Thanks again Hey what a guy ,two questions two answers .I can now start to
talk with some authority about a little of the imperials ancestry.Its 1.45
Sunday night down here I'm turning in hope I haven't interrupted your sleep
pattern to much Keith,----- Original Message -----
From: "hugh hemphill" <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx>
To: "imperiallist" <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2002 8:22 PM
Subject: IML: Southampton: What's in a name?
> Keith,
>
> You may or may not be lucky. I have allergy induced insomnia, so at 2:30
> AM, I just happen to be still available to answer your question. My great
> good fortune to actually know the answer.
>
> Southampton is a body style name. It refers to being a hardtop. What is
a
> hardtop? It can be two or four doors but it has no 'B' pillar, or a
> truncated one, which means with the windows down nothing between the wind
> shield 'A' pillar, and the rear window's 'C' pillar. So, there are two
> types of four door Imperial. A traditional sedan, which has a 'B' pillar
> and regular, full frame doors, and the Southampton, which has fully
> recessing window frames, which meet up to one another when in the up
> position. The easiest way to tell the cars apart is that the sedan has a
> third window on each side, as the roof does not need all the structural
> support at the back 'C' pillar that the hardtop does. Also underneath,
the
> four door Southampton has a huge 'X' shaped strengthening piece in the
> chassis, as does the convertible. The sedan and the two door do not.
>
> Technically speaking their was no coupe in 1958, just a two door hardtop.
A
> coupe implies a different body shape from the four door version, one that
is
> 'cut,' reduced in size and weight in some way. Very often, what are
called
> coupes are really two door sedans, but that it another story.
>
> The use of Southampton as a designation for hardtop was discontinued at
some
> point in the early sixties. But the base model would gain a name of its
> own, the Custom model. Chrysler Corp's naming policies were a law unto
> themselves, devoid of logic and inherently confusing (such as Crown
Imperial
> and Imperial Crown) to the public, who never really got around to calling
> the cars simply Imperials. Maybe because of their long history prior to
> 1955, when the cars became a brand unto themselves, or because they were
> still sold and serviced at selected, but regular, Chrysler dealerships,
and
> were never a mass market vehicle, most people stubbornly continued to
refer
> to them as Chrysler Imperials. Probably the most common question I get
> asked about mine is, "Who made it?" No one asks that about a De Soto or a
> Plymouth, I'm sure.
>
> >From a New Zealand perspective what you are going to have on your hands
is a
> true mystery machine. You might wish to make something up when asked of
the
> car's provenance. I suggest either South Africa or India. Both have
> automobile industries. You just might get away with it.
>
> Hugh
>
>
>
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