One of the things about the coming autonomous car revolution (commencing comment section freakout in 3, 2, 1…) that bugs me is the idea that if we don’t have to focus on driving, we can devote that extra time in our day to working and being productive. Not to knock being hard-working and industrious, but considering what we’re paid for them, I think average Americans give too dang much of themselves to their jobs, and the idea of giving over even more of our precious personal time—hey, I don’t love traffic, but at least I can listen to the radio, or be with my own thoughts for a while—to work even more than we already do seems like a symptom of misplaced priorities. We convince ourselves that we always need to be busy, always need to be available to work even more when, let’s face it, 99.9% of us aren’t curing cancer, and our families and personal passions need our time, too—and our souls need that time to maintain balance. This is far from a new phenomenon in our culture, however, and for proof, reader Rocco B. has shared with us this 1967 Imperial Crown Coupe with the rare Mobile Director option package, aimed squarely at the Mad Men-era workaholic. You can find it on craigslist in Fair Oaks, California with an asking price of $25,000 (archived ad).
If $25k sounds like a lot of scratch, consider that, in 1967, the Mobile Director option added $597.40 to the Imperial Crown Coupe’s already-not-insignificant $6,011 base price. The package included a front passenger seat that swiveled 180 degrees to face the rear—incidentally the reason that this option was restricted to coupes, as the swiveling seat couldn’t clear the B-pillar on four-doors—a three-position folding table that converted into an armrest, and a high-intensity reading lamp that plugged into the rear seat lighter socket. The lamp isn’t in evidence in any of the photos or text of this ad, so I’d make sure it’s still present, but I’d be pretty surprised if it’s not.
That’s because the overall condition of this true executive express appears to be very fine. The seller, who is sadly selling for health reasons, describes the car as reconditioned, not restored; the original components have been repaired as needed rather than replaced, although the car has been repainted and reupholstered, so it’s not exactly original, either. This ethos shows well under the hood, where the 440 V8 has been rebuilt and kept very roadable, but clearly hasn’t been detailed to within an inch of its life. Likewise in the interior, where the dash and wood trim on the doors show some imperfections, but the A/C has been kept functional and the overall atmosphere is still very luxurious.
I may object to the Mobile Director’s philosophical underpinnings, but there’s no denying that it’s a fascinating (and vanishingly rare—the seller cites production figures of around 150 over two years) option, and it holds a mirror up to the culture that produced it in a way that cars don’t always do so blatantly. My question to you, though: would you pay $25,000 for the privilege of owning a car that makes you feel like you should be doing even more work than you already do?
Nice Imp but IMHO the option doesn’t make it worth asking.
When the English put a table in the rear compartment of an automobile, it is labeled a Picnic Table. Fun, adventure. The Americans do it and call it a Work Table. Gee, I wonder why it never caught on?
We already have autonomous cars. They are called Taxis. Bigger ones are called buses . And bigger still are trains. The best things about all of those is that they rid the roads of distracted morons who have no need to be there.
If the new style autonomous cars catch on I hope the traffic cameras are all working to record the fun when either the computers all screw up or the hackers make them all drive into one another like bumper cars at the fair.
Install a power inverter. A couple of laptops with headphones and you’ll never hear: “Are we there yet ?…..
Jimmy’s pushing me !…I’m hungry !…I have to pee !”
I have an affliction for big American personal luxury coupes.
Jay Leno featured one these. The desk would become my snack table at car shows replete with a table cloth, finest melmac plates and plastic cutlery.
My fare would include Schlitz or Hamms beer, brats, smoked fish and cheese curds.
Coolcar $15 to $20?
Oh yea ! Take it a notch up…crystal bud vases at the sail panels, linen table dressing as well as napkins and fine china along with a silver service/flatware set. Serve the Hamm’s in frosted pilsner glasses from the cooler in the trunk powered by the inverter.
What kind of mustard on the brats?
My dear Sir…. Grey Poupon, of COURSE!!!
As a motorcyclist I look forward to autonomous cars. No text, no talky, no rubber necking. Can’t wait. Bring it.
Like it or not, autonomous cars are on the way. One very positive aspect I see is that the interstates can be used to their full capacites in urban areas. No need to keep adding lanes and switching lane directions will be much more feasible to accommodate inbound and outbound patterns depending on the time of day. As to what it’ll do to our hobby, it’ll take an even bigger hit than it already has. If all cars become autonomous within ten years then the laws will tighten on non-autonomous vehicles in the name of safety. Couple that with a pay as you go model of use and even fewer will ever get the enjoyment of ownership. By 2050 we’ll be getting into the second generation of people who have never, or rarely, ever driven a car and private roads and old NASCAR tracks will be the only place “Those ancient barbaric daredevils” will be able to have any fun.
Rare coupe….and you have to start somewhere – higher is usually the choice….people look at kinda funny if you ask a grand….then want to go up….we had a discussion on a GTO just last night – the asking price of $21,000 was agreed on with a hand shake….about half hour the call came back – it was up to $25,000….the GTO was a pass at that price…and later sold for $17,500…
Another sign of the times. A handshake deal is not good anymore. That’s fine. Talk $%&t, take a hit. Hope your chattin’ buddy enjoyed fishing for another four grand and losing 7500 in the process.
that’s a sweet vehicle. but 25 grand dang
Not to be unkind, but to think that autonomous cars are going to solve traffic problems is slightly delusional. First, it’s been proven multiple times that if all cars go the speed limit the capacity of the road actually goes down. That increases traffic congestion. it’s akin to water pressure. The lower the pressure, the smaller the volume that can go through the hose.
