The Imperial was Chrysler’s top-of-the-line automobile for many years. But Chrysler decided to brand it as a separate make beginning in 1955, though it was still produced alongside the other big Chryslers. The third generation of the car, as a standalone, was produced for just two years, 1967 and 1968. The seller has two convertibles from ’68, the last year for the body style. One is a daily driver while the other is a parts car. Located in Cambridge, Minnesota, this pair is available here on Facebook Marketplace, where $14,000 gets you the good one and $4,000 gets you the bad one.
1967-68 Imperials shared their C-body platform with other big Chryslers, namely the 300, New Yorker, Town & Country (wagon), and Newport. The separation would continue through the end of the line for the Imperial marque in 1975 (at that point, Chrysler must have figured they weren’t going to keep pace with Cadillac and Lincoln for uber luxury cars and focused on the New Yorker). There were only 15,367 Imperials built in 1968, including 474 drop-tops making their swan song.
The yellow car in the photos is the good one and has a running 440 cubic inch V8 paired with a 727 automatic transmission at 77,000 miles. The body is mostly solid, although some less-than-stellar work was done on the passenger side rear quarter panel. The chrome is good, as is the interior, which features new carpeting and redone door panels. The convertible top is okay, but it will need to be replaced sooner rather than later. $14,000 nets you this car, down from $16,000 when first posted.
Rather than bundle the two drop-tops, the seller offers the white car separately for $4,000. It must be in poor condition to not be marketed as a project since the seller goes straight to donor. It’s complete and should have similar equipment as the other Imperial. Besides the two cars, the seller may also have a stash of third-gen parts you can go through, too. An interesting pair brought to us by “Zappenduster”.
Here in Omaha years back we had a group of gentlemen called the “Imps”–a spin-off of the local Shriner’s chapter. My grandfather was one. Starting in `59, they each bought matching Imperial convertibles they used in parades, etc. and by 1968, they chose cars that matched the pale yellow one—with a black top and interior. When you saw one, you knew it belonged to an “Imp”. The earliest Imperial I remember my Grandfather having was his baby blue `63 cvt. Wish I had been around to see his first–a white `59 with blue leather!