Lincoln "Imperial"

[Christopher Hoffman <imperial67@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At least one of the big coffee-table books on car design shows photos from
inside Elwood Engel's design studio at Ford from when the 1961 designs were
being finalized. There is a Lincoln proposal that is clearly the inspiration
for the '67 Imperial, from the greenhouse to the rear bumperettes. Imagine,
the '67 Imp's creative origins pre-date the car by almost a decade!

It's difficult to take a designer from one company to another and not have
some carryover of his style. My best friend parked his new Thunderbird next
to my neighbor's New Beetle about a year ago and it looked like you could
interchange the headlamps directly on these two J Mays designs. Freeman
Thomas designed the Audi TT and now works at Chrysler... seen the Crossfire
yet? (Though its tail end is an homage to Dick Teague's Rambler Marlin,
IMHO.)

The Ford-to-Chrysler move that Engel made is one reason I tend to be more
forgiving of those with at least some design sense who think my Imperial (or
any '64-68 Imp) is a Lincoln than the truly clueless who think it's an
Impala or a Cadillac. But as a huge Engel fan, I'm impressed by the
diversity of his designs. My '63 Dart, '67 Imperial and '72 Charger all show
his signature, but each in very different ways. That the angle-loving Engel
later produced the fuselage designs is a tribute to his breadth and depth as
a designer. He was no one-tailfin pony.

And each design, even the little Dart, carries a certain elegance that makes
it fun to just look at these cars and study the way they come together. I
still stare at my own Imperial, even though I've owned it for nearly 15
years. In each of them, there is a cohesiveness and attention to detail that
just says someone cared. Try saying that about most new cars, especially GM
designs (like those mutant long-wheelbase midsize SUVs).

Thankfully, you can still say it about most Chrysler products (the PT
Cruiser being about the pinnacle of this, I think), though I'm not yet
convinced with the latest stuff coming out of Auburn Hills... Loooove the
upcoming Magnum wagon, but it's the truck face on a car! Then again, I
wasn't hot on the new Ram but now I can't stop dreaming of having one every
time I see one. The show cars, however, don't have the magic that the
concepts of the '80s and '90s did... Chronos, Atlantic, Portofino, 300,
Citadel, etc... All made me dream of what a new Imperial might be. Nowadays
I'm kinda glad they're leaving Imperial to history. Sure beats living with
what GM has done to iconic names like Malibu, Impala and GTO...

Chris in LA
67 Crown
78 NYB Salon