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Awesome Interiors & Crazy Instrument Panels: The 1961 Imperial by Chrysler
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2022
- Learn more about the 1961 Imperial by Chrysler, including its funky instrument panel, steering wheel, and overall interior.
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Imperial...from an era of style, taste and class. Long gone.
It doesn’t have to be.
@@ryansharp9222 voting for trump party won;t bring those days back
@@Blackadder75 nonsense
Ye vietnam war, jim crow laws, carelessness over enviroment and safety, overthrowing goverments.
Inefficient cars that were huge. Thise were the times..
If you want style, taste and class I think you need a '61 Lincoln. Imperials of this era are more of the wacky, way-out and wild school of design.
That's not a Car --- It's a work of Art!💕
I agree James!
It’s a work of kitsch art
Indeed it is! Takes a while to just look over all the detail put into it.Amazing car.
That car looks just like my father's 61 Imperial. His was dark blue with blue interior. He drove the family from New York to California in the early 1960s. It was majestic then.
I LOVE IT. It’s like a giant pinball machine. You will never be bored driving for hours with this dash. Just wow
What do you drive? A Kia? A Chevy? A Mercedes Benz?
Pfft! Those are all varying degrees of boring... I drive a Pinball machine!
Seriously the best way to describe these....and I love them.
These Mopars were truly "over-the-top"! They were so unique (and odd, even). In some cases, their oddity was their attraction!
As the owner of a 63 Imperial Lebaron 4 door hardtop , I can assure you that it only requires a few miles worth of driving to become accustomed to the square shaped steering wheel . The reason for them was that these were the days before tilt columns , and the shape of the wheel made entry - exit a little bit easier .
Totally agree. my 58 Bel Air steering wheel is so big (manual steering) i could barely get my skinny legs under it until i relocated the seat mount back about 4 inches from factory holes.
I had a 63 LeBaron and I regret letting her go
62 Chrysler 300 with the ASTRO Dome dash. Very cool.
Yes! And the swivel seats helped for those larger folks.... And those without use of legs in the passenger seat AND, later, when hand controls became mainstream for those paralyzed from mid-chest down, that innovation was sorely missed.
Give ya 50 bucks ya let me drive it
My dad had a 61 Fury in emerald green and I can remember my earliest memories are of sitting in that car and loving the interior. I wasn't even 6 years old and it made me car crazy for life!
I distinctly remember running my hands over the different textures and thinking everyone else's car looked plain and boring. That era of Mopars was amazing.
Mopar got auto push button drive right.... none of these modern cars do it in a sensible way(okay, the one's that use a dial make sense, but I digress). Look at the Aston Martin DBX, they spread the buttons all over the top of the dash, instead of keeping them in a neat and tidy cluster within easy reach of the driver.
@@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785Agree - to a point. It was his first automatic, and my dad would have trouble with the buttons locking up when you engaged a gear sometimes.
Oh boy, there’s nothing like the fun 60’s American game of “how many sharp and metal bits can we stick in the dashboard to cause maximum pain in the event of a crash”! I LOVE IT.
I have two 1960 Chryslers and a 1960 Imperial. Two of the best instrument panels ever.
My aunt had a 1961 Chrysler Saratoga with the Astrodome instrument panel and a squarish steering wheel and push button transmission selector. That was a wild looking car with that interior and the rear wings.
I'M SO HAPPY TH-cam RECOMMENDED THIS!!!;)
What great instrument panels they built back then. Great car. Great show.
My Dad had a loaded 1960 Chrysler Windsor coupe with the fake spare wheel cover on the trunk. With a 383 cu.in. engine, it was really fast! Red leather and fabric interior with swivel seats made a white car stand out. But the dashboard with the bubble ‘Astradome’ instrument cluster was out of this world!
61-63 Imperials are simply put: rolling artwork and one of the best built cars in the world at that time. Thank you Adam, you're efforts are greatly appreciated.
Their build quality struggled in comparison to Lincoln and Cadillac, but they sure were beautiful.
