Imperial was the luxury car division of Chrysler, and the 1957 model year marked the first year that Imperial utilized its own platform. This set Imperial apart from every other Chrysler division. This 1957 Imperial Crown hails from that first year of the new platform, and you will find it listed for sale here on eBay. Located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, it is being offered for sale with a clear title. The seller has set an opening bid of $8,750 for the Imperial, but there is also a BIN option of $12,500 in this No Reserve auction.
This Imperial doesn’t look too bad, but it is hard not to like the look of the Virgil Exner “Forward Look” styling. The car looks to be quite solid (as far as we can tell from the photos), with very few rust issues to deal with. The seller states that the floors are solid and that the only notable rust is in the passenger side rocker, and in both rear wheel wells. If that’s all there is then it’s a good start. Another feature that I like on this car is that it has been fitted with the optional “FliteSweep Deck Lid,” which gives the deck lid that faux continental look.
The interior looks quite good, and it certainly comes loaded with all the goodies. The Crown was the mid-level vehicle in the Imperial range, but that didn’t really mean that it lacked for anything. The seller identifies a couple of very minor glitches with the luxury items, but it seems that virtually everything operates as it should. The car is fitted with power windows (one window is slow, and one switch is faulty), power seats, power locks, and a power antenna. The car is also fitted with air conditioning, and while the system appears to be complete, it currently doesn’t blow cold.
The seller is a bit unclear on the history of this car, but I believe that the car had been sitting for an unknown period of time before it came into his possession. He believes that the car may have only traveled a genuine 32,000 miles, and quotes oil change stickers dating back 20 years that show an oil change at 27,000 miles as possible proof. The seller has gone to some effort to revive the standard 392ci engine and seems to have been quite successful. The engine sports new points, plugs, plug wires, gas tank flushed and a new sender unit fitted, and the carburetor has been rebuilt. The seller states that the car runs and drives well, and not only are there no oil leaks, but the engine maintains good oil pressure, even when up to operating temperature.
The Imperial Crown represents a lot of car, and I know that from experience, there are going to be plenty of readers who would love to have this car sitting in their garage. This one needs a bit of work, but on the face of it, none of the work looks to be either difficult or expensive to complete. Considering the work that’s needed, would this be a car that you would like to have in your garage?
Gosh, this would go well with that restomod camper from a while back.
Hilarious photography. His aim reminds me of the way I shoot trap.
Mark, he certainly demonstrates a knack for capturing certain details from some of the most peculiar angles. In spite of that, looks like a great old Chrysler with an iconic Hemi.
You shoot trap with an ’80’s 110 camera filter?
The last 392 H E M I I pulled out of an Imperial, the oil pan had 3/4″ oil sludge in the bottom of the pan. The oil pickup screen was completely plugged leaving the bypass hole as the only source for oil flow. Non-de-turd-gent oil had been used since new.
A thorough teardown and cleaning with new rings and valve seals, and a full flow oil filter mod and we were good to go.
Neat car. A landmark for MoPar.
Will the metal frame for the power lines be available also. Very prominent in picture. Houses for sale, maybe. Oh wait, an Imperial is for sale. Custom or Crown? Too fuzzy. No serial prefix
Great car……..392 hemi and first year of torsion bar suspension.
Wow. I love this car.
I would love to own it.
Too many cars already.
Wife would have me committed if I bought it.
The 1963s were the last year of this basic look. Amazing it looked all new and advanced in 57, and dated by 63. The 1964 to 66 models were on the same platform, but Ellwood Engel did a pretty nice job modernizing it.
You reckon Bob C, Engel ruined a beautiful flowing, sweeping style ‘one of a kind car shape’ and made the 64’s and onwards look horribly like the square boxy Lincoln which he designed before he left Ford, no ‘sweeping style’ with those, about as aerodynamic and stylish as a house brick !
Seems to be a mis-match in color from the doors forward or to the rear.
Oh my! It’s a Mopar! Automatically add 20k to the price because it’s a Mopar! That’s what one of those Mopar fans would pay right? Just saying………LOL!
Oops! my mistake! It has a Hemi so add 40k to the price…..silly me…..lol!
Then it would be the same price as a 6cyl Chebby Bel Air with four doors and a powergag trans.
Back when cars had style and class….
