One of the best drivin cars we ever had. 4 wheel disc brakes, ash trays and lighters at every corner, rear reading lights, plush leather seats and the auto dimming headlights was really fun to drive in the 70's. Not to mention, the horn button in the inside rim of the steering wheel...
I have owned and ridden in these Imperials when they were new. The front torsion bars on these were considerably softer than on previous Chryslers. The rear though consisted of the overly firm leaf springs but, were not too bad compared to the earlier models. Chrysler placed more emphasis on handling than did either Lincoln or Cadillac. The seats in this Imperial were great looking BUT, the top part of the roll was overly firm and the seatback did not come up high enough on the back either. On the highway is where these cars really excelled. You could drive it down the road at 90 MPH and the car was laser straight whereas the Lincolns and Cadillacs of the same year were bobbing up and down and directional control became something of a concerted effort. To me, this was the most beautiful Imperial ever built. They also had an edge in horsepower over the Lincoln and Cadillac and Consumer Auto Guide 1975 rated the brakes as superior compared to the competition.
My uncle bought a 1957 Imperial open 4-door hardtop new, and kept it for many years. When he found out the 1975 Imperial was the last of the Imperials (at the time) he bought one of those too. He'd switch them out for the garage every couple of weeks, and did so until the early 2000's when he passed away. The two cars would show up----together-----side by side (of course) at various car shows, getting a lot of attention for just their model years alone! The older car got more admiration, so he made sure the younger car did too. Today, they're both very vintage at 46 & 64 respectively. I wish I knew where they were, just to see them. It's most likely they have separate different owners. Mainly I just hope both cars are still well cared for, whoever owns them now.
Brings back memories of my Dad's '72 Imperial LeBaron which he affectionately referred to as the Mafia staff car. I haven't drove or ridden in anything since that could hold a candle to it's ride quality. I would love to have one like it today.
Eric Brawand It was a great ride, that's for sure! The nice thing about these old luxury cars is that they don't cost nearly as much as muscle cars, so you can sometimes get lucky and find one for pretty cheap.
LOL!!!! that's exactly what i had in mind - a Mafia car. I'd feel nervous if somebody took me out on a ride in this car - down some back road out in New Jersey.
I have a 75 Imperial and a 76 New Yorker Brougham, both 2 door models. I drive the New Yorker almost daily while I keep the Imperial in the garage and bring it out for shows, warm summer days and service. I don't know how many times people have stopped to ask me if I would consider selling them. It is funny when a guy in a Toyota Camry looks wistfully at one of these cars and then looks back at his car. The New Yorker was my grandparents' car and they were the original owners. I bought the Imperial from its original owner and have had it for three years. The feeling you get driving one of these is so different from the typical rounded off, jelly beans on wheels that are so common today. If you love great classic cars you should take a drive in one of these.
There is NO WAY you are driving that 76 LOG PUSHER daily at 7 MPG. My Mom had 78 New Yorker Brougham St. Regis, lean burn, with I am thinking, something like a nearly 40 GALLON GAS TANK and even in those days it took a WALLET FULL OF MONEY to gas er up. That car LEAKED from the FACTORY SUNROOF so bad it was comical. Sold it for 2G's after she owned it, RUNNING ALWAYS WEIRD after about 25 years. PS. My Dad OWNED the LEGENDARY 1972 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron, NOTHING like that car EVER. That one I miss. He bought it BRAND NEW....rusting on the showroom floor. Olive green 2 dr. coupe with black interior. Oh my.
+1 on the driving experience being much better than late model jelly beans. Back when luxury meant smoooooth ride, soft pillowy seats, and classy yet subdued style. These Imperials, Fleetwood Talismans, and '77 - '79 Town Cars to me are the last and best true luxury cars ever made. You are fortunate to not only own two fine luxury automobiles but to get to drive one daily, you're living the dream.
you remind me of my golden time I'm from Saudi Arabia and i was driving that car when i was 18 it was my father car until today i still remember the felling of driving that car and that felling can't be replaced by any other car
After I saw this video, I started looking for one. I finally found one with 17479 original miles, untouched. Now sits next to my 2 Cordobas, a 76, and a 77, which although look almost similar they are quite different in the way they feel and ride. I love my Imperial, won a couple of shows with it, mainly because is in pristine condition.
+Bunny Biedenharn Thank you! That's one of the best comments we've ever gotten. Be sure to share our channel with your friends and get them to subscribe, too!
I was prepared to settle in and watch 7 minutes of inaccurate stereotypes and the usual blah-blah about poor handling, etc. That's what I usually see when older cars are reviewed on TH-cam. However, you surprised me good sir! Very nice background info on the make, and I didn't hear any technical mistakes regarding the car you were reviewing. (BTW, the 1974 redesign of the full-sized Chrysler's also offered industry-first back-lit instrument lighting, the industry standard until today's video-screen panels.) Great job and interesting commentary. When they were new, Imperials were often panned for being less-isolated from the road vs. Cad/Lincoln. In other words, they drive more like a "modern" car. It's a shame Chrysler could never market the brand worth a darn. P.S. I'm and ASE certified mechanic, work for Chrysler and own 4 Imperials. Looking forward to more reviews.
carmine440 Thank you so much! It's always nice to hear good things from viewers! We try to provide a different perspective on car history than everybody else. Compared to the 72 Eldorado we drove, the Imperial felt a lot more planted on the road. That's awesome that you have four Imperials! Which ones do you own?
carmine440 I wish someone would do an equally objective video on the '65 or '66 Imperial. The last of the body-on-frame Imperials plus 250 pounds of sound deadening. I'm assuming it's serene ride.
I had a 77 Newport coupe, w/ landau top & fender skirts. One interesting feature was there were 2 high-beam buttons on the floor. One was for the high beams, the other was a seek button for the radio. When you stepped on it, a motor in the radio would turn the tuning knob until it found the next strong station. I put a big chunk of my life into that car, but ultimately could not keep up with it. Rust was a major problem - doors, trunk lid, floorboards around the uni-body bolt-in points, quarter panels behind the wheels. The lean burn computer modules had a habit of overheating. I used to keep a spare or 2 in the trunk for a quick change-over, or take the air cleaner lid off and fan the computer module unitl it would work again. But it was fun. I extended the front 6" to give it a more MarkIV-like hood, added a major stereo (but kept the original factory seek too), and a House of Kolor paint job. I never quite got it to the level I wanted it, then the rust became too much to deal with again.
You might want to consider first, all those old Chargers destroyed for the "Dukes of Hazard", first, before taking out Mike Clattenburg, who made 2 Chryslers last at least decade or more. ~The Dukes of Hazard 1969 Dodge Charger known as The General Lee was known for its crazy stunts and went airborne more than 150 during the span of the series! Even though sand or concrete was in the car during the jumps to prevent flipping, the cars still rarely survived the jumps and at least 300 different cars starred as the general lee. Mechanics were constantly on the set of the series to salvage and prepare what they could for filming. Some of the General Lees were actually 1968 models fixed to look like 1969. At least 75 chargers were sent to the junk yard. In 2001, two collectors found a General Lee in a Georgia junkyard. ~
Thanks for the memory jog. Back in the mid seventies, I worked for a guy who had one of these big old Imperials of the day, a black one. I drove it once or twice on inter city trips. It was a NICE car. My dad had had a couple of reasonably well appointed big block Plymouth wagons of '71 and '74 vintage so I was familiar with the Chrysler 'feel'. I'd had a friend in high school (early '70's) who some how (?) had a big ol' Mercury Marquis of the day, so I had some idea of what the Ford side of the equation felt like. The Imperial sure stood out in that crowd. Again, thanks for the memory jog. Cheers! Oh, BTW I had access to a stock '69 Plymouth satellite with a 318 in high school. It moved down the road pretty good and was of some interest to the ladies. Planning any '69 Satellite reviews? (btw #2, is that car older than you? I've never driven a car older than myself, is this a gen boomer thing?)
I loved watching this! I was a teen in the 70's and my first real job was pumping gas at a local Hess station. I waited on a lot of beautiful cars from that era....and always loved waiting on the Chryslers, in particular. Side note: Chevy Vegas were the absolute WORST cars to wait on - - just awful... In later years, I owned a 1982 Lincoln Mark Vi "Givenchy" edition....gorgeous car, and ran like a dream. When I bought my first Chrysler, it was in the early 2000's and got a Sebring convertible. Beautiful car! I am now on my third Sebring convertible (2010...last year made) and I LOVE it. I am a MOPAR convert from Ford ...I finally saw the light... In the 70's, though, my parents had a 4-dr. Ford LTD....talk about a boat! Nice, nice car, though, and I always thought it had great styling. It ran forever, though, but the body eventually went on it.... I'd love to own the beauty featured here. A true classic. I always liked the Imperials - especially the '65 convertible. Wow! Real class. I really enjoyed this clip.....thank you. Peace.
