I believe we’re all familiar with the effects of lens distortion, thanks to the multiple camera devices now common. Get that cell phone camera too close to your nephews’ faces, and watch their lovely features turn into odd fishes. Or insects.
Now, we humans are awfully sensitive to such things. Look at that photo of yourself on social media and wonder: Gosh, who posted this? My face is not that puffy, is it?
But cars have no such feelings, as far as we know.
Car features can be easily played with, augmented, or distorted. And here’s the already long hood of a 1973 Imperial, with its hood looking even more Imperialist. Was that even possible? And this is one car that can play with such a treatment.
These shots were recently posted by canadiancatgreen at the Cohort, part of a large upload we’re still sorting at CC. In any case, this Imperial looks in rather remarkable condition, even with the color-mismatched hood.
Here’s a brochure image, for those who wish to see this fuselage wonder with less distortion. Not that it’s less impressive.
The imperialist dreams of the brand were coming near the end by ’73, but regardless of the marque’s fate, these later models remain quite extraordinary sights.
Further reading:
My Curbside Classic: 1973 Imperial Lebaron By Chrysler
Fender Blades On A Fuselage: The Design Of The 1973 Imperial By Chrysler
At this time the Imperial was more of a New Yorker, but still impressive. The fuselage styling made this big car look even larger. The end was near, 1975 being the last of the true Imperials. An interesting 20 year run, with some beautiful and innovative offerings. 1962 may have been my favorite year. Big, distinctive and powerful, with the iconic stand alone headlights.
These never came close to giving Cadillac any sort of a game. It seemed that the only Imperial buyers were step ups from other Chrysler brands. Conquest sales were rare. Shows just how tight Cadillac’s stranglehold was on the luxury car market during this time. Cadillac was THE prestige American make and for most luxury car shoppers nothing else would do.
My ultimate dream car is definitely 61 LEBARON, limo looking formal roof, free standing head lamps, and fins actually higher than fabled 59 Cadillac. The grand finale for Exners fabulous OTT excessive finned fantasies! 👍🏆 👑. But always loved ALL LEBARONS. 62 LEBARON was best of Chryslers 62 line up.
Agreed … Who does free standing headlights? I washed many Chrysler Imperial cars and a fair amount of Station Wagons. Chryslers had huge torque/power curves that just needed bodywork, kind of like Packard. Now I want one … They wanted to compete with not Caddies or Lincoln but Rolls Royce! Hence lower expectations.
Yet another example of Chrysler taking a different tack with the 5 mph bumper requirement of 1973. Instead of the battering rams employed by Ford and GM, we get essentially the same hoop bumper as 1972, complete with the “lanterns” in the corners.
The 5 mph requirement was presumably met by the two large rubber “dagmar” protrusions. While still ugly, they are less offensive than a massive bumper, and better yet, it looks like that look like they can easily be removed.
Once again, It was possible to meet the 5 mph requirements without resorting to mounting battering rams on the front.
I would guess the way Chrysler got away with simple, thick-pad bumper guards to meet the 5mph requirement on the Imperial was exactly the same ploy they used with their other cars like the B- and E-body cars, in that the cars were due for either cancellation or a major rebody for the 1975 model year.
So, the feds let them skate by solely using the full-frontal, perpendicular battering ram test on the cars, rather than the additional cross-frontal test which would have almost certainly done significant damage to the bumpers of the ’73-’74 Imperials.
It’s worth noting that the A-body was ‘not’ scheduled for cancellation or major change in 1975, so Chrysler had to meet all the bumper tests for that one, just like the rest of the manufacturers.
The 1973 front bumper standards were sublect to fleet percentages, and less strictly enforced. Thus high volume Chrysler products got effective flat bumpers and low volume cars didn’t. Same applied to AMC; new hydraulic bumpers on the 1973 Hornet and Gremlin, not on Javelin and the bigger cars. All Chrysler products got the boxing glove bumper guards.
