Durango thank you

[grandcar <grandcar@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jan 4th, 2003

Hi Hugh:

We are back in Durango and enjoyed a good time in San Antonio
and safe trip back.  Again, many thanks for the hospitality at
the museum, the personal tour and ride in the fire truck.

I'll be leaving for Phoenix next week to take in the antique auto
auctions there later this month.  Who knows, we may see some
Imperials for sale!!

Have a great year,

Robert McAtee

Hugh & Therese wrote:

> > True to some extend.  It was not ALL about speed, correct.  It was about
> luxury
> > and speed.  Or may be, luxurious speed!  All Imperials were known to have
> > better handling and high speed stability than the competition, and often
> more
> > power.  True, the average luxury customer did not care about speed and
> that's
> > one of the reasons Imperials never sold very well.  Imperials always had a
> bit
> > of Chrysler 300 blood in their vanes!  With little effort, a late 60's
> Imperial
> > can be turned into a nice and efficient speed machine.  I am not talking
> about
> > 200 mph of course!
> > D^2
>
> As a furr'ner, I was somewhat taken aback, and still am, by the American
> lust for more horse power.  I read somewhere that American cars are the
> oddity on the planet, in terms of size and thirst.  When I went back to
> Scotland for a visit last year I was amazed to see all the unrecognizable,
> and tiny, cars there.  MPG seemed to be the big issue, and cars seems in
> general smaller and more efficient.
>
> I think what controls American car sales is speed from zero and passing
> power.  Not matter what is being driven, there is a perceived need for it to
> be able to tear away from a dead start and to be able to blow the doors off
> any slower vehicle.  Size matters, too, and the social statement the car
> makes, so being in fashion and trendy ensures people end up buying
> considerably more than they truly need.
>
> What women want is key, and all the women I work with want to be in big
> trucks, high off the ground.  A young colleague of mine recently went from
> an Acura two door sports car to a four door Chevy pick up.  Though she
> complains about the poor mileage, she feels a lot safer.
>
> Our Imperials were designed to be status symbols.  Whether they ever truly
> made the grade in that area is open to debate.  They had all the ingredients
> but never quite made it, largely because, in my opinion, of Chrysler's
> chronic mishandling of the make/brand.
>
> I don't think my 58 is very fast off the line, but I don't tend to drive
> that way anyway.  Being pulled into my seat has never appealed to me.  Being
> used to anemic cars, I seem to prefer gentle acceleration.  The car is a
> phenomenal high speed cruiser, of course, and has passing power in spades.
> Despite its heft, it will happily accelerate up long, steep hills, though I
> don't get that many opportunities to test this lovely availability of power
> all that often in my part of Texas.
>
> I find that the car is chronically thirsty to operate in town.  Terrible
> mileage.  But, on the freeway, it comes close to being almost miserly, as
> the big old V8 chugs along at fairly low revs at cruising speed.  I made
> some disagreeable comments about "WOT" (wide open throttle) performance not
> long ago.  My point, which I managed to mangle, was that I never seem to
> reach that state of affairs.  I cannot ever recall flooring the gas while
> driving, let alone leaving it there for sustained periods of time.  Maybe
> that's just me.
>
> Hugh
>