I always enjoy your reviews and test drives of classic cars. It's always nice to see the new technology that cars offer today, but they don't have the same appeal and feel that a classic car can provide.
I worked for a guy that had a 1975 Imperial. His car had rear disc brakes, something not common for most land yachts of the time. It also had platinum tipped spark plugs from the factory. He kept the original window sticker, it was in the glove box.
Bless your heart, you basically got it right - and in a world of people buying 3-ton SUVs, these cars aren't so stupid after all... Just think what kind of mileage one of these much-more-aerodynamic cars could get with modern computer-controlled, smaller, cleaner, 8-speed powertrains could get!! Also, you were right about these fine Chryslers handling better than either Lincoln or Cadillac. Torsion bar was the way since the late 50s, but you couldn't convince Ford or GM of that fact, until they started building FWD... If I had the garage space, I'd be driving a 1971 Continental Town Car, and a 1974 Imperial Crown Coupe'! (...and maybe an Eldorado convertible for nice Summer days.)
"Just think what kind of mileage one of these much-more-aerodynamic cars could get with modern computer-controlled, smaller, cleaner, 8-speed powertrains could get!!" Yep. Imagine doing a resto-mod; That same Imperial with a Hellcat-Hemi and modern high performance brakes from Willwood, etc. and suspension geometry updates with performance bushing materials to replace the squishy rubber, and an independent rear end- hell make it AWD! Better yet, this thing has more than enough space for batteries for an ultra efficient hybrid with cross continent range (keep the extended range 30gallon tank!).
I want you to know that I have watched this several times now and I'm just about to watch it again, so I think I've had pretty good mileage out of your film so far -myself. Clevr how you tied-in the chronometer with the nautical theme ! You really have done an excellent job here and I am Well impressed with the whole way you put this together. Good job man. It's great to get a good, up-close look at one of these. Fascinating, in fact ! Thanks and this was so well worth the effort to me. Deffo one of my faves = )
My folks, in 1978, bought a 1972 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. It was white with Burgundy leather interior, had A/C, power steering, brakes, windows, locks, seats, trunk, tilt and telescope steering wheel, AM/FM radio and cruise control. It rode like a boulevard yacht and was a grand car. They had the car until 1984 when they traded it in for a Seville. Just wanted to share that. The end.
We didn't mean it in a bad way! We just think it's too bad that everyone couldn't keep their old cars from the 70s, but obviously that's impractical for most people. Sorry, for the confusion.
I kind of liked the Seville my best friend had. It was powered by a 350 Chevy motor and looked pretty slick as the previous owner put some real wire wheels on it.Drove it to Detroit nonstop from Texas,switching drivers every few hours.It was a fun trip for two 17 year olds that had never been out of Texas!
My father would have loved to ride in that beautiful car. He was born in '51, grew up around so many classic cars, and told me about them as a kid. Interestingly enough, I bought a 1991 Chrysler New Yorker late last year, so I can feel the echoes of a "boat" like this in it. Great review.
I wish I had never sold my '74 I swapped out the junk thermo-quad for an eddy and put on 8" rims with fat rubber..roll on from 50 to 90 was very satisfying and she handled like a Charger..
Ah Grasshoppa...stock carb on '74 Imperial was a thermoquad..these carb bodies were made of plastic..mine warped and there was no fixing it..got rebuilt..just as bad..swapped it out for 750 cfm Edelbrock performer (basically a Carter AFB)..ran like a top ..btw..fuck off..
I do. I grew up in the backseat of Imperials. I loved those old tufted pillow top seats, both the fabric and leather options where the best of any car seat ever made.
One of the car magazines, Motor Trend I think did a road test on this at the time. I remember being amazed at the 4-wheel disc brakes which they recorded stopping this incredible car from 60 mph in 128 feet.
My dad had a 72 pine green with black landau top, a 4 door...it was our first "nice" car, my mom loved it, I remember as a 5yr old not being able to pull the front door shut because it was SOOOO heavy, I also remember the ride being incredibly smooth, like you were floating on air, and the size of it was astounding....I also remember thinking how "strong" it looked, but sleek at the same time....everything was just BIG on it, and the trunk was no exception.....and the lighted turn signal indicators on the top, front of the fenders, like little silver rockets almost....and the inside just screamed affluence.....the car was luxurious without being pompous like a Lincoln, or Cadillac....just a bit more reserved....just can't say enough about the beauty of it
Imperial's biggest problem is that Chrysler introduced it as a "Chrysler" at the start and let it stay that way untill 1955. It would be like GM making a "Buick Cadillac" then making "Cadillac" a seperate make. That's why people noticed the sharing of components early on, Because the truth is Cadillacs most popular models (the DeVilles) in fact shared bodies with top end Buicks, and by the 70's shared even more components, But Buick and Cadillac were always marketed sepetatly so they were not connnected in most peoples minds. Im a GM guy, But in truth the Imperial was the best US luxury car by all tecnical measure from 1955-1975, Sadly only people who actually tried them knew it!
+WAQWBrentwood Yeah, marketing is a tricky business, for sure. If only things would have turned out different, we might still be driving Imperials! Thanks for watching!
+WAQWBrentwood Indeed the smart buyer knew that the Olds 98, Buick Electra and Cadillac DeVille were the same basic car, but we have to give GM credit for giving the DeVille it's own look (and back then, their own engines). Ditto with Ford and the Lincoln line - totally different look yet even with shared engines just like Chrysler. But overall that Imperial just seemed to be so much more formal, so crisp by comparison and definitely better handling. Now good shocks on a big GM would keep it under control - the Lincolns were just plain hopeless back then.
+srercrcr I've always thought that Chrysler crushed velour was the richest looking seat material EVER! Even the velour K-car interiors were great. Call me crazy, but I love it!
snowrocket I've got a 78 Grand Prix with crushed velour. The surface facing your back has an additional padded panel just like living room couches did then. Very comfy!
+srercrcr Oh yeah, I remember those! I knew a guy who drove a beautiful, fully loaded '79 Grand LeMans 4-door with velour like yours. That stuff is great! They don't make them like that any more. Actually, they ought to bring it back as part of the retro craze.
snowrocket Yes, all the interior is the same. I tilt the seat back with the power seat button and zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Hahahahaha Todays cars suck unless you like dark gray...the color of death!!
1978 was anyone's LAST CHANCE to buy a "true Imperial", but only in name and badging was it changed to "Chrysler New Yorker"... Same car. I had a very low-mileage '78 Brougham for a time... It was absolutely like new, and it was probably the most comfortable car I'd ever been in, EVER... and I've ridden in or driven almost one of everything! Something about the size and construction of the seats in those cars, combined with the Torsion Bar suspension and the amountof sound deadening material that Chrysler used in those... Well, there was nothing like it. It was literally like sitting on an expensive sofa, but out in the open (because of the great expanse of glass), while floating down the road, surrounded by perfectly heated or cooled air... Yet still "knowing" you were driving a car.... Does any of that make sense?😉
I agree with Patrick - this was the best American luxury car ever built, you would have to drive the others to know what we're talking about.. Cadillac by then was total junk, and Lincoln was just this big billowy out-of-control-around-corners bloated piece of Ford shit! Chrysler engineering was at its best during this time, that is undisputed!
We don't have to drive them to recognize big and ugly neither did the 1975 car buying public I was there. And popular cars of the time were cougar XR7 Thunderbird Lincoln mark 4 Cadillac deville. And Chrysler had styling woes throughout the 1970s they made big ugly cars.
An excellent video road test! One of the best executions I have ever seen. Your whole piece has a well-researched, well-written solidity to it. It uses a narrative that manages to strike the perfect balance in its tone and manner by combining the right levels of serious, scholarly and informative material with just the right amount of levity and fond irony in its tone and manner. The vantage point of today permits one, when gazing back to the '70's, license to include a bit of ironic humor/sarcasm, especially when examining the cars America built back then. But all too often it gets taken too far and fond irony morphs into an impertinant and misplaced smugness that is a real turn-off, especially when it becomes clear that the reviewer is too young to even have been alive in the '70's. But there's absolutely none of that in this piece and I find that to be very refreshing indeed. To conclude, when one considers that this piece finds the balance I referred to above and combines that with excellent production values, and finishes up with copy that gets all its facts right while presenting these facts in their proper context, it has to be recognized that this is as good as it gets. Thank-you for effort and congratulations, I look forward to seeing more of your work!