I grew up in the 70's and remember my dad talking about a Chrysler convertible he owned that had a push button transmission control and a speedometer that used a rolling drum. I never saw a picture of it, but I imagine it looked something like this interior.
A monument to excess! I love it! The push-button panels seem to carry the shape and angle of the exterior tailfins to the interior. Genius!
I always thought these instrument panels were weird, but this has given me a new appreciation of them. Hopefully you can add one of these cars to your fleet.
Yes, I had an Imperial that actually used to get light frost on the vents with the A/C on full blast!
When folded flat they were the defroster vents. Chrysler didn't really mean it, but by folding them down and punching the Cool button and turning the heat control up you could dehumidify the hot air aiming at the windshield like modern cars with AC do.
I had a Metallic Emerald Green 63 Imperial Crown 4 door as my first car. As your video mentioned, people are astonished at the dashboard layout, with its push-button control and futuristic cockpit layout. It is indeed beyond description.
The AstroDome instrument panel in my dad's 60 Chrysler was gorgeous, especially with the "Panelescent" lighting.
Chryslers of that era had my favourite instrument panel - the electroluminescent dome. It was futuristic, yet very elegant.
BTW, as interesting and sculptural as this Imperial's styling was, I think the '64 was a gorgeous new approach.
Totally agree on both points!
Hell yeah, the Astro Dome! My fave as well. I knew I wouldn't have to scroll far to find it mentioned.
Yeah, I was going to say that my favorite was the dome. They are so beautiful especially at night.
@@scooterdover2771 Electroluminescence!!!!
My Dad had a 1960 Chrysler Windsor with the dome. I always thought it was the best design too!
This is awesome. The dash and interiors on most 40-60 cars are amazing!
I really loved the Imperials in their day.......they had half the worlds chrome production on them. Beats hell out of plastic, doesn't it, folks? Looking at the instrument panel, you get the feeling that you could land that baby on the moon.
1950's space age styling for sure.
"Beats the hell" out of your skull in an accident, but it is way cooler than, for instance, the Fisher-Price look of a typical '90s dashboard.
Man, you are so correct concerning the danger of those dashboards. I can still remember the first car I had with safety features. My '57 Ford had the padded dash and the dished steering wheel. I put in seat belts and I was glad I did as I had a serious accident that totalled the car and I walked away from it without a scratch. That probably would not happen in the Imperial. You make a good point.
@@tomnekuda3818 I have a vintage car - a 1964 Chev. You drive them very, very carefully. There is virtually no regard for occupant safety at all - but they had teams of engineers on fin design
you haven't been to a plating shop lately....
The 1962 Imperial has the illuminating lighting system that glows and the orange needle on gauges lights up. I have a 62 Crown 4 door with 75,000 actual miles and has a quite 413 engine.
Also, a power antenna with radio has the floor button to change the stations on the AM Radio that comes on like a vintage TV. Thanks for your video!
The 1958 Edsel with the Teletouch transmission buttons in the steering wheel hub, as well as the rotating drum speedometer, is another car with an awesome and crazy instrument panel.
My uncle owned one Imperial with all the gadgets available from the higher-end model. The car was donated to the car museum for display since it was in immaculate condition. Love this car.
This brought back a memory. In the late 70s, I worked at a gas station in northern Ohio. I mostly pumped gas and did tire repairs but occasionally had to shuffle cars between our full service bays. One customer had a 1962 Imperial that I got to briefly drive. Metallic light blue with light blue cloth interior, it was in immaculate shape, especially for a 15 year old rust belt car. It was loaded but I was blown away by how some features were implemented, even compared to the late 70s Imperials & New Yorkers. I've seen handfuls of that era Imperial since, at various car shows but certainly not an every day sight.
I worked a Shell station as my first real job on the south side of Indianapolis during the oil crisis🤔.
Good times for me.
I have always found the 62 Imperial one of the most beautiful cars ever built. I would love to own one someday…
The coolest luxury car inside and out!
Stunningly beautiful. Car is a work of art both inside and out. Friend of mine bought this car when we were teenagers in 1979. Black with red interior. We called it the Bat-mobile. Thanks for posting this and bringing back fond memories. 😀
Man I miss the days of different colored and interesting interiors on even basic cars. My moms 1993 Ranger XLT had a blue interior all over.
