www.imperialclub.com/Articles/67McCahill/index.htm
He apparently was very fond of the ’57-’62 models; I read where he personally owned one from each year during that six-year stretch.
Maybe it’s because the ’67 abandoned its distance from the standard Chryslers with regard to body engineering, saving money. Still, it was a pretty tasteful execution of exterior design even though with its straight line boxiness, it did not follow the direction design was going at the time, with rear fender kickups and more curviness.
I remember that Star Trek sketch on SNL, it was a 1969 model – the year the five year mission was cut short.
When I was a kid learning to identify cars I always thought the ’67-’68 Imperial came before the ’64-’66 models (I wasn’t looking at that ’57 Windshield). Maybe because these Imperials were so uncommon there was something about them that looked early 1960’s to a 8-10 y/o me (I was only 4 when this car was released).
I agree that a ’67 Cadillac looks more dated today (especially the 2dr http), but not the timeless Lincoln Continental.
I also had the dates wrong; I spotted a nice ’67 Crown 4-door ht in a neighbor’s driveway (1974) and assumed it was a ’65 or ’66 simply because the general styling was similar to the ’65/’66 New Yorker/300/Newport.
Seems like Chrysler liked to copy GM styling every so often, and then outdo them – but always 2-3 years (or more) later; the ’62 Fleetwood or even the ’64 Electra/Ninety-Eight could have been on the ’67 Imperial stylists mind for a ‘look’ to build upon … just as Elwood Engel borrowed quite a few styling cues from his ’61 Lincoln Continental design when he moved to Chrysler in late ’61, integrating some of them into the ’64 Imperial design.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwood_Engel
The dialogue in the SNL skit (“Spock” is reading from a computer printout) identifies the car as “a 1968 Chrysler Imperial with a tinted windshield and retractable headlights.” Of course no car was actually shown, nor was there a ’68 with hidden headlights. But definitely it was called a ’68. The skit is very easy to find online – it’s from the end of season 1.
A car is shown in the skit, but it’s not an Imperial. In fact, it’s hard to tell what it is. Closest might be the front end of a ’68 Nova somehow grafted onto some weird kind of ersatz limo.
It’s funny how well this design has aged. Back in ’67 I would have placed this well behind the ’67 Cadillac with it’s forward leaning, aggressive front end design and sculptured flanks. The Lincoln by this point was dull, but imminently respectable. This Imperial now looks clean and distinctive. It has very nice detailing, especially the rear end and tail lamps. But they are big and thirsty, but so was everything back then. This example is very well preserved.
That’s a good looking car, except for those gauges. I’ll forgive him for that if there is a big hemi under the hood.
Except for the Ghia limousine, 1958 was the last year an Imperial had a hemi-head engine.
I’m sure there is plenty of room under that hood for even a Hellcat crate motor.
Fantastic car with tasteful updating. It wears the lowered stance and larger than stock steel wheels very well.
That’s one sweet ride! Ive always liked these Imperials, especially when dumped down low. That paint color though…all wrong for this car. A much darker blue would be perfect.
All you might care to know about the 1967 Imperial – thanks to tonyola for refreshing my memory about this great website:
http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1967/index.htm
http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1967/Ads/Green.jpg
1967 was also the year that Imperial reintroduced a 4-door sedan (last offered in 1960). It lasted only through the 1969 model, the first fuselage year. There’s a photo of a ’68 sedan above.
The Inner “Bright ” Headlight give it away as being form Mars. The 3 segmented lights look quite like the 3 lens Martian ships (and the Martians themselves) from the 1951 Film “War of the Worlds” As or the diference in the 67 and 68 grilles, The 67 was deemed to expensive by the Imperial Bean counters (likely the same morons who left the vents exposed on the “Death Star”) So the grille was much simpler, and cheaper, in 68 Don’t think that shade of Blue is factory. Would look much better in Turbine bronze.
Lots of accessory gauges on (or under) that spacey dash. Wonder what’s up with that. And is that a Space Elvis standing above — or some other otherworldly creature, white with a black cape ?
Paul, your writing has outdone itself this time; impressive consistency and choice vocabulary. Wish I had found this site when you inaugurated it !
I recall the decisively curved side glass of the new four-door Continental — and was bemused by the later regression to flat door glass. Somebody (the bean counters, maybe) thought the cabin looked too compressed, and/or wanted more interior width ?