+Kenneth Gunnar Ramonet Thank you! It means a lot to hear you say that. We work really hard to present a creative, original view on these classics. It's much too easy to repeat the same trite stereotypes when talking about old cars. AutoMoments strives to show a different side of automobiles. It's good to know you appreciate our sense of humor, too. More than anything, we're happy when our viewers enjoy our videos, and clearly that has happened here. Thank you so much for watching and for your kind words!
Nice video about the great Chrysler automobile that once upon a time ruled the highways and byways of North America. Those cars sure were big then and nobody ever talked about gas prices then , lol.
+Rudy F Yeah, actually gas availability AND price was a concern after the OPEC oil embargo created gas shortages in 1973 or '74. The gas price was going from $.25/gallon to $.75/gallon. Americans were generally driving cars that got 8-16 MPG around town back then. You could buy a nice car for $5000 back then.
It s called progress,Kia and Hundai have also come a long way,their cars are good,drive a Genesis and you ll see what I mean. Don t get me wrong,I love the american iconic cars,but globalization killed the big american cars,gas prices and all. It wasn t the american people.
Giovanni Socci it’s the idea of a classic car destroyed due to his Cash for clunkers! Car guys tried to get these cars and once bought by Obama’s project they weren’t aloud to buy these cars. There are poor people who can’t afford to buy new cars so These cars could have helped poor families.
I have to wonder about the mentality of the people who are disliking these videos. The production, content and overall vibe of this channel is amazing. Love it!
Oh yeah, we respect the old cars, even with their faults. Old cars are part of our collective past, and to ignore them is to ignore our history. Thanks for watching!
The 1981-1983 I consider the last Imperial, as I had the privilege of being somewhat intimate with this car in 85-86. At that time it stood out as a true testament to the brand. The crappy fuel injection had to be converted to carburetor unfortunately. It stood out. They were even then a rarity. In retrospect the 81-83 has been forgotten, even placed in the same category as the k car version a decade later. I am here to say let’s not forget,.
Those were the J Body Imperials, basically the successor of the Cordoba when the B Body was eliminated after 79 Edit: Forgot that there was a J Body Cordoba as well. And of course the short lived Dodge Mirada was on that platform too
What a fantastic video! I love the old/heavy USA cars. Have had several. 1976 Cadillac Deville that rode like a dream with a 500 CI engine. Something special about cars that are made for extreme comfort. :)
Yes, these cars are special indeed. Makes you wonder if companies could build modern versions that get better gas mileage, but still are this comfortable. Seems like everything has to be "sporty" these days... Thanks for watching!
If Chrysler was given a Billion dollars in 1975 I doubt if they would keep building Luxo-barge Imperials, they might have avoided the $400 million loan in the 80’s. Being sold to Mercedes in the 90’s, being ‘given’ (for free!) to Fiat in 2009, where it is slowly being dismantled. The Chrysler we knew in the ‘70’s is gone. Only Jeep and the pickups remain. Sergio Marchionne only wants the dealer network to sell his Fiats.
Daimler also owns freightliner and western star, some guys claim they have kinda cheapened up western star, they aren't the rough and ready trucks as when White owned them
They had $12.5 billion of there own, they didn't need it. They didn't need the government-backed financing in 1980 either. That was all showboat Lee. Chrysler was not given for free to Fiat. Fiat spent $23.2 billion getting Chrysler. What they need is to install car people at the top and stop the nonsense of hiring lawyers and accounts in top management.
A beautiful American luxury car at the end, a point when every car maker would start trying to shrink there cars and by the end of the 70's they all looked like crap.There is a very nice 74-75 Imperial for sale near me at a mechanics shop, looks near excellent, has been there for over a year. Maybe I should stop and ask how much.
@@melvinharris7859 my point is that they were great but they were made for a good certain time and when the cold winter weather was around they were not compatible for deep cold weather.
For 1976, Chrysler dropped the Imperial name, but actually made the Imperial a New Yorker. The "old" New Yorker, became a Newport. They just moved names around. But I believe the most beautiful Imperials were the 1964, '65, and '66; with the '64 the most beautiful car ever built in this country. A strong point of the 1975 Imperial, was that it had the second best braking system of any car built on the planet. Mercedes-Benz had the best brakes, while the Chrysler Imperial came in a close second.
1975 was a turbulent year for Chrysler. Chairman Lynn Townsend was forced out and new chairman John Riccardo was handed a mess. John could not see the justification of spending the money to keep Imperial separate from Chrysler when they mostly shared the same sheet metal and other hard parts. Furthermore, a lot of others at Chrysler believed they could not keep the Imperial standard going and it was best to end the line. And they did. Imperial sales from 1974. 4Y-M YM43 Imperial LeBaron 4-Door Hardtop $7,230 Weight: 4862 Built: 10,576 4Y-M YM23 Imperial LeBaron 2-Door Coupe $7,793 Weight: 4770 Built: 3,793 4Y-M YM23 Imperial Crown Coupe $7,856 Weight: 4970 Built: 57 1975 production, 4Y-M YM43 Imperial LeBaron 4-Door Hardtop $8,844 Weight: 5205 Built: 6,102 4Y-M YM23 Imperial LeBaron 2-Door Coupe $8,698 Weight: 5105 Built: 1,087 4Y-M YM23 Imperial Crown Coupe $9,277 Weight: 5205 Built: 1,641
I drove a 1973 Pontiac Luxury Le Mans for 33 years. Purchased new in '73. I do, at times miss the old gal. It found a good home and is as good as new. I currently drive an '06 Chevy HHR...also bought new, and have had no major problems at all...a nice "retro-styled" vehicle in today's era.
If you had $8,500 to spend on a car in 1975, you were not worried about the price of gasoline. My first house a 2 bedroom one bath on two acres cost me $6,845.67 in 1975 and those $105.67 a month mortgage payments bit hard the payments on my '77 Plymouth Volare was $65.45 a month. Insurance was the whopper, $500 for a six-month policy. In today's prices times all that by 35.
Great vid! I recently purchased a 1974 LeBaron in excellent condition through an online auction (still waiting for it to be shipped). Much looking forward to cruising around with it. Lengthy backstory: when I was a kid in the late 60's-early 70's, my favorite car was the Imperial because of the "birdie on the back" (the 64-66 versions). In 1977 when Chrysler introduced the LeBaron as a mid size car, I was somehow able to convince my usually frugal dad to splurge and buy one to replace our 72 Impala. At age 11, my master plan was to have it handed down to me when I would be getting my license a few years down the road :-D Alas, Chrysler quality being what it was back then, my dad traded it in three years later :-( In 1990, I had the opportunity to buy a 1965 Crown 4 door in very good shape for only $2000, but being just out of college and living in an apartment complex scuttled those plans, to my lasting ragret. Finally last week I was able to fulfill my Imperial "dreams" with the 1974. A 64-66 would have been even better, but those are a bit outside my price point at this time. Maybe someday.
Imperial had four-wheel disc brakes for 1971, Lincoln rear wheel anti-lock brakes in 1970, and GM rear wheel anti-lock brakes on Cadillacs and Toronados in 1971. Yet Mercedes still claims that they made the world's first production ABS, even though their cars did not feature them until 1978.
+itsmegp46 I would be shocked (but pleased!) if any production American car had disc brakes in the fifties. I happen to think that brakes are as important as acceleration. Jaguar won LeMans one year in the fifties because their "spot-type disc brakes" gave them a lap-after-lap braking advantage over their drum brake competitors. That was a racing car. Production cars tend to lag way behind racing when it comes to new/workable technology.
+snowrocket Imperial did have optional disc brakes in the early '50s (albeit a somewhat different design from today) As did believe it or not Crosley. I'm not a Crosley expert, so I'm not sure is it was across the line or just on the "Hotshot" sports model.
+peter455sd Yeah, they were! You could casually chug around town all day on hills and never turn more than 3000 RPM. Which is exactly what most people who bought these cars did.
