In Motion Classic: 1972 Imperial LeBaron – Rolling Manhattan, Extra Dry

105 - rotated 72 Imperial LeBaron CC

(first posted 3/30/2015)   Some cars command your attention with their mere presence.  This broad-shouldered 1972 Imperial LeBaron hardtop sedan did exactly that, while I was taking a walk through the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago on a spring Sunday afternoon.

111 - 1972 Imperial LeBaron CC

Look at the chrome-topped fender line which sweeps in a straight line back to the C-pillar.  It looks like a battering ram, albeit an elegant one.  (Maybe it did serve as a battering ram at some point, judging from the wildly mismatched paint on the front fender.)  This brute seems a little early-1970’s Las Vegas – sporting a dark-red, brocade suit with wide lapels, wingtip shoes (white wall tires) and a fresh dab of Brylcreem (Armor-All) to keep the pompadour and sideburns (landau top) looking right.  Staring straight ahead, he means all business.  He smokes unfiltered cigarettes (which he rolls himself, Pal).

112 - 1972 Imperial LeBaron CC

My opinion is that this Imperial LeBaron (don’t call it a Chrysler) gives up absolutely nothing in class to the Cadillac DeVilles or Lincoln Continentals with which it competed in the American luxury car market of the time.  I would proudly have rolled down Fremont St. in this vaunted vault and valet-parked it in front of Binion’s for all to see.

 

Wicker Park, Chicago, Illinois.

Sunday, May 26, 2013.

 

More Imperial goodness:

My CC: 1973 Imperial LeBaron by Chrysler  by Alan Petrillo

Design Analysis: Fender Blades on a Fuselage – 1973 Imperial   by Alan Petrillo