As for this Imperial, the rear panel between the fenders, curving inward at each end, is a nice touch; would it have looked good at the front as well, or would the resulting cleavages have been bug-and-roadkill traps, resulting in extra work for the detailing crew ?
“Paul, your writing has outdone itself this time; impressive consistency and choice vocabulary. Wish I had found this site when you inaugurated it !”
The beauty of it is, you can access all the past posts in the archives – though it will take you at least a week to go through them all. Ask me how I know….. 😉
+1 – Paul, this one was outstanding. Loved the creativity that went into it!
“But radio is a vast wasteland now anyway; here and in outer space..” – I should take offense to that working in radio, but aside from NPR and a handful of stations it really is a vast wasteland.
Too bad it doesn’t have the Highway HiFi to make up for it. Terrific write up!
Wonder when they stopped offering Highway HiFi (and the built-in tissue dispenser)? Maybe about the time that 8 track came out (this would be about ground zero for that)?
Since this is the 2 door coupe, one option that always seems to be mentioned in conjunction with it is the Mobile Director package…because it is pretty rare (it was expensive option to begin with)…it seems to really influence the price of the car (it seems to add a LOT to the price if it has it). I guess it is unique since no other marques offered it, so they charge accordingly. I’d wonder if anyone actually used that option much…to have your secretary swivel to face you typing up your memos while driving. VW Eurovan used to have a similar seating option on one of their models, but I think it was more intended that you could face other people and play games (cards, board games) or just talk face to face. Now with possibility of self-driving cars, I’d guess we’re about to go back to this seating configuration (as long as we trust the self driving capability enough not to want to keep looking forward to make sure it is driving properly).
I’m a fan of the ’63 Imperial or the ’60. Not sure I’d enjoy driving one every day with its bulk, but if you like big cars, these would be hard to beat.
Don’t loose heart BigTom~
Plenty of us out here who still love radio and twirl the dial all night long looking for good stuff .
-Nate
Great write up. As the pilot of ’67 hardtop sedan, I can personally confirm that it’s a perfect vessel for interstellar journeys at warp speed.
This vehicle has clearly gone over to the dark side of The Force. But, we know there is still good in it.
These can look somewhat sophisticated , but not in that shade of blue OMG!
That doesn’t seem like an OEM color. With the white vinyl half-top and interior, I’m curious as to what the original color might have been and, frankly, kind of wish the owner would have stuck with it, whatever it was.
Great car, great take on it. Was this the flight deck where the radio was concealed behind a panel to be seen only during adjustment?
The radio, antennae switch and something else was in the closable panel. I had several of these, but can’t remember what was there.
Not a car I am familiar, but, well, let’s just say “Can I have a green card, please?”
While I was reading this, the local radio station started playing this song.
I love ‘Out of Limits’. It’s got an incredible blend of The Twilight Zone riff, surf guitar, horns, and electric organ.
The helm is well designed for its intended purposes, with extensive use of white materials to reflect radiation.
I laughed out loud at this!
The story the other day about the 2003 Mexican VW Beetle brought forth a lot of comments from those who worship at the Temple of the Air Cooled Beetle.
Well this is where I worship. The temple of Unibody Construction with Torsion Bar Suspension, 440 cubic inches with Torqueflite transmission, perfectly placed (though not original) exhaust tips and the early adoption of the Alternator.
And as much as I try to stay away, and stay an atheist, seeing cars like this keep calling me back.
I’ve said before, but 1967 will always be my favorite year Imperial!
A ’68 Imperial, bronze with a black vinyl top was one of my dad’s cars I kind of loved/hated. I hated the color, and still do, and the vinyl top was already a turn off to me. But it had the 440 in it and it wasn’t stock. Most of the engines in his cars had work done on them, and the Imperial had the most. It didn’t sound stock at all, even with the factory duals on it. It had that chuggy idle that a big cammed motor did. With those skinny tires, it was easy to spin them. I remember our neighbor’s driveway was about to be coated and sealed and dad, in a rare thing for him, got goofy and melted the tires off on it the day before. the stock tires were worthless in the rain, so it gave him an excuse to buy new ones that worked a lot better. The Imp had never ending nagging small issues, the worst of them being the A/C somehow getting stuck on max repeatedly. 18 months later, it was gone. My dad took the ’69 Caddy my mom was driving and she got a ’70 Cutlass, which she liked better than the Caddy by far. At least it wasn’t Avacado green like the Caddy was. It was blue, and looked almost identical to the soon to arrive Cutlass my dad got my sister, as her ’68 Cutlass was rotting like a ’70’s Toyota pickup’s bed. At 3 years old, the doors had quarter sized holes in them, and the trunk lid and hood had edges that were almost rotted all the way through. The new Cutlass was much better, corrosion wise. I see a nearly identical Imperial once in a while at some restaurant on Sunday morning, and I always wonder if that is dad’s old car. I should find the owner and see, I have a receipt for it with the VIN on it at home in a box of old papers.