+AutoMoments You got that right. My 82 Imperial is exactly that. What I like about it is It's not too big and not too small. To me it's just the right size. Even more so, its unique styling grabs a LOT of attention. Best of all, it pleases me to know I'm driving a unique piece of automotive history and there is a VERY slim chance I'll find a car like mine on the road. I'm just glad mine was retrofitted with the Federal 2-barrel Carter Carburetor setup. Those 81-83 Imperials had the first of a "continuous flow fuel injection system" and many bugs came with the system. Many of those new Imperial were coming back on tow trucks shorty after purchase and even after a test drive because the pressure plate in the intake manifold would cease up resulting in total engine shut down. Chrysler engineers could not come up with a solution to the problem with the fuel injection and later deemed the system FUBAR. As a result, retrofit kits to make them carbureted was the answer. However, kits ran out and not all Imperials were converted. Surprisingly, some surviving Imperials still run with the original fuel injection. But there are NO parts whatsoever for that system.
My Dad was the proud owner of three big MOPARS, but I am too young to remember the first, but the second was the grandest one of them all! Yes he bought a new 1964 Imperial Crown Coupe that was loaded with beautiful dark blue leather, matching vinyl roof an light metallic blue body. It was the quietest car I’ve ever remember especially with as big a V8! A 413 Imperial Wedge it said, that had push button shift! The second one is the first car I drove with a license plus later on used as a daily driver! See when my third sibling was born Dad was forced to trade in his beloved Imperial! So he special ordered a 1968 Chrysler Town&Country Beach Wagon! With dark red three row leather seething and maroon body with the vinyl wood graining. That had a honking 440 Commando 4 brl Dual Exhaust with a tow package with 3:55 Posi traction!
You made some interesting comments in your video about the Chrysler Imperial having advanced features. Decades ago my parents subscribed to National Geographic and I remember the ads for Chrysler with the line “The Engineer’s Car”. I remember the road test comparisons of a Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial. The comments about the Imperial were similar to what you said, the other cars were more limo/isolating and the Imperial wasn’t as quiet but handled better. My uncle had an Imperial in the late 60’s and it was impressive. Too bad Chrysler couldn’t find a way to streamline Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge and continue an Imperial. I appreciate your videos of the unsuccessful cars and companies. I think the American car industry would be better off now if Tucker, Hudson, Packard, Studebaker, Frasier had found their footing and niche in the market.
I just don't like aerodyamic cars, exept corvette c3, daytona and superbird. They have the beautiful type of streamlining. 1940-1975 american cars are my interest.
anybody who ever drove 1 of these, would no instantly, they weren't after cad or linc. these cars, class by themselves...torsion bar suspension, super high power assist on the steering. power everything imaginable...ultra quiet, but chrysler quiet...unitized body...i can remember, just a barely audible jetlike transmission sound, that really made the car... imo....although the a/c wasn't as strong as the airtemp of the 60s...you could still hang meat in these cars...they really had a unique driver feel...vacuum fuel sipper gauge built in the left-hand turn-signal.
I’ve owned four Cadillacs: ‘96 Sedan DeVille (a beige-grey-silver color) ‘96 DeVille Concours (pearl white with white vinyl roof) ‘91 Fleetwood (white with black vinyl roof) ‘86 Fleetwood Brougham (medium-blue metallic with blue vinyl roof) And in 1967-69 when I was an 8 to 10 year old kid, my dad brought home a mint ‘64 Coupe DeVille in gold. I really like a nice classic Cadillac. But next time, I’d like to find one of these Imperials to bring home. This is one fine automobile. Beautiful!
One of the best drivin cars we ever had. 4 wheel disc brakes, ash trays and lighters at every corner, rear reading lights, plush leather seats and the auto dimming headlights was really fun to drive in the 70's. Not to mention, the horn button in the inside rim of the steering wheel...
I have owned and ridden in these Imperials when they were new. The front torsion bars on these were considerably softer than on previous Chryslers. The rear though consisted of the overly firm leaf springs but, were not too bad compared to the earlier models. Chrysler placed more emphasis on handling than did either Lincoln or Cadillac. The seats in this Imperial were great looking BUT, the top part of the roll was overly firm and the seatback did not come up high enough on the back either. On the highway is where these cars really excelled. You could drive it down the road at 90 MPH and the car was laser straight whereas the Lincolns and Cadillacs of the same year were bobbing up and down and directional control became something of a concerted effort. To me, this was the most beautiful Imperial ever built. They also had an edge in horsepower over the Lincoln and Cadillac and Consumer Auto Guide 1975 rated the brakes as superior compared to the competition.
My uncle bought a 1957 Imperial open 4-door hardtop new, and kept it for many years. When he found out the 1975 Imperial was the last of the Imperials (at the time) he bought one of those too. He'd switch them out for the garage every couple of weeks, and did so until the early 2000's when he passed away. The two cars would show up----together-----side by side (of course) at various car shows, getting a lot of attention for just their model years alone! The older car got more admiration, so he made sure the younger car did too. Today, they're both very vintage at 46 & 64 respectively. I wish I knew where they were, just to see them. It's most likely they have separate different owners. Mainly I just hope both cars are still well cared for, whoever owns them now.
Brings back memories of my Dad's '72 Imperial LeBaron which he affectionately referred to as the Mafia staff car. I haven't drove or ridden in anything since that could hold a candle to it's ride quality. I would love to have one like it today.
Eric Brawand It was a great ride, that's for sure! The nice thing about these old luxury cars is that they don't cost nearly as much as muscle cars, so you can sometimes get lucky and find one for pretty cheap.
LOL!!!! that's exactly what i had in mind - a Mafia car. I'd feel nervous if somebody took me out on a ride in this car - down some back road out in New Jersey.
I have a 75 Imperial and a 76 New Yorker Brougham, both 2 door models. I drive the New Yorker almost daily while I keep the Imperial in the garage and bring it out for shows, warm summer days and service. I don't know how many times people have stopped to ask me if I would consider selling them. It is funny when a guy in a Toyota Camry looks wistfully at one of these cars and then looks back at his car. The New Yorker was my grandparents' car and they were the original owners. I bought the Imperial from its original owner and have had it for three years. The feeling you get driving one of these is so different from the typical rounded off, jelly beans on wheels that are so common today. If you love great classic cars you should take a drive in one of these.
+Gary Taylor It's funny how you mentioned the Camry driver looking wistfully at your car. That's a familiar feeling... Thanks for watching!
+AutoMoments Loved
your video. I have to check your list to see if you've ever made one about the 1955 Imperial (hint hint).
No, not yet... We need to find one first!
There is NO WAY you are driving that 76 LOG PUSHER daily at 7 MPG. My Mom had 78 New Yorker Brougham St. Regis, lean burn, with I am thinking, something like a nearly 40 GALLON GAS TANK and even in those days it took a WALLET FULL OF MONEY to gas er up. That car LEAKED from the FACTORY SUNROOF so bad it was comical. Sold it for 2G's after she owned it, RUNNING ALWAYS WEIRD after about 25 years. PS. My Dad OWNED the LEGENDARY 1972 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron, NOTHING like that car EVER. That one I miss. He bought it BRAND NEW....rusting on the showroom floor. Olive green 2 dr. coupe with black interior. Oh my.
+1 on the driving experience being much better than late model jelly beans. Back when luxury meant smoooooth ride, soft pillowy seats, and classy yet subdued style. These Imperials, Fleetwood Talismans, and '77 - '79 Town Cars to me are the last and best true luxury cars ever made. You are fortunate to not only own two fine luxury automobiles but to get to drive one daily, you're living the dream.
I love those big 'ol 70's boats!
you remind me of my golden time
I'm from Saudi Arabia
and i was driving that car when i was 18 it was my father car
until today i still remember the felling of driving that car and that felling can't be replaced by any other car
After I saw this video, I started looking for one. I finally found one with 17479 original miles, untouched. Now sits next to my 2 Cordobas, a 76, and a 77, which although look almost similar they are quite different in the way they feel and ride. I love my Imperial, won a couple of shows with it, mainly because is in pristine condition.
Cordoba is a smaller car, it was on the B Body, while the 55-73 Imperial was on the D Body, and the 74-75 Imperial was on the C Body
Great collection you have built!
I remember the Cordoba with the rich Corinthian leather lol
U have s killer collection
Very nice. Interested in two Canadian made 1979 t top 300’s?
Every aspect of your video was superior. Perfect music, great sound mixing, excellent enunciation, beautiful visuals... Just PERFECT! I'm subscribing.
