In addition to the K-car Chrysler Executive limousine, a lesser known limousine conversion exists of an ’80s Chrysler product: the 1981 Imperial personal luxury coupe. Unlike the Executive, which was a full-fledged model, available for purchase, the ’81 Imperial limousines were aftermarket conversions, ordered by private customers.
I had heard about these before, and found some limited info and these photos on Online Imperial Club. Only about 5 of these ’81 Imperial limos are known to exist. Several different companies including American Sunroof Corporation did these conversions, so there were actually several different body lengths (24″, 30″, and 36″), varying noticeably in appearance.
Among the customers of these limos was an executive at Chrysler, Universal Studios in Hollywood, Burt Reynolds (who used it in Cannonball Run II), and, of course Lee Iacocca’s good pal Frank Sinatra. No word on whether Frank’s was an Imperial FS edition.
Now another hobby of mine is drawing cars. As a kid I used to sketch my interpretations of real cars, as well as designing my own on paper. In more recent years, I’ve begun to draw them digitally, using Microsoft Paint. Upon discovering the existence of Imperial Limousines about 5 years ago, I decided to draw it myself. I drew two different lengths, in addition to the regular Imperial coupe which I updated with a more “aero” front end and toned down bustle-back rear.
I’ve always been fond of the ’81-’83 Imperial, and I think these limousines look pretty awesome. Definitely a limo that would attract attention. Plus, an Imperial is a little more prestigious than a K-car.
That is actually quite attractive.
Wow! That’s one nice looking limo! I was never a fan of the weird angular trunk look fad of the early 80’s like on the Oldsmobile Cutlass salon or the ugly Cadillac with the same design. This one looks very nice! And yes, no comparison between that pathetic K-Car limo and this one.
Always thought this generation Imperial was a little odd looking, but this Limo is very nice. It’s almost got a modern day Cadillac look about it with the sharp corners. I don’t recall there being a 4-door version of the regular Imperial from this era but there should have been. I’ve been a big fan of the late 80’s early 90’s Imperial, but you don’t see many of those around.
“…a little more prestigious than a K-car…”
Talk about damning with faint praise….
The Imperial makes a very elegant limousine, wow!
I love these. This Imp’s 2 door config was not a problem for a limo. Recall that the great Ghia Crown Imperial limos of the 50s and 60s started as 2 door cars as well.
Now THIS is a real limousine!
The style of the 1980s Imperial actually works better in this elongated form than in the original coupe, in my opinion; it is very sleek and elegant. I can easily imagine a celebrity exiting this limousine and stepping onto a red carpet.
To my eye, the rear view is crying for a skirted wheel opening.
Aspect of this Imperial were quite handsome, but there were some details handling the bumpers, rear lights, rear license plate, etc., that did not work for me. This limo is the same – the roofline / greenhouse is rather messy. The final picture – I’m not sure if it is your work, or an actual car, is a much nicer roof / greenhouse. It also looks much better without the vinyl which breaks up the natural roof line of this car.
One would think the incremental cost of producing a four door would not have been that difficult for Chrysler. Too bad they didn’t.
That last picture is of an actual example. Definitely one of the shorter stretches, as opposed to the top pictures. I agree that it looks much better sans the vinyl roof. It also looks more natural without the large filler panel between the front and rear windows.
Great looking car. I would certainly love to have an early 80’s Imperial in my garage. That and the Boattail Riviera are two of my favorite cars from the 70’s and 80’s. So Unique. A limo in my opinion should be stretched off a 2 door body. The conversions of most if not all of the 80’s Fleetwoods were usually off the 4 door body. Just did not have the same feel. Not sure how they did it but some of the old Presidential Limos during the Clinton era were the final generation of the Fleetwood but looked like a 2 door stretch even though one was never offered. Wonder how a a 2 door 93-96 Fleetwood would have looked?
There are a few 93-96 Fleetwood coupes out there that were made customized, the 1977-1984 Fleetwood 75 uses a Coupe de Ville rear quarter for the rear section, the same was done for the 1985-1987 FWD limos, they started off with a Fleetwood coupe.
“There are a few 93-96 Fleetwood coupes out there” (scratches head, ’93-96 Coupe De Fleetwood ?)…
…Well, whata you know?
Reagan would have looked great in that.
I wonder how many were ordered. That Gen Imperial was a handsome car but a dog as it was not reliable at all. Leave it to Chrysler to screw up fuel injection.(again like in 1958)
When I saw the picture in the K-car limo post I was hoping someone would know more, so thanks for this follow up Brendan! The Imperial certainly makes a great, great looking limo!
Very nice illustrations Brendan. I almost think MS Paint is holding back your skills.
I think your drawings would rock even more using Adobe Illustrator. The learning curve is a bit steep, especially with the drawing pen tool, but the results can be amazing. : )
Thank you, I’ll have to try that. I’ve been looking for a program that’s compatible with my mac.
I actually thought the pixilated look was deliberate, to capture that 80s essence as a car-crazy kid would have back then. 🙂
Finally, a K-car that’s well proportioned.
This one is actually not K-Car based. The Chrysler Imperial between 1981 and 1983 was based upon the J-Platform shared with the current Chrysler Cordoba and Dodge Mirada. Which was derived from the F-Platform from 1976, used for the Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare.
Damn. I’ll never find a K-car that I like, then. I just re-read Iacocca’s bio and he kept going on about how good the K-car looked. You can never tell a parent their children are ugly.
Haha, I feel for you, but Chrysler was making great money with the K-Cars by 1983. You might disagree, but I quite liked the Chrysler LeBaron GTS and Dodge Lancer introduced in 1985. Though the Ford Taurus did show them up in 1986.
I owned a Lancer ES Turbo for 11 years, it is still one of my all time favorite cars. Had the H-body Chrysler cars been a little bit wider, it would have been an excellent competitor to the 1986 Taurus, but on that narrow K-car chassis, it was never going to happen.
I sometimes like to think that the Chrysler H-bodies were the Barracuda analog to the Ford Taurus’ analog to the Mustang. The Taurus, introduced later, being somewhat bigger (and better equipped), had a much better sales result.
In my MM Garage, there’s room for both.
I agree 100% with your post. I thought the H-body turbos were the ultimate K-Cars in many ways. I loved the clean styling and hatchback. I test drove a GTS, but wished I bought one.
The last picture is of a real car that lived in my neighborhood “back in the day,” my neighborhood being Central Park West in the 70s (that’s New York City). Although it’s hard to tell from this picture, the car was dark blue inside and out, with velour upholstery in back and leather for the driver. It was owned (or at least used by) the head of Kenyon-Eckhardt. They were Chrysler’s ad agency in the early 80s, and the car carried a license plate that read simply “KE”. It was always fun to see it going by or waiting in front of Mr. KE’s apartment house.
Now those are some sexy limos!
I actually saw a red Imperial the other day and had to stop for a second. The styling is great on those cars and their rarity just adds to it.
That’s the limousine Chrysler should have made. The proportions are there and both versions look really good.
I’d say it’s much better looking than any limo out today or the 90s.
I wonder, though, how it would look with glass in between the doors on the last one and instead of the vinyl panel on the first one?
That limo looks like something that would be on Back to the Future or Blade Runner, with the requisite additions of course.
The angular-ness of this car always reminded me of an Aston Martin Lagonda and the added length certainly adds to that.