As this Imperial is said to be a true barn find with only 33,000 original miles, I thought it might be worth taking a closer look! It’s located in sunny Los Angeles, California and is up for sale here on eBay, where bidding is below $1,600 as I write with no reserve! I have a feeling it will go higher than that!
Unfortunately, the seller doesn’t include a full length picture of the car. Come to think of it, that might have more to do with the sheer size of this car than the photo skills of the seller! Just kidding, but this sure is a huge car! We recently featured a 1966 version that looked pretty nice, but I think this one has some real possibilities! I’m wondering looking at this picture if the discoloration on the rear fender is bad clearcoat, faded paint or just water that wasn’t quite dry after washing it off. We do know from the seller it’s not the original paint.
As the California plate isn’t black or blue, there’s no telling where this car has been before. You can see a broken lens on the passenger side front, and a few other relatively minor dents and blemishes. The stylists left absolutely no doubt what kind of car this is from the front view, did they?
The interior, if it’s original, may well bear out that 33,000 mile claim. While it certainly could benefit from a good cleaning and detail, I’m thinking that and a set of period rubber mats are all you’d need in here. The seller says the interior wood has been refinished, which has me wondering if this is real wood or fake? Anyone know?
Parts of the wood look really nice (whether fake or real)! There is no convertible top installed, but I did find one here on eBay for $359 + $17 shipping.
There’s a lot of parts that are included, some of which look new. I’ll bet at least one of you knows what all this stuff is and where it goes! I’d be doing a lot of trial and error or purchasing a parts book and shop manual.
Here’s the engine and under hood area. I’m wondering again if this is water or something else (look closely at the finish on the fender on the left in the picture). But I do see an air conditioning compressor and a new carburetor, and possibly some new hoses–all good signs! I’ll be interested in seeing how high this one goes–will you be watching it with me?
These never had a drop of clearcoat on them (at least from the factory anyway), Would be really surprised if there was more than 5-600 of these built.
Seller says the color has been changed, so who knows what paint was used?
The interior wood is Italian Walnut, and yes, its all real wood. That front cornering lense will set you back at least $200.00. It would originally been painted in Acrylic Enamel. (Its was billed as “Baking Enamel, because it was baked on at the factory). If this is the original color, it looks like Flame Red. (Paint Code “P”) (Yes, I own one)
I’d get some acrylic or lexan or what ever and some clear epoxy and my dremel tool and fix that lens. See what a cheap guy I am……
A beauty.
Over $7,200 already.
Must be the “Barn Find bump”.
A chance to get “into the hobby” with a car you can drive on the Interstates at 75 mph all day, top down, at what has to be the bottom of its market. Not a museum piece, so drive it in traffic, park at the supermarket, another little ding won’t hurt. You won’t be invited to Pebble Beach, but you can’t afford to go anyway. But you can have a lot of fun with it, do a little work on it yourself, pre computer, keep it clean and bright, and go to the local charity car shows where the only criteria for admission is the age of the car – Pre 1975 seems to be the local standard here in NH but the cars and coffee don’t care what you bring – and no judging but lots of good conversation.
Oh, BTW, They made 577 of these, So, Like all Imperial convertibles, pretty rare. (They only made Imp convertibles (postwar) from 57 to 68, and only in 57 did they make more than 1,000. 1,167 I believe)
At the bottom of the photo with the parts are two bumper ends for a ’68 model….
simply awesome! I wish I had the money to bid on this!
Keith got it – rare car but who wants them -my 68 Crown coupe came out of storage at a high rise here in Dallas – it was towed to a junk yard in 1996 with only about 24,000 showing – it was parked during the first gas crisis about 1973….one day I’ll start posting pics…put about 55,000 on it before selling it…..
Yes, it’s rare, and their not worth anything. I bought a 67 crown 4 door, for 800 bucks for parts for my 67 convertible. Drove it 400 miles home. Gutted it out to a shell, and sold the shell for 1,000 for a demo car. Engine and transmission were worth more than the car. Nobody wants them. I have 2 Imperial convertibles. My 62 is much more in demand. Everyone wants the Virgil Exners, nobody wants the Elwood Engels.
Exner was a true visionary. He pulled the legs out from under Harley Earl. He was unjustly blamed for the ugly ’62 cars. Engle lacked vision.
Keith is correct. As an Imperial fan, I can tell you that, while I personally love these cars, not too many other people give a rat’s behind. I’m not sure if it is because they were always such a low production car to begin with, or that they were produced during the Pony car craze of the 60’s, but these magnificent cars rarely get much love. On the plus side, if you’re not just trying to make a buck on one, you can get a nice, rare car for much less than an equivalent “popular” car costs. Performance of these Imps is always amazing. One downside, as to be expected, is parts availability is scarce at best, and expensive when you do find said part.
Having owned many Imperials over the last 45+ YEARS including Ghia & Factory limousines, I can agree with Keith that almost ANY trim parts are made of unobtanium, and for that reason if you do find the part, it’s gonna cost you! That said, 99% of the mechanical parts are standard Chrysler and not that hard to find. With the exception of the 4 piston calipers on the disc brakes. At least I had a very difficult time finding disc brake parts for my 67 convertible & Crown Coupe [with mobile director interior], about 25 years ago.
Kudos Bill for having a Crown Coupe with the Mobile Director option! (I doubt 10% of people even know what that uber rare option is). There was one for sale here in NJ last year but not in the best of shape and I had no place to put it.