+Bunny Biedenharn Thank you! That's one of the best comments we've ever gotten. Be sure to share our channel with your friends and get them to subscribe, too!
I was prepared to settle in and watch 7 minutes of inaccurate stereotypes and the usual blah-blah about poor handling, etc. That's what I usually see when older cars are reviewed on TH-cam. However, you surprised me good sir!
Very nice background info on the make, and I didn't hear any technical mistakes regarding the car you were reviewing. (BTW, the 1974 redesign of the full-sized Chrysler's also offered industry-first back-lit instrument lighting, the industry standard until today's video-screen panels.) Great job and interesting commentary. When they were new, Imperials were often panned for being less-isolated from the road vs. Cad/Lincoln. In other words, they drive more like a "modern" car. It's a shame Chrysler could never market the brand worth a darn.
P.S. I'm and ASE certified mechanic, work for Chrysler and own 4 Imperials. Looking forward to more reviews.
carmine440 Thank you so much! It's always nice to hear good things from viewers! We try to provide a different perspective on car history than everybody else. Compared to the 72 Eldorado we drove, the Imperial felt a lot more planted on the road.
That's awesome that you have four Imperials! Which ones do you own?
+AutoMoments 1951, 1961, 1966 and 1969.
Cool!
carmine440 I wish someone would do an equally objective video on the '65 or '66 Imperial. The last of the body-on-frame Imperials plus 250 pounds of sound deadening. I'm assuming it's serene ride.
@@AutoMoments I have an equal one, something worn out but it still goes black and white
I have watched this whole video maybe 10 times over the last five years and still keep coming back to it... great video ...great car!
Thanks for watching! We're glad you liked it so much.
I had a 77 Newport coupe, w/ landau top & fender skirts. One interesting feature was there were 2 high-beam buttons on the floor. One was for the high beams, the other was a seek button for the radio. When you stepped on it, a motor in the radio would turn the tuning knob until it found the next strong station. I put a big chunk of my life into that car, but ultimately could not keep up with it. Rust was a major problem - doors, trunk lid, floorboards around the uni-body bolt-in points, quarter panels behind the wheels. The lean burn computer modules had a habit of overheating. I used to keep a spare or 2 in the trunk for a quick change-over, or take the air cleaner lid off and fan the computer module unitl it would work again. But it was fun. I extended the front 6" to give it a more MarkIV-like hood, added a major stereo (but kept the original factory seek too), and a House of Kolor paint job. I never quite got it to the level I wanted it, then the rust became too much to deal with again.
Waiting to see randy and Lahey in the front seats
Big Coxy Ha! Randy-Bo-Bandy
put a shirt on ya burgar lovin chump
runnin from shit-hawks..
You might want to consider first, all those old Chargers destroyed for the "Dukes of Hazard", first, before taking out Mike Clattenburg, who made 2 Chryslers last at least decade or more.
~The Dukes of Hazard 1969 Dodge Charger known as The General Lee was known for its crazy stunts and went airborne more than 150 during the span of the series! Even though sand or concrete was in the car during the jumps to prevent flipping, the cars still rarely survived the jumps and at least 300 different cars starred as the general lee. Mechanics were constantly on the set of the series to salvage and prepare what they could for filming. Some of the General Lees were actually 1968 models fixed to look like 1969. At least 75 chargers were sent to the junk yard. In 2001, two collectors found a General Lee in a Georgia junkyard. ~
DECENT
215 horses? That ain't bad for a 75' Imperial. I'm in love with the luxury sedan.
Thanks for the memory jog. Back in the mid seventies, I worked for a guy who had one of these big old Imperials of the day, a black one. I drove it once or twice on inter city trips. It was a NICE car. My dad had had a couple of reasonably well appointed big block Plymouth wagons of '71 and '74 vintage so I was familiar with the Chrysler 'feel'. I'd had a friend in high school (early '70's) who some how (?) had a big ol' Mercury Marquis of the day, so I had some idea of what the Ford side of the equation felt like. The Imperial sure stood out in that crowd. Again, thanks for the memory jog. Cheers! Oh, BTW I had access to a stock '69 Plymouth satellite with a 318 in high school. It moved down the road pretty good and was of some interest to the ladies. Planning any '69 Satellite reviews? (btw #2, is that car older than you? I've never driven a car older than myself, is this a gen boomer thing?)
Yes, the car is older than me, and right now we don't have plans for a Plymouth Satellite. But that would be cool!
Great job Joe. Captured the car - and the brand - wonderfully.
qmopar Thank you!
Very well done video. Amazing Imperial. Thank you
Thank you! We're glad you enjoyed it.
Jim Laheys car :D These full size luxury cars are awesome!
Hahaha. It sure is awesome. Thanks for watching!
Ha!!! That was my first thought, the late, great, Jim Lahey. :-)
ChevyBM as big as the Queen Mary.
@keith cunningham me to, bud...
HAVE ANOTHER DRINK RAY!
I've always been a fan of the Imperial...thanks for taking us along for a spin in this beauty.
I loved watching this! I was a teen in the 70's and my first real job was pumping gas at a local Hess station. I waited on a lot of beautiful cars from that era....and always loved waiting on the Chryslers, in particular. Side note: Chevy Vegas were the absolute WORST cars to wait on - - just awful... In later years, I owned a 1982 Lincoln Mark Vi "Givenchy" edition....gorgeous car, and ran like a dream. When I bought my first Chrysler, it was in the early 2000's and got a Sebring convertible. Beautiful car! I am now on my third Sebring convertible (2010...last year made) and I LOVE it. I am a MOPAR convert from Ford ...I finally saw the light...
In the 70's, though, my parents had a 4-dr. Ford LTD....talk about a boat! Nice, nice car, though, and I always thought it had great styling. It ran forever, though, but the body eventually went on it....
I'd love to own the beauty featured here. A true classic. I always liked the Imperials - especially the '65 convertible. Wow! Real class.
I really enjoyed this clip.....thank you. Peace.
Imperial was legendary. Just died too early.
I always enjoy your reviews and test drives of classic cars. It's always nice to see the new technology that cars offer today, but they don't have the same appeal and feel that a classic car can provide.
scott braden Thanks for watching! It seems that new vs old is a constant theme in these videos...
I worked for a guy that had a 1975 Imperial. His car had rear disc brakes, something not common for most land yachts of the time. It also had platinum tipped spark plugs from the factory. He kept the original window sticker, it was in the glove box.
My friend's dad had a 1957 Imperial Crown in 1973. It was awesome.
AutoMoments, I enjoy ALL your videos and am a subscriber. Good work and fine production.
Love these videos! Please keep doing them, the background story of the car model and the fantastic camera-work makes it really interesting to watch :)
MannerMan Thank you! We're so glad you like them. It's always good to hear from our fans.
Beautiful automobile and the perfect music/setting for the review. Great job.
Seeing a Chrysler like this, reminds me of my step mom. She was always into the 70s Chryslers.
Very nice video. And it does a nice job with the Imperial history.
Jon Boyd Thank you! We're glad we had the chance to share the history of such a unique car.
Bless your heart, you basically got it right - and in a world of people buying 3-ton SUVs, these cars aren't so stupid after all... Just think what kind of mileage one of these much-more-aerodynamic cars could get with modern computer-controlled, smaller, cleaner, 8-speed powertrains could get!!
Also, you were right about these fine Chryslers handling better than either Lincoln or Cadillac. Torsion bar was the way since the late 50s, but you couldn't convince Ford or GM of that fact, until they started building FWD... If I had the garage space, I'd be driving a 1971 Continental Town Car, and a 1974 Imperial Crown Coupe'! (...and maybe an Eldorado convertible for nice Summer days.)
+Mark O Thank you! We're glad you enjoyed it. And those are all cars we wished we had, too!
"Just think what kind of mileage one of these much-more-aerodynamic cars could get with modern computer-controlled, smaller, cleaner, 8-speed powertrains could get!!"
Yep. Imagine doing a resto-mod; That same Imperial with a Hellcat-Hemi and modern high performance brakes from Willwood, etc. and suspension geometry updates with performance bushing materials to replace the squishy rubber, and an independent rear end- hell make it AWD! Better yet, this thing has more than enough space for batteries for an ultra efficient hybrid with cross continent range (keep the extended range 30gallon tank!).
My Dad had one.Bless his soul.Rest Well.
My parents had a 1974 Imperial LeBaron in Pewter with Black Vinyl Top and Black Leather Interior. That car was gorgeous!
