It’s hard to imagine that in the ’60s luxury cars were built with a similar level of amenities as some of today’s economy cars. The 1960 Chrysler Imperial with the Crown trim came equipped with power windows, power steering, leather seats, and air conditioning. They were the top of the line. This example is said to have 56k miles, though the seller didn’t note whether or not the odometer had rolled over. It is listed on craigslist in Pasadena, California for $12,000. Thanks to T.J for the tip.
The exterior of the car is in excellent condition and is said to be free of rust. There is limited information on the car’s level of originality, but it seems unlikely that this paint is original. If it is the original paint, the car has been extremely well cared for. The rear fin feature is a personal favorite. You can easily imagine the car parked in front of a diner back in the ’60s.
The Crown’s interior is in terrific condition and is finished in what appears to be a grey velour throughout. Again, not a ton of information is available about the car’s history but it is likely the interior was refinished at some point. The Crown model came equipped with leather seats which are not present in this example. Either way the interior presents great.
There are no engine bay shots in the listing. The car is said to be powered by what is assumed to be a 413 cubic inch V8 engine that sends 350 horsepower to the wheels via an automatic transmission. The Crown is said to start and drive well. This car is a great option for someone who wants to drive in ’60s style. It needs no work but could be a great platform for some modifications. A newer engine could make this Crown a really neat sleeper. If this 1960 Chrysler Imperial Crown is something you’d like to add to your collection contact the seller via craigslist.
Come on, you guys know this is an Imperial, not a Chrysler. Cool car, too.
Is that rust under the vinyl top in the driver side rear picture? Or is it the picture? Had a 61 413 in my 58 Plymouth and that old girl would run!!
57-73 Le Barons always had a metal insert to create the smaller rear window out of the larger windowed standard cars. This one year only, they put an asbestos rope into the channel around the insert, and then leaded over it. The rope absorbs water and swells over time – one year only “feature”. This doesn’t even prove that the car hasn’t been repainted, because filing the lead flat and painting it will result in the hump’s return – gotta excavate the 3/4″ wide channel, get the asbestos rope out, and then weld over the channel and use filler to get the surface between the very thick leaded remaining body level. A real chore!
That’s a LeBaron, not a Crown. It even says LeBaron right on it in several spots.
Thanks Tiger–the small back glass is another indicator of this being a LeBaron. Me, I’d ditch those `67-`68 Imperial wheelcovers for a set of MoPar wire wheels. It would certainly pick up the overall appearance! And yes, the interior was reupholstered but done nicely.
Correct me if I’m right, but the Imperial Crown didn’t have the “formal” roof this one does. And why yank the 413 for a newer “better” motor? Leave it as it is. They are only original once. I could see me driving one of these, once upon a time, when gas was under a dollar a gallon.
This is one of 692 Imperial LeBaron four-door sedans built in 1960. I hope it is preserved in its stock condition.
As noted by others, this is definitely NOT a Crown, but a LeBaron. Top of the Imperial line, except for Crown Imperial limousines. The Crown was a designation for a series below LeBarons. That being said, LIMITED production and overall condition make this a true survivor of an era unfortunately never to be seen again 😢. Hopefully, the next owner will give it the TLC it so richly deserves!
and about those muffler tips . .
Plus incorrect hubcaps and incorrect upholstery. Nice price though.
Just found the car to satisfy Angel’s
craving for an Imperial. Right now, the ’58 Lincoln convertible is in the works as I started laying it out this afternoon. Got the chrome bits on it
and the body is nearly done. Come
Sunday, I’ll add the wheels and tires
and find a really nice house for a background. Might hit a snag if I don’t have pale pink in my color palet.
But I’m sure she’ll like it. As for the car, it looks like the one Bing Crosby
rode around in in the movie High Time where he played an owner of a
chain of burger restaurants who longed for a college education. Great
film with a elew of classic cars that’ll
have you drooling through the whole
picture. It’s been almost 50 years
since I’ve seen it, so I think I’ll look for it on YouTube. If I can find Wings Of
Fire with Suzanne Pleshette, I know
I can find this one. Want this car though, it’s awesome!
Just saw High Time today Bing (as Harvey Howard) arrived chauffeured in a 57 or 58 Crown Imperial Limousine. On campus he drove a red sports car. Great film. Great cars, small world! 👍
The LeBaron sedan came only with broadcloth interior, in the pattern shown here. The hardtop sedan could be ordered with leather bolsters, but not the sedan. As others have noted, this is a LeBaron, and clearly says so on the front fenders. Not trying to be harsh, but there’s quite a bit of research material out there, so the mistakes in this article should have been easy to catch. Unless, of course, the goal is to get those of us with OCD who are unable to let an error go uncorrected to comment. If true, that’s straight-up evil genius stuff.
Who cares what it is, it’s a MONSTER, that most folks under 40 will exclaim. What gives, grandpa? Well, gather ’round, younguns, an old man is talking,,,zzzzz, HEY, wake up, consarnit. Okay, back then, we didn’t have fancy shmancy restraints, or big air pillows to cushion the blow. Bigger meant safer, and by that logic, this was therefore the safest car you could buy. Not much argued with this car, except maybe another Imperial. As speeds and traffic increased, it was found these actually did more damage than they saved, and cars safety was rethought. Belts, air bags, padding ( wasn’t Chrysler the 1st with a padded dash?) and crumple zones were much better than 5,000 pounds of brute force.
For most in 1960, this was as good as it got, without going foreign. These were cars owned by who our fathers sucked up to, thinking, someday,,,today, however, I don’t see much appeal for the future, except maybe, in a museum with a velvet rope around it.