“given the 43 turns of the wheel lock-to-lock. ”
ROFL!
Really like the car. Love the write up!
I’m trying to include some photos of an Imperial I had some years ago and will try posting now
67 is my favorite year for the Engel designed Imperials, with 64 coming in a close second. Something so understated and subtle about these designs, which while I can see that as a factor for why they didn’t sell, I think means that they’ve aged very well. I’ll be honest, I still prefer the Fuselage Imperials just a bit more, but this one of those cars I would not at all kick out of my driveway if the opportunity arised.
The color is sort of “eh”, I personally think this sort of Indigo color works on other vehicles better (Like the metallic Indigo Blue that were on GM’s SUVs in the late 90s, I think that’s a really nice underrated color.), and I have to agree with MoparRocker, I would’ve preferred this in a midnight blue or even just a darker color altogether. I just never cared for luxury cars in bright colors. Call me boring, but I always felt they detracted from the designs more than they enhanced them.
I was long a fan of the ’64, but I’ve come around as well. The grille treatment with the body color bands was very nice, and reminiscent of earlier Imperials from the late 30s The rear chrome blades were a different take on Cadillac’s approach and became a lasting motif through ’71.
The interior still had real wood veneer,and the pleated seats on the Crown Coupe and Convertible were unique, not to mention the Mobile Director option. The formal roof of the LeBaron was well-handled, and all metal, unlike the blanked windows of later years.
These Imperials often get derided as dressed up Chryslers, but that’s more true of the fuselage and following models. All the sheetmetal save the standard roofs was unique, as well as the core body, but that was no different than senior Buicks and Oldsmobiles and non-Fleetwood 60 Special Cadillacs of the same era.
Haven’t seen one around me for almost 30 years. Have to start looking.
Now that my computer is co-operating, I need to find a lot of pics on different subjects. I have more on this car I will add later, also some that will be of my ’63 Electra convertible that will be explained in the text. I’ve had several ’67-’68’s Imperial’s (plus other years but they aren’t relevant here) my first one was free. I had a ’68 Thunderbird CJ429 coupe I’d gotten in trade (worth about $300) and didn’t want, (long story, my T-birds end up on their roofs a lot), I detailed it to near new and took it to one of the independent dealers for sale. I had done some trading with Don (lot owner) before and he had interesting cars. He said he’d look over the Bird while I looked around. 20 minutes later we went in his office. He said he would offer $1800 for the Bird, but couldn’t afford that much, was there anything on the lot I wanted? I’d looked at the ’67 Imperial he had, gold with black roof band, black leather dirty, but good shape, badly faded paint, but would rub, no hubcaps or skirts, had a miss in the engine and none of the power windows worked, but the A/C was killer and all else worked, fully loaded. Also a ’59 Dodge Custom Sierra wagon with 383, TorqueFlite, power everything, dual A/C, 15 inch rims with ’56 Dodge 4 bar hubcaps, good chrome, but bad white paint. I’d had the hots for one of these since my aunt got one new. I told Don the Imp and the Dodge, he said if I would take $800 and the cars, we had a deal. $800 was $500 more than I had in the T-bird, so to me the 2 cars were free. My detailing the Bird allowed him to put it on the lot immediately, nice enough he sold it the following day. Norm helped me take them to my shop. Opening the trunk on the Imp, the hubcaps and skirts were there as well as every small item I thought was gone. Two days of detailing and it was show worthy (the miss was plug wires). I’m including a pic, the DeSoto wagon was another of my cars, 383. TF trans, full power, dual A/C, swivel seats, 38,000 miles and 271 built, in the shot with the “for sale” sign my pink ’59 Imp is there, the ’66 Imp I still have the other side. The Mercedes 300 S Cabriolet was Doc’s car recently purchased. I did restoration work on it and had just brought it back to him (it was serial #00001, the original Paris show car) The Dodge wagon I restored later. The power window motors were shot on the ’67, and I found I could slide the windows up and down by hand. I liked driving it, it had the TNT 440 and HD suspension. McCahill never drove one like this. with 79,000 miles on it 0-60 was 8 flat and with a tune later it was faster, it also could push 140 mph on a five mile strait. My only problem, if you could call it that, was