I want you to know that I have watched this several times now and I'm just about to watch it again, so I think I've had pretty good mileage out of your film so far -myself. Clevr how you tied-in the chronometer with the nautical theme !
You really have done an excellent job here and I am Well impressed with the whole way you put this together. Good job man. It's great to get a good, up-close look at one of these. Fascinating, in fact !
Thanks and this was so well worth the effort to me. Deffo one of my faves = )
MungoidHen Thank you so much! It's so great to hear from fans like you! Thanks for watching.
Great video, really cool to see these cars in motion
+MikeGuy993 Thanks! We're glad you enjoyed it!
We love you Joe! Best reviews. Your channel is one class act. God Bless :)
Legend has it, these beautiful luxo-land-yachts such as this '75 Imperial LeBaron, were issued their own zip codes by the USPS.
you sir just earned a Subscirber, I love these types of car reviews, always giving a piece of history 👍👍👍
Thank you very much! We're glad you enjoyed it!
i just subscribed as well.
My folks, in 1978, bought a 1972 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. It was white with Burgundy leather interior, had A/C, power steering, brakes, windows, locks, seats, trunk, tilt and telescope steering wheel, AM/FM radio and cruise control. It rode like a boulevard yacht and was a grand car. They had the car until 1984 when they traded it in for a Seville. Just wanted to share that. The end.
Too bad they had to trade it on a Seville. Early 70s Cadillacs are awesome! Thanks for watching!
Too bad?? Why too bad?? What gives you the right to criticize?? You never met them or spoke with them. What a putz!!!
We didn't mean it in a bad way! We just think it's too bad that everyone couldn't keep their old cars from the 70s, but obviously that's impractical for most people. Sorry, for the confusion.
I kind of liked the Seville my best friend had. It was powered by a 350 Chevy motor and looked pretty slick as the previous owner put some real wire wheels on it.Drove it to Detroit nonstop from Texas,switching drivers every few hours.It was a fun trip for two 17 year olds that had never been out of Texas!
Another fantastic video. And again, well presented, factual and entertaining! Love your vid's! -Chris
My father would have loved to ride in that beautiful car. He was born in '51, grew up around so many classic cars, and told me about them as a kid. Interestingly enough, I bought a 1991 Chrysler New Yorker late last year, so I can feel the echoes of a "boat" like this in it. Great review.
I wish I had never sold my '74 I swapped out the junk thermo-quad for an eddy and put on 8" rims with fat rubber..roll on from 50 to 90 was very satisfying and she handled like a Charger..
Ah Grasshoppa...stock carb on '74 Imperial was a thermoquad..these carb bodies were made of plastic..mine warped and there was no fixing it..got rebuilt..just as bad..swapped it out for 750 cfm Edelbrock performer (basically a Carter AFB)..ran like a top ..btw..fuck off..
those seats look more comfortable than my couch. im sure many people have fine memories of the back seats there
I do. I grew up in the backseat of Imperials. I loved those old tufted pillow top seats, both the fabric and leather options where the best of any car seat ever made.
An exceedingly nice production job, visually pleasing and informative, with intelligent and discerning commentary. Thanks much!
Wow! That's one of the best comments we've ever gotten! Thank you!
One of the car magazines, Motor Trend I think did a road test on this at the time. I remember being amazed at the 4-wheel disc brakes which they recorded stopping this incredible car from 60 mph in 128 feet.
More beautiful than the Cadillac of the ‘70 !
using kerbal space program music... its fitting because these cars made it feel like you were floating!
Crownbagavenger We use music from Kevin McLeod, but Kerbal Space Program must use music from him, too. He's great!
Nice video, excellent narration. Very informative. Thx for posting.
My dad had a 72 pine green with black landau top, a 4 door...it was our first "nice" car, my mom loved it, I remember as a 5yr old not being able to pull the front door shut because it was SOOOO heavy, I also remember the ride being incredibly smooth, like you were floating on air, and the size of it was astounding....I also remember thinking how "strong" it looked, but sleek at the same time....everything was just BIG on it, and the trunk was no exception.....and the lighted turn signal indicators on the top, front of the fenders, like little silver rockets almost....and the inside just screamed affluence.....the car was luxurious without being pompous like a Lincoln, or Cadillac....just a bit more reserved....just can't say enough about the beauty of it
Thanks for sharing your automotive memories!
Imperial's biggest problem is that Chrysler introduced it as a "Chrysler" at the start and let it stay that way untill 1955. It would be like GM making a "Buick Cadillac" then making "Cadillac" a seperate make. That's why people noticed the sharing of components early on, Because the truth is Cadillacs most popular models (the DeVilles) in fact shared bodies with top end Buicks, and by the 70's shared even more components, But Buick and Cadillac were always marketed sepetatly so they were not connnected in most peoples minds. Im a GM guy, But in truth the Imperial was the best US luxury car by all tecnical measure from 1955-1975, Sadly only people who actually tried them knew it!
+WAQWBrentwood Yeah, marketing is a tricky business, for sure. If only things would have turned out different, we might still be driving Imperials! Thanks for watching!
buick has always been the platform from which cadilllacs were built...
and the curved dash "olds brothers" provided the motors
+WAQWBrentwood Indeed the smart buyer knew that the Olds 98, Buick Electra and Cadillac DeVille were the same basic car, but we have to give GM credit for giving the DeVille it's own look (and back then, their own engines). Ditto with Ford and the Lincoln line - totally different look yet even with shared engines just like Chrysler. But overall that Imperial just seemed to be so much more formal, so crisp by comparison and definitely better handling. Now good shocks on a big GM would keep it under control - the Lincolns were just plain hopeless back then.
Aren't those velour seats nice? Better than leather to me.
srercrcr So true! They breathe better and don't make you sweat like leather.
+srercrcr I've always thought that Chrysler crushed velour was the richest looking seat material EVER! Even the velour K-car interiors were great. Call me crazy, but I love it!
snowrocket
I've got a 78 Grand Prix with crushed velour. The surface facing your back has an additional padded panel just like living room couches did then. Very comfy!
+srercrcr Oh yeah, I remember those! I knew a guy who drove a beautiful, fully loaded '79 Grand LeMans 4-door with velour like yours. That stuff is great! They don't make them like that any more. Actually, they ought to bring it back as part of the retro craze.
snowrocket
Yes, all the interior is the same. I tilt the seat back with the power seat button and zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Hahahahaha Todays cars suck unless you like dark gray...the color of death!!
Such a beautiful Imperial.♥️🇺🇸 Very underappreciated model.
GREAT bit of work. Loved it. Thank you.
1978 was anyone's LAST CHANCE to buy a "true Imperial", but only in name and badging was it changed to "Chrysler New Yorker"... Same car.
I had a very low-mileage '78 Brougham for a time... It was absolutely like new, and it was probably the most comfortable car I'd ever been in, EVER... and I've ridden in or driven almost one of everything!
Something about the size and construction of the seats in those cars, combined with the Torsion Bar suspension and the amountof sound deadening material that Chrysler used in those... Well, there was nothing like it.
It was literally like sitting on an expensive sofa, but out in the open (because of the great expanse of glass), while floating down the road, surrounded by perfectly heated or cooled air... Yet still "knowing" you were driving a car.... Does any of that make sense?😉
It sounds wonderful! Haha. These old Chrysler are something else. Thanks for watching!
Good old times, good old Cars. We must be careful with it. Love from Austria (Österreich)
Awesome video, gorgeous car!! Thank you so much for telling us all about the history, it was so interesting!!
Looks almost like my 71 Imperial I once had. Mine was green. What a car.
Clean slab right here! Love the long '70s American cars.
+eldo59 It really does have a neat look to it. Thanks for watching!
+AutoMoments Sure! I like the other vids too! Especially the green '72 Eldorado.
Thanks! That was one of our favorites!
Love the video I almost cried lol
+11094DEREK Thank you! We're glad you enjoyed it so much!
I love these cars. Glad to see yours is so clean
Thank you, I appreciate a well made video. Nice music too. Your narration is flawless.
Thank you so much! Be sure to share it with your friends!
Wow! Such a good video!!
I would LOVE to see my favourite car the Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham (1980-1989)! :)
Thank you! Be sure to share it with your friends. And we'll keep our eyes out for a Cadillac Fleetwood to drive!
AutoMoments Of course and thank you! :)
That era of Fleetwood is great, which is why I own three of them! Well, one is a 92, but it’s basically the same body with a more powerful engine.