Secondly, it isn’t going to take much time for aggressive drivers to figure out that if they cut in front of an autonomous car, that car will brake to avoid an accident. Therefore, those drivers will exploit the advantage. Which means you will have to have separate lanes dedicated for autonomous cars. But where is the money going to come from to support that?
Finally, when there is a collision and an autonomous car is claimed (note the operative) to be at fault, whom do you sue for fault? The owner of the autonomous car? The vehicle manufacturer? The software company? Or will we have to re-write insurance laws in all 50 states? Ignore the hype. It will take a considerable amount of time to work out all of the issues.
In the meantime, I am strongly in favor of alternate fuel cars for everyone….I mean everyone except me. Less pressure on gas prices means more available for me to burn in my 8 cylinder energy-conscious vintage cars.(Energy conscious because it takes more energy to make one new car than I will ever consume with all my vintage cars.).
I will NEVER get in an self driving car. Have you ever tried to use gps in a city? It goes haywire. And there is nothing they can do about it due to the tall buildings.
Also they never will react fast enough for real life conditions that people make while driving erratically.
Great insights John, especially on energy use. As speeds increase vehicle spacing increases due to a combination of braking distance and reaction time, remove reaction time from the equation and you can get more cars into the same amount of space. Those who will be driving independently will indeed be a fly in the ointment, hence my earlier comments on regulation of non-autonomous cars. Autonomy in of itself is a lot like trying to herd cats, my guess is we’ll see intervehicle comm systems first which will move into centralized traffic control as vehicles transition from private to fleet ownership. Yeah, I don’t care much for some of those prospects coming either but as a wise old Indian once taught me “If you can’t adapt to changing conditions in your environment you’ll die sooner rather than later”
Our Sixty Special certainly had a classier look.
Lawyer friend in rural Maine where travel time was large always had a driver, usually a retired guy, so he could work in a two or more hour trip to a courthouse. Took the front passenger seat out of a few cars over the years and put a “desk” and “car phone” there.
The driverless cars will be put in the now “car pool” lanes, without any cost for infrastructure where they exist – all over urban/suburban CA, for example. In the 60’s a study showed the most efficient speed to be 45 mph for moving the most cars beyond a fixed point on any number of lanes. It would be faster with self driving due to faster reaction time, and, no warped perception by humans who were allowing more space between cars at speeds above 45 mph than they needed to.
And, I can still ride a horse, if I want to, but not on the interstates, so I suspect I would still be allowed to drive a car, but maybe not on the interstates or comparable highways.
Charlie, not to beat your dead horse (poor attempt at humor), but the places with car pool lanes represent a minscule fraction of our total highway miles. Even where there are car pool lanes, they usually make up 25% of the total lanes available. If we take the premise that these lanes will be more efficient ( I assume you’ve never driven in Atlanta) then perhaps they can accomodate 30% of the total traffic. That means there will have to be major highway changes thereafter. But that is the best case.
If you consider a divided highway with two lanes in each direction ( yes many interstates only have two lanes), it will be impossible to segregate traffic as you suggest. Similarly for one laners, and, in lots of areas even three laners won’t be practical to segregate.
…just suggesting that technology adoption curves are usually much longer than what people predict. And that’s coming from a techie who has done 3 start up companies 😁!
A significant issue with this car is that the entire work table is a reproduction. The car is an original Mobile Director vehicle, but was missing the table and the seller recreated it.
It’s hard to pin down values for these because they are so rare. My gut says the asking price is high-ish but not extreme. It’s a fair start for negotiation.
Interesting. What gives it away that the table is a reproduction? How can you tell?
Nice car but not $25K’s worth.
The original table has two upholstered pads on one side, so it serves minimally as a center console when it’s folded and stowed between the front seats. The original has flexible plastic trim around edge of each section of the table, and the hardware is different.
And also, this car was featured on That Other Website a year or so ago, and at that time it was missing the table. :-D
This car’s table looks good and serves the purpose. But it’s not the original.
Thanks That Guy for your reply. You would think if they went to the trouble of making a repro table they would at least have tried to make it more like the original.
$10 – 15K?, Eh?
6 – 18,5 on Hagerty’s
I like the mid 60s lines (all square’n stuff, dat lill bump over the rear wheel)
Wish it wuz a Lincoln…
For the Imperial/Chrysler crowd (like me) this is an uber rare bird. I have seen only 2 of these, ever, and they were in fairly poor shape. One thing about Chryslers and especially about Imperials is that the parts are very, very difficult to track down, and when you do they cost a small fortune. It’s not like restoring a Mustang or an F100. This car could not be restored for the asking price.
Is the Mobile Director one of the coolest options ever put into a car? Eh, not really in my opinion, it doesn’t add to the driver’ joy in any way shape or form. Is it rare? Absolutely, but so was my Frank Sinatra Edition Imperial, and that plus $25 got me into the car show. But for someone who is looking for THIS car, with THIS option (and yes I know there might be 5 of us out there) this would be the one to get.