The 90's Imperials, great cars though they are (especially in comparison to their direct competition during those years) had a couple of mind share and marketing problems. a) Though I personally like the styling, the 90's Imperial was in the mold of "traditional American Luxury" and this was a style that was quickly on the way out (and essentially Chrysler's last word on that type of vehicle), being replaced by 'swoopy' and curvy lines more appealing to younger buyers (like the LHS). b) The TAL style of the Imperial appealed to the same, older buyers that looked at Cadillacs and Lincolns. The fact is that a great majority of them simply wouldn't look at a car of it's type if it didn't have an 8 cylinder engine in it, even when obviously it didn't need it. c) The stigma of "K everywhere". Even though Chrysler built some great cars off the K platform, visibly stretching it to the top of the range left even it's most prestigious models sharing any "perceived" faults of the lowest end. The 90's Imperial gets hit with this one even today.
I've always thought that the 80's and 90's Imperials would have done better if they'd been swapped in the time line (and given a tweak or two). I think the 4-door and it's styling would have been much more appreciated in the early/mid 80's and I think the 80's model would have fit in better with the "personal luxury coupe" models of the 90's like the Toronado and Eldorado.
John On Aug 15, 2006, at 6:47 AM, anthony romano wrote:
John, with all respect to your answer. Back in the 90's Chrysler sold many Dynastys, New Yorkers , Salons and Fifth aves. It was a big seller for them so much that the body style stay true from 88-93. The Imperial was a takeoff from those cars.-Anthony ----- Original Message ----- From: "john sadowski" <jsadowski@xxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 2:50 AM Subject: Re: IML: CHRYSLER IMPERIAL 81-83 & 90- 93-=WHY??The big difference this time is that they have a huge success with the300.The last 2 generations only had luke warm offerings in the overall lineup. With the D/C partnership, Chrysler is more likely to be taken seriously asaluxury car builder. I'm betting that if the stretched version of the 300does well, the new Imperial won't be too far behind it. John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kenyon Wills" <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 10:04 PM Subject: Re: IML: CHRYSLER IMPERIAL 81-83 & 90- 93-=WHY??Look at what Chrysler has done with the current incarnation of the 300 and you have a window into what's likely with whatever they do with/to Imperial. The 80's and 90's incarnations were probably similar in that they were efforts to put a car into a marketing or linup niche perceived by the strategists as needing to be filled more than they needed continuity and context to what had come before - One had 2 doors and the other was FWD, so.... Prior to that, Imperial flowed as a line from 1926 to 1975 as the pinnacle product in the line of offerings from a strong and vibrant company. The Chrysler of 1981 and 1990 (and perhaps 2006?) is a markedly different company. I like the later cars and don't intend to slight them - just comparing what I think are facts. It doesn't really matter, does it? The target market for the Imperial has nothing much to do with what we know Imperial to be, just as the current 300 does not have much of any real connection to the 300 name of the past (that I can see, anyway). -Kenyon --- anthony romano <mamrom@xxxxxxx> wrote:Hello! Help me to understand why the "Comeback" of the 80's and the 90's Imperials never took off as a sort after car? In my opinion, the cars had the edge in style and engineering. Both cars were ahead of its time with amentias. So with all this, was it a marketing blunder or was it only intended to make a "Cameo" appearance for those years. It makes you think that the new Imperial concept car might have the same fate, unless Chrysler really intends to resurrected permanently as to compete with the ever growing Luxury market. Let's face it, back in the day Imperial had only two rivals to compete with, unlike today fierce competition. Your Thoughts Appreciated! AnthonyKenyon Wills ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm
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