1960 Chrysler Imperial Dealer Promo Film Mopar is a registered trademark of Chrysler Group LLC. Master Tech series training materials are the property of Chrysler Group LLC and are used with permission. MyMopar.com
I can see why these film strips were effective. If I were somehow transported back to 1960 I know what I would do: get a sales job at Chrysler and enthusiastically tell prospects about the fine quality of this vehicle!
Glad to help. The title of this clip says it's a film, but it's not. When I was little, in the 70's, we used to see them in elementary school sometimes; it was cheaper to make a film strip than an actual film. Cheers!
We are so conditioned to video, we find these photo-based marketing productions primitive, even boring. Too bad because the cars they described, like this '60 Imperial, were fantastic. This film strip carries over Chrysler's obsession with Cadillac, a brand they spent millions trying to penetrate for decades, always without success, even when their cars were superior.
john Techwriter- It's true; it does seem primitive and boring at first. But a still picture allows you to examine something complex for a longer period of time. In school, sometimes my teacher would stop the audio, but leave the picture on the screen so he could point something out to us. (Boy, that was a long time ago!)
The dash board lights were actually fluorescent and had a special transformer to supply the high voltage. Each numeral and the pointer actually lit up separately.
In my days at a Chrysler dealership, the mechanics used to solder the hair like wires back onto the orange pointers with mixed results. New gauges were already discontinued from the factory.
@@06DESMARAIS He means that he likes cars with a spaceship style from 1950's.When 1960's started there were still some cars with a spaceship style untill 1963
The '60-'66 Imperial, Being built in a then bespoke plant,on a bespoke platform with a good amount of hand craftsmanship was basically the American Rolls-Royce. You could say that they used regular Chrysler engines, But Rolls-Royce at the time used basically the same transmission as an Oldsmobile or Pontiac.
'PLEASE TURN THE RECORD.' -heh heh heh Great. This sales banter is so slick and corny but it's the car itself that Really puts it in perspective. And what an exciting space-age time it must have been back then in 1959/60. A strange and magical era in the history of the auto. Love it.
Back when I was very young in my 20s, I could’ve had a 1960 imperial in perfect condition for $300 and I still to this day regret not getting it beautiful car. I wish they made them like that now.
I remember filmstrip projectors/players in elementary school in the early to mid 1980s. I immediately recognized this at the "please turn record" frame. This one played a record with the filmstrip, but the ones I remember played a cassette with the filmstrip.
While theres plenty of hype in these types of promo films (natch), Much of the info in this case was true. The rest of Chrysler Corp. cars switched to unitized bodies. The Imperial remained B.O.F untill 1966, Therfore had unique body/chassis. Cadillac DeVillle, for example used the same body as a Buick Electra and Olds 98. The only other American "production" luxury car at the time that was close to being "handbuilt" was the Cadillac Series 75 Limousines!
Jackie Kennedy had her own, private 1960 Imperial Limousin she used while living in White House. JK. allegedly adored the car . And why not, flamboyant ly beautiful.
I remember one of my uncles had one of these. Made my dad upset. He always thought Cadillacs were a better luxury car than a "!@#$% Chrysler." I can still hear him cussing Chrysler cars to this day.
1968 was the last Imperial that was totally separate from the rest of Chrysler. You see Chrysler threw everything they had in that car. They gave it the best engineering technology any car ever built. But the Imperial could never achieve the fame and prestige Cadillac and Lincoln had. Most luxury car buyers consider the Imperial to be nothing more than a Cadillac wannabe. Because of that Chrysler could no longer justify building a car that unique. Because of that the 1969 Imperial looked like a glorified Chrysler Newport New Yorker and Chrysler 300. That 1969 Imperial spelled the eventual end of that car. By 1975 the last year of Imperial it offered 4 wheel disk brakes. The only other car in 1975 that offered 4 wheel disk brakes was the Corvette. Cadillac or Lincoln did not offer 4 wheel disk brakes in 1975.
Timothy Evans That is a real shame because the Imperial was a really great car. The fact that the Imperial had to jump through so many hoops in the build process showed the amount of effort and attention to the details Chrysler put into their premium luxury product. I saw a 1960 Imperial in Illinois once and the sheer mass and appearance of the car blew my brains out. It was such a handsome car with its big grille and gullwing front bumper that I am glad that someone had the good taste to buy it. For their hard-earned money, they bought a luxury car with the constitution and construction of a tank. It should last the new buyer at least another 50 years. And that may be the greatest luxury of all.
Cornell Green Additionally, I have never seen a stand-alone Imperial dealership though Lincoln and Cadillac always had ‘em. Seemed like Imperial was always an add-on to the Chrysler for someone with some extra money.
Wasn't 1966 the last year of the Imperial on a separate, body-on-frame platform? I'd always heard that the 1967-1973 models had a stretched version the unibody shell used for Chryslers. While they were not sold through a separate dealer network, Imperials did offer more legroom than their un-stretched counterparts, unlike the Cadillac Devile, which, though stretched under the hood, had the same body shell as the Electra and 98.
@@pcno2832 1966 was the last year when Imperial was building cars ona separate body plateform and yes they were better handling cars than any of their gm luxury and fomoco luxury counterparts
By 1975, Ford offered four wheel disc brakes on the full size Fords, Mercurys, Lincolns, and Continental Marks and the Lincolns had an early form of anti lock called Sure Track combined with it, though Sure Track had been available since 1970 or 1971. Imperial did however beat Lincoln and Cadillac to the market with four wheel discs in 1974
In 2018 and 2019 it would take $850 in gas to go from New York City to Los Angeles in the 1960 Imperial, but you only go around once in life, so why the hell not!
