RE: IML: reviving the Imperial ---> Why?

["Woolf,Richard T(Contractor)" <richard.woolf@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

And what cars do compare to their past? Does the Cadillacs, Lincolns of the
past compare to today Cadillacs, Lincolns? 
Almost every car today lacks what I call "character."  Only a few have tried
to bring character back into today's cars. Example is the PT Cruiser,
Chrysler 300, T-Bird, Mustang, and a few others. If the Imperial does return
I hope it has the hemi motor, and rear wheel drive. Style or character is of
course probably one of the most important issues if the new Imperial was to
return.

Rich Woolf
'66 Crown
'73 LeBaron
'75 LeBaron
     

-----Original Message-----
From: jsadowski [mailto:jsadowski@xxxxxxx] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 12:33 AM
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IML: reviving the Imperial ---> Why?

I do have to agree that no matter what they would or could do with a new 
Imperial, it could never compare to the Imperials of the past.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kenyon Wills" <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 9:20 PM
Subject: IML: reviving the Imperial ---> Why?


> The plain truth?
>
> Aside from the several thousand tutti-frutti
> collectors that own an older 300 that they are
> actually emotional about, the number of people that
> have owned a 30-year dead badge and associate enough
> loyalty to the badge to predicate a $25-$38,000
> purchase decision on has to be awfully low.
>
> Like in the hundreds or maybe several thousands if
> you're really generous.  That does not support a car
> company unless you're an obscure marque like
> Superformance or TVR.
>
>
> Driving down the freeway, I look in the window of the
> 300's that I see.  Who's in there?  Nobody that looks
> remotely like 300-club members.  Regular folks.
>
> It's going into rental fleets.  It's going to people
> that are mechanically savvy or like the
> style/size/shape/wheels/smell.
>
>
> You could call it a Rhino, or a Torpedo, or a 300.
> They'd probably buy it just the same.
>
> Imperial?  What the hell is that?
>
> Heck, if you're reading this, you probably already own
> at least one Imperial already.  Would the name badge
> alone get you to buy, even if it was a dog?  Not me.
> I have other fish to fry with that $40k.
>
> It'd be nice to talk about here.  Glory days and all.
> Probably going down like that over at the 300
> clubhouse.  Good for them, but Imperial is dead.
>
> Gone.
>
> Kaput.
>
>
> If you want an Imperial, with all of the historical
> positives associated with that word, you're going to
> have to buy used.
>
> If you want to market a modern car, resurrecting a
> name that technically failed in the marketplace and
> has faded to obscurity in comparison to names like
> BARRACUDA, CHARGER, HEMI, POWER WAGON, & MAGNUM?
> -well if I was a car executive, I'd nix the name
> IMPERIAL in a hearbeat, unless I was going to go on
> some sort of sustained (really expensive) campaign
> where it would be worth it to (re)establish the brand
> name in the public's mind.  And compete with my other
> luxury cars that only have only numbers on their
> backsides?  Sorry, brother, can't cannibalize my other
> product niches.
>
> Walk down to your local Chrysler dealership.  Ask them
> who made Imperials.  Point to the Seal that is in the
> middle of all Chrysler Badges and ask them what it
> symbolizes (WPC's Personal Seal (as in wax envelope
> seal) of Quality).  If you get anyone there under 50
> to answer both of those questions without prompting,
> you're talking to a very aware person.
>
> I have not met one yet, but my experiences at 3
> dealerships just prior to the 300 launch convinced me
> that the world has turned and that those folks just
> aren't relevant to me personally, and that I am not
> relative to them business-wise, since buying a new car
> that drops 10% of its value 5 minutes off the lot is a
> bad car purchase in my book.
>
> Want to bet they tossed IMPERIAL into the soup when
> they were testing old names for recognition in
> consumers' minds?  I bet they did when they spent the
> money to figure out what to call that thing they're
> branding as a 300 and 300C.  If it were about accurate
> nostalgia for people that are in the know, it would
> have been the 300N and would be a 2-door.  Imperials
> were 4-doors.
>
> Nope.  -300C.
>
> Selling like crazy.
>
> Hooray for Chrysler and 4 doors and RWD.
>
> And 95% of the buyers that the car was targeted at
> don't know the difference between a letter C and a
> letter M or even what a letter car is/was/means.
>
>
>
> Boo-Hoo.
>
>
> Good news is that it's so hard to pick between a 64
> and a 73, and a 60, and a 70 that I wound up getting
> one of each.  That just leaves the 68, the 59, the 56,
> the 54, and the 81 left to go to scratch my itch.
> Unless an airflow came up for cheap.  That'd be cool
> too...
>
> So many choices already!  Why spend $40k when they're
> lying around and going for under $5k?  AND they have
> real bumpers and hoods the size of a queen bed!
>
> Whatcha crying about???
>
> These are the good old days right now.
>
> =====
> Kenyon Wills
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