Re: IML: Fuselage cars
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Re: IML: Fuselage cars



All early model Imperials were banned from Demolition Derbies in our area, Sanctioned or not and still are. I live in Southern Kentucky. They are still in demand in Northern States as I have had a number of offers to purchase mine since word got out that I have one. (It's NOT FOR SALE!)

Chad
65 LeBaron
----- Original Message ----- From: "JIM LORENZEN" <jdlpdx@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 2:11 AM
Subject: Re: IML: Fuselage cars


I met somebody back in the 70's who was into (dare I say it ) Destruction Derbys. During the 70's I was using my 60 as a "daily" and he and I were talking over drinks one night and I mentioned my 68 Impala vs 60 Imperial story. He told me that it didn't surprise him as 57 thru 66 Imperials were banned from "Sanctioned Destruction Derbys" for just that reason. They would, barring mechanical problems, almost always win every event and usually go on to win a couple more times at other events while leaving everything else on the field twisted hulks. He no doubt would have agreed with the trooper who investigated the demise of your '65. I don't know if that ban is really true, but it seems to me I heard it some place else as well. I can't stand to watch destruction derbies so I can't say anything about the ban from personal observation. But considering your '65 story and my '60 experience, I would make sense.

Jim L. in OR

----- Original Message ----- From: "Kristian Oyen" <kandkoyen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 9:11 PM
Subject: RE: IML: Fuselage cars


When the 1969 Imperials first showed up, I had almost the same instinctive reaction that I had when I first saw the [new at that time] 1963 Chryslers
(no, the Imperial was still fine)-- I thought, "WHAT in gawd's name have
they gone and done NOW!?! Well, over the years they have grown on me- both the '63 (and '64) Chryslers, and the '69 Imperials. I went from a very nice '65 Imperial Crown (which was forced off of a freeway overpass unto the road underneath after five end-over-end somersaults with my my bride-to-be in it- the accident investigators said the car's tank-like construction saved her
from being crushed inside it) and THOROUGHLY totaled!) to a then 2
1/2-year-old '69 LeBaron 4-door (that wasn't missing even ONE of the offered options) because we were about to be married and needed a family car, and I
was darned if I intended to be left without an Imperial- especially after
that accident! I bought it sort of grudgingly because I didn't like the
body-style much, but Imperials for sale were few and far between. It didn't take more than a 2,000 mile honeymoon trip to fall in love with its comfort, features (ah, that factory 8-track!), and performance, however. That car was our family car for about 12 years and over 300,000 miles with no major work ever needed on the engine, and no oil burned. It was a spectacular road-car,
and we gave it up with poor grace to a Tennessee salvage-yard in the late
eighties because it had spent most of its life being driven year-'round in
Minnesota, and we just couldn't keep up with the rust any longer. The
drive-train was still very good, though, and so was the interior leather.
The main thing that frustrated me on the road was the lack of a flat place to put a tea-cup; all things considered, a small inconvenience compared to
the privilege of owning that car.
I thought at one time that I would never hear myself THINK it, but if I ever found another '69 like that one at a time when I was flush with the stuff, I
would grab it in a minute, and drive it all I could.

Kristian Oyen

1963 Imperial Crown Southampton 4-door
1966 Imperial Crown Sedan
1967 Imperial Crown Coupe

-----Original Message-----
From: mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kenyon Wills
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 7:31 PM
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IML: Fuselage cars


--- Mark  Jefferson <imperialist67@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

You have to drive them (or take a long ride in one) to really appreciate
them.......

---

It's interesting that you say that. My first one, Imperial Margarinem, was
offered to me for a pittance.


I had never seen one in person, and went to see it with the intent of
perhaps scooping it up and flipping it for some $$ to fund the 1960 project.

I owned it mentally as soon as I drove it a block - story is here:

http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1973/Wills/index.htm


-and the rest is history.

The cars ride poorly on worn shocks, undulating and confirming one's worst
fears about their boat-like proportions, but the car rode so well that I
decided to keep it on the spot and still have it.

Aside from a valve cover that refuses to seal despite four tries, I have
since aquired 2 72's and a 70. The 70 has more apparent power, and the flat
hood looks meaner and somehow different than the 72/73 cars, but they're
"better" than all the rest, and I grudgingly include the vaunted 196o in
that, despite my passion for the LeBarons of that year.

The really amazing thing is the subtle differences between 71 and 72. Same essential shape, yet so different. Probably just me, but the energy spent on the design of these cars continues to impress, and I feel strongly that
the styling is on par with the Exner stuff.  No fins to slap you in the
face, but equal sophistication that grows on you as you become more familiar
with the car.

Remember that 1973 was the L O N G E S T postwar production car ever that
wasn't some sort of Formal Car variant at 235.3 inches long due to the
federally mandated bumperettes. Amaze and confound your Cadillac adherents with that one. Should be good for at least one drink at the bar under the
right circumstances.

Kenyon Wills

























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