W Bell wrote:
"Of course back then, truck chassis vehicles were not something that some
non-agricultural people would be caught dead in."
My father turned eighty this year and is a retired physician. On a recent
visit, we were walking past a hospital and he laughed to himself when he saw
all the SUVs in the doctors' parking lot. He mentioned that back in the '60s
and '70s, some of his colleagues had Bronos, Blazers, Suburbans, Travel
Alls, Wagoneers, etc. They used these vehicles strictly for hunting and/or
towing travel trailers or boats. On the rare occasion any of them had to
bring their "SUV" (which these vehicles weren't known as back then) to work,
virtually every one of these guys would hide the beast in the general
parking lot and forsake reserved doctors' parking.
To get back on topic, I recall a couple of Imperials (a '68 and a '71)
resting in a local salvage yard during 1986 or '87. What caught my eye,
besides the fact they were solid and straight, was that both had been
converted for towing long distances. Both had large steel fuel tanks mounted
inside the trunk, the '68 had truck tires and both had extra rear springs
and class three hitches. The engine and transmission was missing from the
'71, but the '68 had a 440 with the A/C intact and a large solid blade fan.
The '71 had a trailer brake set up mounted under the dash. I wish I had
taken photos of these two Imperials.
K.
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