My current Sportage SX has a triple colored, tan, black and sunflower yellow leather interior.
This is really unique. My favorite dash is the 58 Olds 88. The arched speedo and all the chrome controls are brilliant!
I remember the dash of my 1953 Olds 88 fondly but my favorite was the dash of my 1959 Roman Red Impala Sport Coupe with factory air.
An aunt and uncle of mine had a '62 Crown and I just loved that dashboard as a small boy. Thanks for the video!
My Dad had a 1963 Dodge 330 which had the pushbutton transmission (and heater controls on the right side of the IP that mirrored the transmission controls). It was cool, it was easy to use, and it never had an issue in 15 years of ownership. I often wondered why the other automakers didn't follow. It certainly was a conversation piece, and it impressed everyone.
It was a bit awkward to operate for some. You can operate the normal column shift almost without looking. The push button required an intent glance.
My dad's '57 Imperial, as I remember, had a separate "park" lever, which when you slid it down the entire height of the gear buttons, would also engage the parking break(?).
Also, I seem to remember the letter "N" was shift to "neutral" (obviously), but when you pushed N in, it would crank the starter motor.
My dad told me the reason Chrysler got rid of the push-button transmission was because of government contracts. It seems that the government told Chrysler they had to go back to a column shifter because GM and Ford were column shifts and it was too confusing for employees who used different makes to keep switching back and forth between the two. Dad had a friend who was a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer, and I think that's where he got his information.
My uncle did too it had a slant 6 engine and he had it for 25 basically trouble free years.I can still remember the sound it made when it was cranking over.Anyone from that time will know the sound of a chrysler product starting
g.
@Eric Ruud _... Park sliding toggle began in 1963 ..._
Thanks for the info. Since I was at my dad's garage a lot, I may have conflated one model with another. (Plus, I was like 10)
Cool. The 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz had an amazing dash too
I find it really cool that Chrysler implemented features found on concept vehicles, most notably the push-button gear selection, and that squared off steering wheel. Those are design ques that wouldn't become common until today's vehicles.
the space-ace steering yoke on the all-new lexus rz450e's is a bit dis-conserting.
And modern vehicles push button layout is just plain stupid....look at new Aston Martins. They spread the buttons all over the dash instead of keeping them nice and neat in a cluster where only the driver can reach them.
My grandpa was a doctor and in the fifties had Imperials and I remember those terrific interiors.
Absolutely gorgeous
1961 was such a fine year for the Imperial.
Grandma's eyeglass frames had sparkly pointy style to match her ride
Ha! I remember those "cat eye" glasses women wore back then!
1960 to.1962 Chysler cars with the famous Astradome electroluminescent dash board is beautiful especially at night. 1965 Chryslers were pretty nice too. For a more modern basic dash. I loved the way the dash and instrument panel was set up on my 1972 Mercury Montego MX. The instrument panel and layout on the 1980 to 1983 Datsun 200 SX was also a beautiful sight at night.
I agree the 61 Imperial had a very impressive instrument panel. But I owned a 61 Newport that had the Dome style instrument panel, and I've never seen an instrument panel since that was as beautiful at night.
With that soft bluish green fluorescent light that Lit the gauges and speedometer with the pointers being a bright orange fluorescent.
Stay tuned
Adam, as much as I love your channel, I think I enjoy even more how it brings out all the like-minded car guys in the comments! I read the comments and feel like I'm in a bar with a bunch of old friends! Cheers everyone!
this is piece of art
My mother had a 1961 Imperial Crown. Beautiful car. I well remember riding in that car sitting on the center arm rest. That was in the days long before seat belt laws.
My father had a new Chrysler Imperial LeBaron every year from 1950s and early 60s. My sister and I lived like royalty when I was young. We had a nanny and a special Belgian guard dog which was seated between us as we were driven anywhere. We weren't allowed any friends until we were in our mid teens in the 1960s. No hippies lol and our father strictly was the head of our household. I miss the 1962 LeBaron most. It was my favorite. So shiny! I thought it was amazing and those rear lights fascinated me. The headlights were the same as the 61 and 63, but overall, I loved that car best. The smaller rear window gave it a limousine feeling too.