The best American luxury car ever built , Period .
We can't say that until we've driven ALL of them! Haha. We have a long way to go... Thanks for watching!
I agree with Patrick - this was the best American luxury car ever built, you would have to drive the others to know what we're talking about.. Cadillac by then was total junk, and Lincoln was just this big billowy out-of-control-around-corners bloated piece of Ford shit! Chrysler engineering was at its best during this time, that is undisputed!
You obviously never driven a 1972 cadillac sedan deville with a 472 engine. That's a smooth ride pre-catalytic converters so it runs great on gas
We don't have to drive them to recognize big and ugly neither did the 1975 car buying public I was there. And popular cars of the time were cougar XR7 Thunderbird Lincoln mark 4 Cadillac deville. And Chrysler had styling woes throughout the 1970s they made big ugly cars.
Patrick Rogers a penstar with snob appeal
Very enjoyable video and exceptionally well done.
An excellent video road test! One of the best executions I have ever seen.
Your whole piece has a well-researched, well-written solidity to it. It uses a narrative that manages to strike the perfect balance in its tone and manner by combining the right levels of serious, scholarly and informative material with just the right amount of levity and fond irony in its tone and manner. The vantage point of today permits one, when gazing back to the '70's, license to include a bit of ironic humor/sarcasm, especially when examining the cars America built back then. But all too often it gets taken too far and fond irony morphs into an impertinant and misplaced smugness that is a real turn-off, especially when it becomes clear that the reviewer is too young to even have been alive in the '70's. But there's absolutely none of that in this piece and I find that to be very refreshing indeed.
To conclude, when one considers that this piece finds the balance I referred to above and combines that with excellent production values, and finishes up with copy that gets all its facts right while presenting these facts in their proper context, it has to be recognized that this is as good as it gets.
Thank-you for effort and congratulations, I look forward to seeing more of your work!
+Kenneth Gunnar Ramonet Thank you! It means a lot to hear you say that. We work really hard to present a creative, original view on these classics. It's much too easy to repeat the same trite stereotypes when talking about old cars. AutoMoments strives to show a different side of automobiles. It's good to know you appreciate our sense of humor, too.
More than anything, we're happy when our viewers enjoy our videos, and clearly that has happened here. Thank you so much for watching and for your kind words!
Nice video about the great Chrysler automobile that once upon a time ruled the highways and byways of North America. Those cars sure were big then and nobody ever talked about gas prices then , lol.
Rudy F Thanks for watching! We're glad you liked the video!
Rudy F
1975 was about the time gas prices started shooting up.
+Rudy F Yeah, actually gas availability AND price was a concern after the OPEC oil embargo created gas shortages in 1973 or '74. The gas price was going from $.25/gallon to $.75/gallon. Americans were generally driving cars that got 8-16 MPG around town back then. You could buy a nice car for $5000 back then.
It's sad that Americans destroyed real American cars in demolition derbies and now they're stuck with kias and Hyundais
i really hate the fact Our 'High Class Rulers' don't know s*** about cars. cars are not tv. duh
@@iMernerner We should probably dispense with the idea of rulers altogether. With rulers, we certainly aren't free.
It s called progress,Kia and Hundai have also come a long way,their cars are good,drive a Genesis and you ll see what I mean.
Don t get me wrong,I love the american iconic cars,but globalization killed the big american cars,gas prices and all. It wasn t the american people.
@InfiniteMushroom Obama didn t force any one to participate in the CFC program,I didn t.
I still own my 1974 truck....and other cars.
Giovanni Socci it’s the idea of a classic car destroyed due to his Cash for clunkers! Car guys tried to get these cars and once bought by Obama’s project they weren’t aloud to buy these cars. There are poor people who can’t afford to buy new cars so These cars could have helped poor families.
I have to wonder about the mentality of the people who are disliking these videos. The production, content and overall vibe of this channel is amazing. Love it!
Thanks for watching! Be sure to share our videos with your friends!
I just discovered your videos and they are great. it's good to know someone still respects the older vehicles. this video show class.
Oh yeah, we respect the old cars, even with their faults. Old cars are part of our collective past, and to ignore them is to ignore our history. Thanks for watching!
The 1981-1983 I consider the last Imperial, as I had the privilege of being somewhat intimate with this car in 85-86. At that time it stood out as a true testament to the brand. The crappy fuel injection had to be converted to carburetor unfortunately. It stood out. They were even then a rarity.
In retrospect the 81-83 has been forgotten, even placed in the same category as the k car version a decade later. I am here to say let’s not forget,.
Those were the J Body Imperials, basically the successor of the Cordoba when the B Body was eliminated after 79
Edit: Forgot that there was a J Body Cordoba as well. And of course the short lived Dodge Mirada was on that platform too
I owned ☝️ 1981
Calgary alberta
love these!!! miss them,,they were the best ,better and safer than the crappy smart car...
We'll never see car likes this again. All the more reason to take good care of them! Thanks for watching!
Neither of these were safer than the other. 😂
What a fantastic video! I love the old/heavy USA cars. Have had several. 1976 Cadillac Deville that rode like a dream with a 500 CI engine. Something special about cars that are made for extreme comfort. :)
Yes, these cars are special indeed. Makes you wonder if companies could build modern versions that get better gas mileage, but still are this comfortable. Seems like everything has to be "sporty" these days... Thanks for watching!
So bad there are no cars like this today.
If Chrysler was given a Billion dollars in 1975 I doubt if they would keep building Luxo-barge Imperials, they might have avoided the $400 million loan in the 80’s. Being sold to Mercedes in the 90’s, being ‘given’ (for free!) to Fiat in 2009, where it is slowly being dismantled. The Chrysler we knew in the ‘70’s is gone. Only Jeep and the pickups remain. Sergio Marchionne only wants the dealer network to sell his Fiats.
Daimler also owns freightliner and western star, some guys claim they have kinda cheapened up western star, they aren't the rough and ready trucks as when White owned them
They had $12.5 billion of there own, they didn't need it. They didn't need the government-backed financing in 1980 either. That was all showboat Lee. Chrysler was not given for free to Fiat. Fiat spent $23.2 billion getting Chrysler. What they need is to install car people at the top and stop the nonsense of hiring lawyers and accounts in top management.
A beautiful American luxury car at the end, a point when every car maker would start trying to shrink there cars and by the end of the 70's they all looked like crap.There is a very nice 74-75 Imperial for sale near me at a mechanics shop, looks near excellent, has been there for over a year. Maybe I should stop and ask how much.
+Mercury Engine You should! Thanks for watching!
ok.. so Mercury, did you do that?
A time of fabulous cars and fun time , nostalgic accurate and brilliant to watch
The moment they start building pillow seats and a floating ride experience again, they'll be a new car in my garage.
A great car but the only thing that was a problem more was that these car's were not made to handle deep cold weather and they would rust easily.
@@melvinharris7859 my point is that they were great but they were made for a good certain time and when the cold winter weather was around they were not compatible for deep cold weather.
For 1976, Chrysler dropped the Imperial name, but actually made the Imperial a New Yorker. The "old" New Yorker, became a Newport. They just moved names around. But I believe the most beautiful Imperials were the 1964, '65, and '66; with the '64 the most beautiful car ever built in this country. A strong point of the 1975 Imperial, was that it had the second best braking system of any car built on the planet. Mercedes-Benz had the best brakes, while the Chrysler Imperial came in a close second.
+Stephen Williams Sounds like you really know your Imperial history! Thanks for watching!
I thought that the 68 Imperial had a pretty cool look (Randy Quaid had one in National Lampoon's Vacation, the 1st one)
Thanks for the info. My grandfather had a blue 77 New Yorker that looked identical to this Imperial.
1975 was a turbulent year for Chrysler. Chairman Lynn Townsend was forced out and new chairman John Riccardo was handed a mess. John could not see the justification of spending the money to keep Imperial separate from Chrysler when they mostly shared the same sheet metal and other hard parts. Furthermore, a lot of others at Chrysler believed they could not keep the Imperial standard going and it was best to end the line. And they did. Imperial sales from 1974.