space. I already had my ’64 Imperial Crown Coupe and convertible, a ’65 4 door, and my long term ’66 4 door, 2 ’63 Electra convertibles, 2 Riviera’s (64 and 65), 2 ’57 Plymouths, SportsCoupe and convertible and the ’56 DeSoto my father bought new that I inherited. That was at home, at the shop were 6 cars undergoing various restoration. I made more room there for the Imp and Dodge. The ’67 became my “driver”, and DAMN it was fun. Nothing broke except the turn signal switch, which is terrifying to change with a tilt and telescopic wheel. The spring nearly broke the rear window when it shot out of the column, it took three of us to get it back in. Then I found the yellow, red, second yellow, and blue ’67’s,and the white, tan, and black ’68’s. All cleaned up near new (but I could find these pics)
A lot has been said about the design and where it came from. I read an article years ago about the ’67-’68 Imperial design. According to it the aim wasn’t Cadillac or Lincoln, it was the best selling car in the luxury market, the Buick Electra. There was a photo of a ’63 Electra coupe behind a clay of a ’67 Imperial. If you can ever park a ’63 Electra and ’67 Imperial next to each other, walk around and check out interiors too. The Imperials came very close to the Electras The biggest difference is the front fenders, but in the right light even that isn’t much. Of course, there are external differences, the Imperial had a wall to wall tail light,but the Electra’s went to one in 1965, The dash on the Imperial became unlike any Chrysler had used, but the ’63-’64 Electras were exactly the same shape with glove box doors opening upward. I felt right at home switching back and forth between the ’67 and my Electra. The ’63 Electra did not have fender skirts, but the ’64 Electra did, along with new trim on the side of the car in the same place the Imperials had their sweep line. Remove the tail lights from the fenders of the Electra and put chrome there, and a tailight across the back of the Electra where it’s chrome panel was and you have the Imperial Styling. and the front grille of the ’68 Imperial looks like the ’64 Electra but with wrap around chrome on the fender tips. I looked online at ’64 Buick Electra, there are several that have been mildly customized, with the portholes removed, they are difficult to tell from Imp’s, I have been working on my older Imperials during Chrysler and Imperial meets,and for a few years have driven my ’63 Electra convertible to several of them. The first meet the Electra became visible to the other members as I pulled in and parked. Most members asked what I was driving, many thought it was a ’67 Imperial with the skirts off. With several member the Electra is referred to as the “67 Imperial prototype” One member has a ’68 Imperial convertible, my car was parked next to his ’68 when we came out in the morning. We all had car covers on because of the proximity to the coast. He walked over and started to uncover the Electra, then realized it wasn’t his car. Under the covers the shape is the same, the external dimensions are the same, You can type in “2015 Imperial owners meet at Cambria” to see the lineup of cars heading for the show field, including the Electra (and DeSoto’s invited) I’ve driven imperials for years as well as nearly every luxury car and the Buick Electras are every bit the luxury cars the others are, and they are more dependable.
These are more of the blue ’67 coupe
This is my ’63 Electra convertible
These are me with my ’64 Riviera, with the Electra and the 246GTS Dino and the Dino again. In this light the sculpting (which the ’64 Electra doesn’t have) is not as visible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6fIqtF4dsc
Seeing one of these always makes recall this scene from Charley Varrick.
It’s been a favorite film (and I think under rated) since it came out. One I hated to see was Lee Marvin in Point Blank. he is trying to get information and is terrifying the passenger by running into things including back and forth between freeway support pillers in a ’67 Crown convertible which is totaled.
That side profile shot is immensely useful to me.
With the ’67-’68 Imperial styling clearly drawing inspiration from the ’63-’64 Electra and to an extent, the Olds 98, redirected its appeal toward Electra 225 and 98 owners who might yet be enticed to switch. Chrysler management was also tacitly admitting Imperial was not truly competitive with Cadillac and Lincoln, simply an alternative for those uncomfortable with Cadillac or Lincoln ownership. Of course, Imperial was still priced directly versus Cadillac and Lincoln, to do any less would have implied the car wasn’t in the same market strata.