I think this instrument panel is an interesting design but, I was always fascinated by the one used on the 1960 Chrysler New Yorker. I loved the way Chrysler chose to wrap some of the gauges and knobs around the steering column.
Agreed. That driver's portion of that dash, the Astrodome, was technically advanced in a useful way with electroluminiscent backlighting. But more than that, it was maybe the last and best rocketship fetish fantasy. Matched with the high back driver's chair, swivel seats, squared off steeting wheels, double columned pushbuttons. it was Chrysler's attemot to be different, if not better, in all ways, all confronting the driver every time the car was used.
@@billwerick Chrysler had a lot of really great designs but, what ruined them for me and for millions of Americans was the "Torsion-Aire" ride. Most people wanted a soft, comfortable ride. I had a 1969 Imperial. I know how they rode. My mother had a 1957 Dodge Coronet 500. Both cars were unduly firm. We know now that high-speed accidents are on the rise. That is because cars are race cars now and not built for comfort. If cars are going to be designed to race, people will race them. Motor Trend was aware of this in one of their issues from the late 1970s when they gave the figures for the death toll between German and American drivers. In that issue, they quoted a 1% death increase in Germany and a 1% increase in the accident rate in the USA. In other words, while Americans had a 1% higher accident rate than the Germans, the Germans saw a 1% higher death rate because of speed. Ford knew this. G.M. knew this. Chrysler knew this too.
Me?
I'd rather set the cruise control on my 1976 Fleetwood to 70 MPH and float to my destination.
I liked the description of the dual AC system. It sounds like you go from scorching summer day to cryostasis in a matter of seconds.
America, baby.
Cool!!!
I love the outrageous space-age instrumentation and steering wheel of a 1960 Dodge Pollera!
The steering wheel that isn't round was an option.
That dash and steering wheel is the most alien and most awesome I've ever seen, by far. An absolute work of art.
How this was possible without CAD is beyond me. I have a tremendous respect for the designers of that era.
Nice job on an AWESOME car. Exner Style.
What a beautiful interior when you sat down on a seat in those day's it was bliss.
Great story on the 60-62 Chrysler instrument panels! Having owned a 61 New Yorker 2Dr Hard top back in the 80’s as a daily driver they really were quite magnificent especially at night! Always loved taking road trips at night with that unique bluish green glow..
That instrument panel looks like it's straight out of Captain Video's car...I love it!
Another most enjoyable posting; I'm glad that I found your channel.
This car will worth millions soon.
Adam, your are better than Wikipedia. 😊
...thanks Adam...I owned a 61 4 door Imperial in the late 80's, and you are spot on in your love of these cars......hope you find a nice one, at some point.....
I remember as a kid looking at that crazy interior….I still love it. Thanks for the memories!
Yes, my aunt had a 1959 Crown Imperial and the air conditioning was the best. I don't know if it had dual A/C but I remember having to wear a sweater. I was 6 in 1959.
Two A/C units, one under the hood the other in the trunk.
So glad you took up this subject! Dashboard designs in the late 50's and early 60's, especially Chrysler's, can only be described as true works of art. It astonishes me to this day how they could have de-volved from such beauty to a decade later of having the most absolutely BORING dashboards in the entire auto industry [JMHO]. Would love to see more video's like this. As Mr Gatz points out, the "electroluminescent Dome" idea was another amazing piece of automotive artwork. As were some from Ford, Lincoln, Cadilac and some other GM cars of the day. i suppose in one way we are on the verge of a new revolution today with a complete dash of wrapped LED [whatever] screen(s). Too bad they cost more than a house!
I never experienced one of these in the flesh. Most flashy Mopar I ever rode in was a late 80s Chrysler Fifth Avenue. Carpet was at least an inch thick and lots of chrome and burgundy velour. It didn't disappoint compared to Cadillac/Lincoln of the day.
