The Freewheelers Car Club

Marque of the Month

Imperial
June

	was made a separate Chrysler Corporation division in 1955.
	was positioned as a rival to Cadillac and Lincoln.
	was the only Chrysler division to use body & frame construction in 1960-1966.
	was merged back into the Chrysler division in 1975.


1953 Custom	1956 Southampton	1959 Le Baron	1960 Crown	1961 Crown

1962 Crown	1963 Southampton	1964 Ghia Limousine	1965 Le Baron	1966 Crown

1967 Crown	1968 Crown	1969 Le Baron	1972 Le Baron	1981 Coupe

Imperials had been the top-of-the-line Chrysler Division models from 1926 through 1954. In order to better compete against Cadillac and Lincoln, the Imperial division of Chrysler Corporation was formed in 1954 to field a car in the 1955 model year. Imperial never outsold Cadillac, and only outsold Lincoln once, in 1957.

The 1957-1963 models were along the highly-styled Cadillac lines, while the 1964-1968 models looked much like the contemporary Lincolns. In 1969, Imperials started sharing sheet metal with Chrysler division cars, and in 1976 Imperial was again the top-of-the-line model in the Chrysler Division line.

Did You Know?

The 1955 Chrysler 300 used the Imperial grille.
The "bomb-sight" taillights were an Imperial feature from 1955-1963.
The fins of the 1961 Imperials were the tallest, two years after Cadillac's peak.
The 1961-1963 Imperials featured free-standing headlamps.
The designer of the 1964 Imperial, Elwood Engle, also designed the 1961 Lincoln.