For those of you who subscribe to Old Cars Weekly News & Marketplace by the Krause people in Iola WI, there is a nice Imperial article in the March 4 edition. the article is Motor City Milestones by Byron Olsen on page 14 & 17. Bob Schoenberg -1953 Custom Imperial Sedan -1954 New Yorker DeLuxe --- "B.A. Samoila" <fift8imperial@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > What a wild thread...to think Imperials went Hippie. > Anyway, Plymouth sales catalogs state that the Mod > Top > option was indeed available in 2 distinctive colors > in > 1969 ( It was the Barracuda catalog ) and I remember > one ( again a Barracuda hardtop ) being unloaded > from > a car carrier that year at Maloney Plymouth in > Canton, > Ohio... Believe me it stood out like a Barbie doll > among all those Roadrunners and GTX's ... so I > believe > with these recollections that they were > factory...but > seeing as this one's on an Imperial and no mention > was > ever made in an Imperial Catalog...probably dealer > installed...would love to see a photo of this > "flower > child". > BAS > --- Richard Woodside <rwoodside@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > Don Uhl's going to check out the paisley-topped > '71 > > Imperial this weekend. Please keep us posted, but > > let ME know FIRST if it's a great bargain that > > you're going to pass up, won't you, Don? [As if > ...] > > > > I corresponded with the seller last year about > this > > car, and while it looked OK in photos, the seller > > could or would not supply any documentation of the > > originality or authenticity of the top. While I'd > > like any 71 Imp, at the right price/condition, the > > CAD$4,500 or so that the seller was asking seemed > a > > bit high to me for a car that had been parked for > > quite a while (IIRC) and may or may not have a > rare > > top that may or may not need to be replaced. > > > > I wonder whether anyone knows whether the paisley > > tops were installed at the factory or at the > > dealership? > > > > I have a George Barris "Mod Tops" folder of > samples > > and templates that were sent to Chev dealers circa > > 1968, for dealer installation on Camaros, but I've > > never seen a Camaro with such a top. (Not nearly > as > > tastefully baroque as Mopar's paisley tops). > > > > And we all know that dealers do install tops > > themselves. I sat in a Lincoln showroom in the > fall > > of 1992 and watched a "carriage roof" white vinyl > > top being installed on one of those "grass green" > > Jack Nicklaus editions, to try to help move a > > left-over 1992 Town Car. The new top didn't help > the > > look of the car nearly as much as a color change > > would have .... > > > > But surely the Mopar paisley tops were never > > installed by dealers to try to boost the sales of > > slow movers, were they? And, even more certainly, > no > > dealer could ever have thought that a paisley top > > might help boost the sale of an Imp, since > > prospective Imperial customers were statistically > > more likely to prefer somewhat conservative and > > understated fashion statements, weren't they? > > > > Dick Woodside > > (now where the heck did I put my old > bell-bottoms?) > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Search - Find what you’re looking for faster > http://search.yahoo.com > >