The dash has tail fins!
Always admired this car as classic, beauty and Stylish
That drum type speedometer was definitely thinking out of the box!
Great video as always, Adam. The best way to describe that interior is space age. I think George Jetson would have loved it.
So many cool instrument panels available prior to 67 when everything went plastic my favorite is the 62-63 midsize mercury meteor with so much chrome you needed sun glasses, it had the strip speedo and a full complement of round gauges for the oil, fuel, generator, Temp etc plus the dash lights were blue
My favorite panel as a kid and perhaps now is a 62 Olds. Gorgeous deep dish steering wheel, everything chrome, with a multi-layered 3D panel on front of the passenger! And the drum speedo that went from green, yellow, to red was stunning to me as a kid! Totally agree about 67! Everybody switched to cheap plastic and/or fake woodgrain! Cadillac was the worst offender of them all!!
Nice Video! Love all Imperials. 1959 is my favorite, with '61 in second place. I did own a 1960 decades ago, and loved it.
Dad had a 62, beautiful. One of a kind steering wheel, push button transmission.
I have a 1961 Imperial Crown Convertible, black with red interior. It is a rolling piece of art, and definitely gets a lot of attention.I have a bit of work that needs to be done, like a cracked windshield, which broke my heart when when it happened, and a few other things that need attending to. Lately my progress has been a little slow, but true...
A great choice! What also amazes me about these interiors is the overall level of quality -- quite good for the day, and befitting such an expensive automobile.
Detail at its finest. And nothing like Old Skools
The magnificent Imperial LeBaron Southampton at 1:51 looks exactly like the one I restored for my best friend back in the mid 90s. At first I thought that was a photo of his exact car, but the visible gray interior would tell me no. His was a dual air car, and you are so right about it freezing you out on a hot day. The only deviation from original on his car was the seats. His interior was black leather with gray cloth seating areas using SMS-sourced 1960 Imperial Crown cloth with beautiful crowns on a cross-grid pattern. It was stunning. The black dash shown looks exactly as his was. The only option I was never able to get working properly was the cruise control.
Another very interesting video Adam. Thanks!
A tie or runner up to the 1961-63 Imperial instrument panel would have to be the 1964-1966 Thunderbird. Several two tone combinations are really beautiful, with the darker color in the full width cove of the instrument panel.
The designers were obviously allowed a free hand.
Automotive art, never repeated.
American Art Masterpieces, all these high end, 50's through 60's jobs.
The 1961-63 Thunderbird interior was at least as good if not better. And the 1958-60 turned the high transmission tunnel of a very low car from a sow's ear into a silk purse.
My father had the same car. When the fins came off, I thought it looked sleeker. Love the pod headlights. It was a tank that drove like a rocket ship
I wish they bring those classic beautiful design styles back. I rode them as a child but not as a proud driver and owner of such a classic beauty.
When I was a child I had an uncle with a collection of 60's Imperals and Studebaker's. The push button transmission always impressed me.
Such a great era for great looking cars that became Classics. This was a beauty to behold and if you owned one in 1961, your dad was wealthy, and you had no shortage of buddies.
Ozzy Nelson drove one of these in "Ozzy and Harriet." I don't know how anyone kept their eyes on the road with all the distracting technology displayed on that instrument panel. Really enjoyed this one!
He was a band leader, what the hell.
That's why he didn't go to work in the morning time.
Most people don't know that.
Nicely done summary. My grandparents had Imperials from 1957, 1961, and 1965. My grandmother was the primary driver so the cars didn’t see many miles and living in the Bay area they didn’t rust away. I remember being enthralled with the ‘57 as a five year old. So many buttons! You didn’t mention a couple of unusual touches: The turn signals on the ‘57 used a rocker switch on the dash. Why? To start the ‘61 you turned on the ignition and pushed the neutral button in the transmission control pod. The ‘65 was the boring turn the key program. I drove the ‘65 but was too young to drive the earlier versions. Good memories of special times visiting grandparents.