Pillarless coupes were exempted for 1974, Javelin, Barracuda, Challenger, Charger, Sebring.
There’s no exaggeration in those photos; this was the longest regular mass production passenger car ever built: 235.3″. 🙂
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/history/whos-the-longest-mega-coupe-in-the-land/
The ’73 Imperial’s marker lights have always reminded me to the 1930’s “Woodlite” headlights often put on Auburns, etc. Terrible lights, but they looked cool. I wonder if they were the design inspiration for the Imp’s market lights.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/dim-yet-brilliant-too
What a steal at $3999 Canadian (I assume).
I caught up with one of these at a car show a few years ago – it’s quite a challenge to photograph one of these and:
a) get the whole car in the shot, and
b) not have the hood appear ridiculously distorted.
I do remember this particular car’s owner being proud that his was the longest production car on record.
I’d like to have a camera with a Van and Fitz setting that makes the cars look longer, lower and wider.
I never understand why back then the designers created a vehicle with such long hood, i know the engine was large, but there was still lot of space left after the engine. Did people really like the look of such long and large hood?
I believe it has it’s roots in the 20’s and 30’s where there were many straight eight engines. Even though there’s a short V8 under the hood it conveys the illusion of a big powerful engine. Combine the long hood with the woods light style parking lights and there’s a serious subconscious retro vibe here.
Practical? No, your parking space has to extend into the next county.
While I never owned an Imperial, I have owned numerous Land YACHTS. The feeling of acres of hood capped by a jewel chrome ornament 👑 makes you feel that you are truly KING 🤴 of the road. Love my current 2007 Town Car, but miss seeing all of the hood! At least the Lincoln hood ornament gives me some of that feeling of power! 😎
If those bumper guards are anything like the ones on my 74 Charger, they are removable. When I bought the Charger they were missing or had been removed. I wanted them back as that was typical for when it was new.
I think they are mostly made of one big hunk of steel with a rubber cap, I think they each weigh about 10 pounds! Certainly not plastic or foam in there.
And yes, they are guaranteed to take out your kneecap if you walk around too closely!
Can you imagine tah effect on the even more extreme 2 door coupe? Whoa.
Having that mustard-like color with a brown hood makes it look even more long. The amazing thing is how long the hood is on the 1979 to 1985 Eldorado (caddy next to it) and yet that Chrysler makes the hood and Eldo look smallish!!
I caught this coupe at a Chrysler car show back in 1982.
My ultimate dream car is definitely 61 LEBARON, limo looking formal roof, free standing head lamps, and fins actually higher than fabled 59 Cadillac. The grand finale for Exners fabulous OTT excessive finned fantasies! 👍🏆 👑. But always loved ALL LEBARONS. 62 LEBARON was best of Chryslers 62 line up.
These almost look a bit cartoonish today, they are so elongated. I assume they offered no more room than a Chrysler, which I would have thought was quite big enough already. Still, the end of the longer/lower/wider American dream was just around the corner.
Nowadays even a fuselage Plymouth seems huge. So much size for that much interior space would never fly today – unless we were talking about pickups.
I know our “73 Fury” was a long one.(About the same “yellow” as the car in the lead pic.
It did fade with age yet never got”‘straight out sad”.
Great pick! As a former owner and daily driver of a 1973 Fury 2dr and a 1973 Sebring 2dr, I lightly bow a knee. Imperial Master!
Sad to say, but most Canadians circa 1975, probably associated the name ‘Imperial’ with margarine. Than Chrysler’s premium brand.
I might need glasses today, but I didn’t when these Imperials were new. Back then I thought the side profile of these Imperials could have passed for a Cadillac at a distance. The further to the rear of the car you go, the stronger the resemblance I see. Even today, I see that resemblance when I look at the photo of the brown one and squint.
The greenhouse is too small in a “normal” photo, yet the distorted one actually improves the look by blowing them all out of proportion.