This cars worth every penny! Coolest looking car of the 50s
Don’t listen to Keith ,I think he drives a fiero!
Touché…..LOL!
HAAAAAARRRR! Good one Keith.
When I first got my license in ‘64 a neighbor had a ‘57 Imperial for sale. He wanted $750. That was way over my budget and I wound up buying a ‘58 Chevy Biscayne. I wish I had the money for the Imperial. It was a beauty.
Coupe there too….low production but there are a lot around minus the engine…the one we had in the yard made it out like that towards our closing.
“there are going to be plenty of readers who would love to have this car sitting in their garage”.
I already have one in my garage for over 30 years….
Wow!
If your ever ready to sell that beauty, please let me know.
Pete, that is beautiful! What a work of art!
This is an Imperial, NOT a Chrysler!
You’re right Michael, they became Chryslers in 63, they put the small gold Pentastar badge at the bottom of the left front fender directly below the external rearview mirror.
The 59 Cadillac looks 10x better! That’s why Cadillac out sold Chrysler
5 to 1… And that’s coming from a Mopar guy! I own 10, 1970’s Mopars(Trucks and Muscle Cars),
But also have a couple ol Cadillacs in the collection.. If you’re a classic car person, you’ll love MANY brands!
Cad outsold Imperial because it was cheeper to buy……but it also rides like a bucking bronco and lacks the sophistication of the imperial.
WOW! What a day I already bid on one car,I won’t get, and then I see this one.
I would treat this one just like the other one. I wish I had more money than time, I love this car.
I like the rear and I like the front but no so much together. I always thought these looked like a car run up under the back and sort of jacked the rear half up too much towards the front. Car w ell worth the money and the buy it now is well in line. 5-6 years from now this will be a 30k car.
D*mn! ‘ Had a ’60 Southampton four-door hardtop. Dragged it out of a West Virginia barn for $500, and drove it for a couple years. 413 in that car. Greatest pleasure was climbing into it at night, turning on the parking lights and gazing at the incredible light show that was the dashboard. After a bad divorce (are there any good ones?) I needed a driver, so I sold the Imperial for $800 and thought “what a good boy am I…”. It needed some mild rust repair and paint, but what a dream! That was 28 years ago. OMG, ‘ wish I still had it!
I had this exact car almost even down to the color.
Mine was a Two Door Southhampton Crown. That is what it said on as the model on my small California pink slip.
That is one car I wish I had kept. I was young and stupid and not ready to care for such a beautiful car.
I have had Cadillacs, along with Imperials and Continentals. Imperials were put together better. Frames were boxed, not an open channel. The word, better engineered comes to mind. Imperial and Continental experienced changing of name-assembly plants. Chrysler-Imperial and Imperial. Lincoln-Continental and Lincoln or Continental. Buyers got confused. I have owned Imperials and Continentals. Higher class of vehicle for their respective eras.
A truely beautiful car makes the cadilac of the day look like a barge. I’d also love to own this car sadly that’s not happening a guy can dream though.
Neat car need a lot of parking space
Truly amazing that on Barn Finds ..(as well as elsewhere)..people offer cars with factory air that doesn’t blow cold or doesn’t work at all. Unbelievable. They want to sell the car ? Go fix the A/C ! Many sellers consider buyers to be naive and stupid.. NOT all of we potential buyers are stupid.
I own this car now. It was purchased from West Mifflin and transferred out to Salt Lake City. It has its fair share of issues due to the previous owner and years of neglect. The non-functioning AC is way down on the list.
Congratulations Randall! Virgil Exner will be remembered in the annals of automotive history long after the guys at Cadillac (whoever they were) disappear from those very pages. The unbelievably sought-after contemporary Cadillacs, in my view, were simply exercises in the realm of hideous excess. Same team must have been behind Oldsmobiles and Buicks of the period. But whereas Olds and Buick improved with the new designs of 1959, Cadillac soldiered on with acres and acres of bulbous excess sheet metal. It wasn’t so much the fins as it was the rest of the car. It wasn’t until ’61-62 that Cadillac design turned the right direction – at least for my tastes.
I’ve always appreciated good design no matter the automaker. This Imperial kind of sticks out like a sore thumb with my three Pontiacs (52 custom wagon, 55 catalina, 57 safari transcontinental) but it still trips my trigger. Now if I could just figure out all of the electrical gremlins, I’d be set.