6:40 My dad had a 1964 Chrysler 300K 2DR with dual AC. It was heaven on a hot Florida day!
What a car! Thank you for posting!
That is a busy dashboard but that periscope in the middle is the coolest feature 👍✌️
I became an instrument designer by profession later in life beause of the panels on this car that my grandfather had. I used to sit in there for hours trying to figure out how everything controlled the car. Memorized it all. And the art of it as well.
Another fun and entertaining video...thanks!
When I was very young, between 6-9 years old, my wonderful Dad owned a 61 Imperial sedan, in black with red leather interior. I remember sitting on his lap holding the square steering wheel before I got too big when the 61 was new. Then Dad tried a new 64 Lincoln, but that stranded the family twice and Dad once, so he traded that back in on a new 64 Imperial Crown Coupe that was gorgeous!
BMW E39 had a perfect dashboard, angled towards the driver. It was also a dream to drive, handled very well. 10/10
Nice, thanks for sharing. I like the 61 Chrysler dash.
Hi Adam.
I always loved the 1955-84 Imperials, even though I own a 84 Cadillac Coupe deVille RWD
(HT 4100 long gone), the early 60's Imperials is my favorite, and I am with you. These Imperials has one of the best equipped good looking dashes, and beautiful hand crafted interiors of any luxury car, but my all time favorite dash is the 63 to 66 Bonneville and Grand Prix dash with the wood grain, chrome trim, grab handle, the push button climate control, and the 3 gauge pod, and my favorite interior is the Fleetwood Talisman with the rear bucket seats-full consoles. I got to ride in one and I haven't seen another interior like it before or since.
What replaced the trash 4.1L?
In those days, in addition to the destination, cars were about the Journey ... thx for the memories
Amazing is the word for that dash design! Looks like something out of a 1950's science fiction movie.
Very cool beautiful cars especialy the interiors. Good vídeo thank you
I had a gorgeous black 1962 lmperial LeBaron which I kept like new until I sold it in the late 90s. A very interesting item you failed to mention is that the instrument panel has no bulbs . All the instruments were illuminated by a new method called "electro luminesent" which were 5 layers of different paper thin materials that illuminated when supplied by 200v A.C.power supply located in the dashboard . The owners manual even warned you not to poke around with your bare hands under the dash for fear of shock .
I never had a car with a more beautifully lit and crystal clear instrumentation , like it was in "3D" !! My car had every option offered , pwr vent wind. Electric dimming rear view mirror . power everything and dual Airtemp AC . Just as a side note , I still have a flawless 1954 2dr Chry Imperial Newport with all options offered at that time including the first offering of "Airtemp AC" , which after 64yrs blows ice cold with F22 -- from rear shelf forward , no draft !! Im now 86 and I owned many imperials over the years and also still have a beautiful 74 LeBaron . BTW, the 74 Imp is the very first American sedan to have 4 wheel disc brakes which when tested by Motor Trend , out stopped a Lincoln and a Caddy from 60mph by 56ft . 131 versus 157. It was only equaled by a Mercedes sedan which was 1000lbs lighter .
A few more tidbits . 1949 thru 1954 Crown Imperials were equipped with 4wh disc brakes !!! And now you know !!
Amazing what you could for your money back then. That instrument panel was an atomic age masterpiece.
A buddy of mine in the old southwest side of Detroit neighborhood, bought a metallic aqua with a white top '61 convertible in '65 for $1,200. It had only 19,000 original miles. This car was something else and I remember sitting shotgun for the first time in complete silence & was in awe of the interior. It looked like something out of the Twilight Zone. Great times with some great rides.
That wheel caught my eye right off the bat
I had a buddy in high school that had an early 60’s Dodge truck with the push button transmission and I thought it was so cool at the time. I was a freshman without a license and he would let me drive his truck to get donuts. It was a win win for both of us.
Thank you for this genuine over the top, ‘damn the personal injuries’ (lol), astonishing instrument panel. I’ll chuckle heartily for the next while over your observation of the vertical turn signal indicators. I just would not have thought of it, but now enjoy considering it. 😂 Thank you for what you do……