The Imperial nameplate also fulfilled its primary roll to demonstrate to the industry that Chrysler Corporation was a serious full-scale Big Three competitor that could field as fine a motorcar as the other two major manufacturers. In those years, a carmaker without a full-sized luxury line carried a stigma of being a second tier company, I’m thinking of AMC in spite of the Ambassador.
On a individual manager level, no Chrysler executive would have been pleased to show up at the DAC or country club in just a Chrysler New Yorker. Even if Imperial was an expensive vanity, it was still necessary for sopping corporate egos. The ‘factory-custom-built’ convertibles in their low production numbers were the ultimate corporate vanity models, kept in production for just that country club and/or executive wives social encounters…..to avoid embarrassment.
Imperials would have sold just fine, had Chrysler marketed the line in its own dealerships; Imperial blew Caddy and Lincoln (and even the stately Packard – for a period) out of the water with its ’55-’56 styling/performance and then again with the ’57-’59 series … had they marketed it as a completely different make in its own dealership network, they could have tripled or even quadrupled Imperial’s sales figures.
Apart from that major error, Chrysler then proceeded to lose their way with the ‘Sci-Fi’ styling of the ’60-’61 Imperials (keeping the giant tail fins at a time when they were progressively being abandoned by Ford and GM); even the ’62s and ’63s – although an improvement over ’60-’61 – were likely too ‘art-deco’ and seemed to be caught in a time warp between the ’50s and 60s, with no clear identity.
Then to add insult to injury, they redid the bodies for ’64-’66 but retained the obsolete and archaic front windshield/cowl design of ’57, again producing a car with one foot in the late ’50s and one in the early ’60s. The 1967s were the first modern-looking Imperial since the ’57-’59 era, thus earning my none-too-important vote for most beautiful Imperial of all-time. This beauty will out-handle and (especially with the TNT 440 engine) out-accelerate any Caddy or Lincoln of the same year and has the cleanest and most timeless design of all three cars.It also has a far larger rear passenger compartment than that found in the otherwise bloated Lincoln. In other words, the ’67 Imperial is a luxury ride for people who think for themselves, rather than one for sheeple desiring the same tired old ride as the local Mafiosos or lawyers in town.
I have driven a ’67 Imperial Crown and a ’65 Sedan deVille, so I do have some idea of the performance/handling of these cars.
Osama Bin Laden and family toured Europe in a pair of these back in the ’60s.
This interstellar traveler is clearly here to gather intelligence on our much more advanced civilization. But after spending some time here I suspect it is going to return to its home planet disappointed.
Sold my 1967 Imperial 4 dr Southampton a few years ago, miss it very much.
The last of the first American luxury cars. After 1968 it all went rubbish. Just a note, the 440 TNT wasnt an available option, only the “Dual” -whih was dual exhaust pipes and dual snorkel air cleaner. Cant understand why they didnt make a small run of 426 Hemi/ 4-speed manual “Mobile Directors” 2dr coupes.
From the rear.
Anyone in the Portland area who might be interested in seeing the car in person, it seems to be located at a place called Dillinger’s Barbershop (they have both a website and FB page).
Please, they stole the design from the 1965 Buick Electra
1965-1968 – Peak Chrysler
It’s a very impressive looking vehicle. Not just for its sheer size, but the detailing. Which empire would design a rear end like that? It puts me in mind of Luke’s battered landspeeder out of Star Wars – which, of course came later. And that front end, a grille above a grille, and the box inset in the centre with characters denoting the vehicle’s type.
Interesting…
Just doesn’t work as a “two door” configuration. It does look rather spacious though.
Whoah, that’s gorgeous, never seen one before….
I look at that and see thirds. Equal thirds, well, relatively equal. Hood, cabin and trunk. My gawd, how long is that trunk? Looks like 3, 6 foot sections, there is 4-6 inches past the rear window before the trunk starts, but that’s still five and a half feet. It can’t be that big, it just cant.
Yes Mike ;
I can and it gloriously was so .
A buddy of mine was a Chrysler enthusiast, he kept his late father’s 1967 Chrysler four door for many years, I never wanted to drive it but I sure loved riding in it .
-Nate