Imperial

US, 1954 to date

Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

The name of this Imperial car, used by the Chrysler Corporation for their luxury-car line from 1926 onwards, became to make in its own right in 1954. The object of this move was to put the Imperial car on a par with Cadillac and Lincoln in the public mind, but the Imperial cars remained large Chryslers, with overhead-valve V8 oversquare engines and automatic transmission as standard equipment. Year-to-year improvements on Imperial cars followed those of Chrysler’s other products, with ‘flight-sweep’ styling in 1955 and alternator ignition in 1960. 1955 Imperial cars had Chrysler’s caliper disc brakes as standard. Since 1957 the name of Le Baron, a custom coachbuilder whose work often appeared on the Chrysler Imperial cars of the 1920s and 1930s, had been associated with the costliest models. In 1966 the Imperial car had an engine of over 7 litres’ capacity developing 350bhp; prices, at $5.733 upwards, were comparable with Cadillac’s De Ville series and the Lincoln Continental. Unitary construction was adopted in 1967 on Imperial cars, and in 1971 Imperial cars were available with America’s first 4-wheel anti-skid brake system. That year’s engines had a capacity of 7.211cc and an output of 335bhp, drastically reduced to 225bhp in 1972, when electronic ignition was standardized. There were only detail changes on the Imperial car for 1973.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; GNG, GMN, MCS

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