4Y-M YM43 Imperial LeBaron 4-Door Hardtop $7,230 Weight: 4862 Built: 10,576
4Y-M YM23 Imperial LeBaron 2-Door Coupe $7,793 Weight: 4770 Built: 3,793
4Y-M YM23 Imperial Crown Coupe $7,856 Weight: 4970 Built: 57
1975 production,
4Y-M YM43 Imperial LeBaron 4-Door Hardtop $8,844 Weight: 5205 Built: 6,102
4Y-M YM23 Imperial LeBaron 2-Door Coupe $8,698 Weight: 5105 Built: 1,087
4Y-M YM23 Imperial Crown Coupe $9,277 Weight: 5205 Built: 1,641
Great video!! Love the history lesson on this car too....very thorough and informative!!
Marven Chin Thanks for watching! We're glad you enjoyed our mini history lesson. Be sure to share the video with your friends!
I drove a 1973 Pontiac Luxury Le Mans for 33 years. Purchased new in '73. I do, at times miss the old gal. It found a good home and is as good as new. I currently drive an '06 Chevy HHR...also bought new, and have had no major problems at all...a nice "retro-styled" vehicle in today's era.
Rip mr lahey ):
23 gallon tank and about 10 mpg = 230 miles
Cost around $8,500 new
If you had $8,500 to spend on a car in 1975, you were not worried about the price of gasoline. My first house a 2 bedroom one bath on two acres cost me $6,845.67 in 1975 and those $105.67 a month mortgage payments bit hard the payments on my '77 Plymouth Volare was $65.45 a month. Insurance was the whopper, $500 for a six-month policy. In today's prices times all that by 35.
Great vid!
I recently purchased a 1974 LeBaron in excellent condition through an online auction (still waiting for it to be shipped). Much looking forward to cruising around with it.
Lengthy backstory: when I was a kid in the late 60's-early 70's, my favorite car was the Imperial because of the "birdie on the back" (the 64-66 versions).
In 1977 when Chrysler introduced the LeBaron as a mid size car, I was somehow able to convince my usually frugal dad to splurge and buy one to replace our 72 Impala. At age 11, my master plan was to have it handed down to me when I would be getting my license a few years down the road :-D Alas, Chrysler quality being what it was back then, my dad traded it in three years later :-(
In 1990, I had the opportunity to buy a 1965 Crown 4 door in very good shape for only $2000, but being just out of college and living in an apartment complex scuttled those plans, to my lasting ragret.
Finally last week I was able to fulfill my Imperial "dreams" with the 1974. A 64-66 would have been even better, but those are a bit outside my price point at this time. Maybe someday.
Congratulations on the great old car! I hope it brings you years of enjoyment.
@@AutoMoments thank you very much!
@@63besgasman So fuelish
@@toyoscio haha indeed
Love the filming, sound, car and history lessons!
Imperial had four-wheel disc brakes for 1971, Lincoln rear wheel anti-lock brakes in 1970, and GM rear wheel anti-lock brakes on Cadillacs and Toronados in 1971. Yet Mercedes still claims that they made the world's first production ABS, even though their cars did not feature them until 1978.
+Daniel McLean You tell 'em!
+Daniel McLean I believe Imperials from the early 50's also had front disc brakes, but I've been unable to find much information on the subject.
IKR
+itsmegp46 I would be shocked (but pleased!) if any production American car had disc brakes in the fifties. I happen to think that brakes are as important as acceleration. Jaguar won LeMans one year in the fifties because their "spot-type disc brakes" gave them a lap-after-lap braking advantage over their drum brake competitors. That was a racing car. Production cars tend to lag way behind racing when it comes to new/workable technology.
+snowrocket Imperial did have optional disc brakes in the early '50s (albeit a somewhat different design from today) As did believe it or not Crosley. I'm not a Crosley expert, so I'm not sure is it was across the line or just on the "Hotshot" sports model.
These were torque monsters
peter455sd Thy sure were! Thanks for watching!
+peter455sd Yeah, they were! You could casually chug around town all day on hills and never turn more than 3000 RPM. Which is exactly what most people who bought these cars did.
What a beauty! Thanks for that video, its fantastic!
HardwareTV Thanks for watching! We're glad you enjoyed it!
3 videos in and I'm hooked! you are such a great reviewer!
All right! Thank you! Be sure to share our videos with your friends!
i love real american cars !
To me, these cars are far better than a Cadillac. But then again, I just fucking love Chryslers.
Robert Baratheon If you were the type who wanted luxury but didn't want to be just like everyone else, the Imperial was the perfect car!
+Robert Baratheon Smart man!
+Robert Baratheon I'm with you on that one pal. 3rd generation Mopar fanatic and I hope my future kids will think the same.
+AutoMoments You got that right. My 82 Imperial is exactly that. What I like about it is It's not too big and not too small. To me it's just the right size. Even more so, its unique styling grabs a LOT of attention. Best of all, it pleases me to know I'm driving a unique piece of automotive history and there is a VERY slim chance I'll find a car like mine on the road. I'm just glad mine was retrofitted with the Federal 2-barrel Carter Carburetor setup. Those 81-83 Imperials had the first of a "continuous flow fuel injection system" and many bugs came with the system. Many of those new Imperial were coming back on tow trucks shorty after purchase and even after a test drive because the pressure plate in the intake manifold would cease up resulting in total engine shut down. Chrysler engineers could not come up with a solution to the problem with the fuel injection and later deemed the system FUBAR. As a result, retrofit kits to make them carbureted was the answer. However, kits ran out and not all Imperials were converted. Surprisingly, some surviving Imperials still run with the original fuel injection. But there are NO parts whatsoever for that system.
none.had
power...lincoln chrysler.caddy that order .always had.the look
My Dad was the proud owner of three big MOPARS, but I am too young to remember the first, but the second was the grandest one of them all! Yes he bought a new 1964 Imperial Crown Coupe that was loaded with beautiful dark blue leather, matching vinyl roof an light metallic blue body. It was the quietest car I’ve ever remember especially with as big a V8! A 413 Imperial Wedge it said, that had push button shift! The second one is the first car I drove with a license plus later on used as a daily driver! See when my third sibling was born Dad was forced to trade in his beloved Imperial! So he special ordered a 1968 Chrysler Town&Country Beach Wagon! With dark red three row leather seething and maroon body with the vinyl wood graining. That had a honking 440 Commando 4 brl Dual Exhaust with a tow package with 3:55 Posi traction!
You made some interesting comments in your video about the Chrysler Imperial having advanced features. Decades ago my parents subscribed to National Geographic and I remember the ads for Chrysler with the line “The Engineer’s Car”. I remember the road test comparisons of a Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial. The comments about the Imperial were similar to what you said, the other cars were more limo/isolating and the Imperial wasn’t as quiet but handled better. My uncle had an Imperial in the late 60’s and it was impressive. Too bad Chrysler couldn’t find a way to streamline Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge and continue an Imperial. I appreciate your videos of the unsuccessful cars and companies. I think the American car industry would be better off now if Tucker, Hudson, Packard, Studebaker, Frasier had found their footing and niche in the market.
I wonder if a Baron has ever driven a LeBaron......
Mr Lahey
2Legit2Quit Just what i thought!
2Legit2Quit the drunk mobile😂😂😂 rip jim lahey
Another well done video
Beautiful!!!! I remember when these were new. I miss my childhood. We had Station Wagons and Big Buicks.
1975 is the last year for great cars. Everything after 1975 is just economy, safaty, aerodynamics and all that.
We love 1975, but there's still some pretty great that came later... Just check out the other videos on our channel!
I just don't like aerodyamic cars, exept corvette c3, daytona and superbird. They have the beautiful type of streamlining. 1940-1975 american cars are my interest.
TRAILER PARK BOYS
anybody who ever drove 1 of these, would no instantly, they weren't after cad or linc. these cars, class by themselves...torsion bar suspension, super high power assist on the steering. power everything imaginable...ultra quiet, but chrysler quiet...unitized body...i can remember, just a barely audible jetlike transmission sound, that really made the car... imo....although the a/c wasn't as strong as the airtemp of the 60s...you could still hang meat in these cars...they really had a unique driver feel...vacuum fuel sipper gauge built in the left-hand turn-signal.
I’ve owned four Cadillacs:
‘96 Sedan DeVille (a beige-grey-silver color)
‘96 DeVille Concours (pearl white with white vinyl roof)
‘91 Fleetwood (white with black vinyl roof)
‘86 Fleetwood Brougham (medium-blue metallic with blue vinyl roof)
And in 1967-69 when I was an 8 to 10 year old kid, my dad brought home a mint ‘64 Coupe DeVille in gold.
I really like a nice classic Cadillac.
But next time, I’d like to find one of these Imperials to bring home. This is one fine automobile. Beautiful!