Kaiser had a padded dash in 1951, but it would still give you a heck of a headache if you hit it. Ask me how I know.
Wow, what an amazing car! That dash is unbelievable. In fact the entire car is! Trying to find a factory built car with so many custom touches and such rarity and in this condition, it feels like there is a zero missing from the price.
If I was younger I would be all over a car like this is affordable and desirable just to have the pleasure of seeing it in my garage. But I just don’t have the energy or time to fully appreciate it anymore. Sometimes I just feel old.
I sure hope it finds an owner that will take it into the future with the care it deserves.
My son lives close to Pasadena, I may ask him to go check this out and see if it’s as nice as it appears in the photos. First I have to check and see if it will fit in my garage!
“Said to be free of rust…” ? What about the front of the hood?
At least 2 inside door handles are broken as seen in pics. They were pot metal so very fragile and almost unobtainium nowadays. This car’s dash had electroluminescent gages, so very striking if they work. Never saw a 60 LeBaron with the rear window seam bulging out like that before. I’d want to know more about that. And it’s weird that the seller mis-identifies this car. Hope it’s not a scam…
Has anyone investigated the legitimacy of this offering?I almost got burned recently.Love the car,don’t like being scammed.
Is that rust under the vinyl top in the driver side rear picture? Or is it the picture? Had a 61 413 in my 58 Plymouth and that old girl would run!!
Grew up in blue-collar South Buffalo, NY. Every kid’s father in the neighborhood was either a cop or a fireman, or worked at Ford Woodlawn, ‘Down Chevy River Road’ or at one of the local steel mills. Except for my immediate next door neighbor: he was a BANKER! And a VICE PRESIDENT no less! Holy man. (Note: little did we know that EVERYBODY in a bank is a VP. Could be the VP of filling the pencil cups with new pencils but still a VP!). And you know what he drove? A series of Chrysler Imperials! We felt like we lived next door to a RICH guy! As near to royalty as South Buffalo got. RIP Mr. H. And all the other guys who did their WWII duty and then came home and did their civic / fatherly duties. Great men, great memories.
It looks just like the one banker Drysdale drove in The Beverly Hillbillies.
I’m also lovin Imperials especially LeBarons. Well Doggies 🐕! Milburn Drysdale had a 62 and a 🤔 64 LeBaron,both without towering fins. Mrs Drysdale referred to these as limousines with good reason. Stock footage once showed Milburn leaving the Clampetts in the 64 and arriving at the Commerce Bank in the 62. Go figure that! Dash Rimrock had a 64 Crown convertible. Miss Jane had several Dodges. All had windshields removed to avoid glare from studio lights. Guess I’ll ride the little train to the junction at HOOTERSVILLE to remind OLIVAR why the windshield on his Lincoln was also missing and the paint was dulled. While there maybe I can get some of LITZAs HOTS CAKES. Y^all come back now! 🏰 Automobiles furnished by Chrysler Corp for advertising purposes.
When I bought my first car in 1967 gas was about 39 cents, more for premium which this one would want. But my car was a not-so-nice 53 Ford that took regular fuel, bought for $50, ran great.
Not an Imperial expert, but I prefer the ones with the pod-style headlamps.
Wademo…The Imperial pod headlamps were introduced in 1961(my favorite year) and continued through 1963.
But when Engels 64 Imperials came out, NO trace of Exners styling cues remained. Exner loved touches of classic vintage styling, while still creating his fabulous finned fantasies for Chrysler Corp. The 61 Imperials and few Final (3,200) 61 DeSotos always have been my ultimate dream cars. I would definitely like to have Santa 🎅 park this Imperial under my Christmas 🎄 😊. Even better a 61 Black LeBaron!
Rick, there was still one very noticeable trace of Exner’s styling cues left in 1964; the windshield! The stylized continental spare on the trunk was another, even the flush pull out door handles could be another. I could go on, but you see what I mean. Even with the radical redesign of ’64, there was little doubt this was an Imperial.
I have a f150 to pull the fifth wheel and i never use it unless i am hauling something, i simply do not like the drive and this big boat would get the same treatment cause , i cannot drive a bost on land …
YOLO
Happy Holidays to BARN FINDS. I really enjoy this place in the BARN. Not particularly tech savvy, I’ve gotten notices about managing my posts. I don’t really know what that’s about. My only problem is I can’t use the thumbs up button. If you could fix that without any other changes, I would really appreciate it!
It looks just like the one banker Drysdale drove in The Beverly Hillbillies.
I can’t believe how many posts went by on this car before Billyray finally mentioned the continental spare stamped on the trunk lid. I bought a 1960 Southhampton four-door hardtop 413 in 1978 for $500. Two years later it became my daily driver as my ex “acquired” my ’74 Super Beetle. ‘Can’t remember if it was a LeBaron or a Crown, but it definitely had the continental spare on the trunk lid – missing on the subject car.
The dashboard lighting was indeed a brilliant light show. Some nights I’d go out and just sit in the car for 10-15 minutes with the parking lamps on so I could gaze at it all. And the steering wheel was rather rectangular – allowing easier egress if the car was parked with the wheels straight ahead. Mine did not have A/C, nor did it have the built-in rotary-dial telephone – an option that was shown in one of the advertising brochures.
So was the continental imprint an option? I’ve never seen a ’60 Imperial
(“I-Bird” in the words of my circa 1960 friend refering to his father’s car) without one.
It was always an option from ’57-’63.
Billyray. You make a good point. There was NO mistaking The INCOMPARABLE Imperial!
GONE – Posting deleted by author.