After watching so many of these films, I have only just realised that the ding noises are alerts to change the slide, while the audio is played on a record player. They aren't actually films.
I had this exact car, Imperial Crown was my model and in black, it looked just like this. My first car and was driving it in 1977.......should have never sold it.
I saw a 1960 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron had a car show 4-door original 413 56000 MI white with a maroon Interiors second owner I tried to buy it she told me it wasn't for sale
Sorry. @1:40 and @11:00, the simple chrome body trim front fender to front driver door doesn't line up. If u going to show off your best, that's not attention to detail.
Not cost effective to build them this way and the limited clientele didn't appreciate the build care enough to respond with orders. Still wishing Chrysler would offer an Imperial to counter the GM and Ford offerings forever.
@@wallissadberry8460 , I still think that a modern interpretation of the Fuselage cars would do well in today's market. Start with the bones of the 300. Stretch the wheelbase, give it a version of the 6.4, and design it after the fuselage concept. I think the reason the whole SUV craze has gotten so popular is the fact that normal cars these days have no passenger space. I don't care what people say. I have a 12 300. Love the car. But it does not have the room of my 71 Imperial. With the tech of today, it can be done. And I honestly believe that people would buy a car that offered REAL SPACE. Think of what is out there in today's cars. Impala, no. Fusion, no. Taurus, hell no.. that thing is like a coffin.. Continental,,, nope... camry and accord.. not even close. The charger and the 300 are the only thing close. And, they still sell well. As the old ad once said, "Its time for Imperial"!
The voice of the person identifying himself as "Les Barnett" at the beginning sounds really familiar. I wonder if that's a character name for some actor. Almost sounds a little like Johnny Carson.
Nice car but, it is an Imperial which was separate from the Chrysler name like a Plymouth. The 1960 Imperial had the humpback whale fins and airplane type gauges.
Compared to the stodgy 59's with all their excessive chrome and over-styling (as in the '59 Cadillac for a very good example), this was "light" in comparison.
Notice how THIN the seat cushion is-I had a ‘59 Plymouth with the same issue. In order to achieve the lower look with the introduction of “The Forward Look” in 1957, Chrysler not only used smaller tires but took about 5 inches out of the seats. They were not comfortable and so low to the floor that I think they contributed to back problems for me.
5:12 The "high tower" seat seems ahead of its time. Although they don't mention whiplash protection, I'll bet it offers more of it than the lowback seats that were common in 1960.
This strengthens my opinion that the Imperial was subsidized by the higher production MoPar models, with unintended consequences in fit, finish and presentation details, both good and not so good. Every other photo shows a problem with fit or finish.
Poor build quality is nothing new for Chrysler Products. From the late '50s till today, Chrysler "quality" was ranked lowest in the domestic field! They did have GREAT drive trains which made them deliver high performance! I remember the '60 Plymouth Valiant when it first hit the showrooms, wrinkled headliners (they used hand-fitted cloth back then) and window sealant "putty" that would overlap the weatherstrip, which was SUPPOSED TO be cleaned off by the dealer prep people. Just plain BAD workmanship compared to GM or Ford products! Is it any wonder that Plymouth (one of the "low" priced 3") was displaced by Pontiac (medium priced car) in sales! Could NEVER bring myself to buy a NEW Chrysler Product, although they did make for GREAT "winter beaters"........CHEAP to buy USED!!
"People LIKE Imperial styling!" What a load that was! Exner's '57 '61 Imps were known as "moon goon" cars out here in California. Styling was a dud, and Chrysler lost sales to both Cad and Lincoln in those years. Even the disastrous '59 Cad picked up sales over the '58s from Imperial, as did the boat anchor Lincolns. Once the board ousted Exner and put Engel in to clean up the mess, Chrysler started turning out some real head turning designs. Then the "fuselage body" mess happened in '69, and the long, slow slide to oblivion began.
The dippy 1960 grille, washing-machine/toilet-seat trunklid and landau-roof (I've always hated landau roofs) were a little over the top, but the side profile of the car was still stunning, like some winged beast from outer space. The car had character. And the angled quad headlights on the Lincoln were just hideous.
Sorry, but the 1960 Cadillac was the best looking prestige car from Detroit for that year. This Imperial is just over the top helter skelter stylewise, including the pimpish decklid. The 59 Cadillac was more pleasant to the eyes.
Sorry. @1:40 and @11:00, the simple chrome body trim front fender to front driver door doesn't line up. If u going to show off your best, that's not attention to detail.
It's only ugly to 21st century car buyers because UGLY is what we're used to in the junk the car companies are passing off for cars today. In 1960 this was the ultimate in luxury and everyone with ANY kind of good taste wanted one, why even our soon-to-be First Lady at the time, Jackie Kennedy, had one built especially for her at the Imperial Jefferson Road assembly plant!
What is really beautiful about the Imperial is its iron constitution. The cars were built like tanks and made to last. And if you ever run into one that has sat for a long time, it's amazing how much the car wants to live again. Tragic that the car struggled in its product lifetime.
@@cornellgreen3692 Pre-1967 Imperials were the only passenger cars I've ever heard of being banned from demolition derbies for being to tough and heavy. Cadillacs only weighed more than Chevy's because of the added length and equipment, but Imperials had more iron from front to back.
I don't know which is worse: New cars, loaded with plastic air splitters and race car wannabbeee styling, or these cars, that look like George Jetson's Disneyland theme park ride.
I will GLADLY take "today's" cars instead of "stone age" engineering of the '50s, '60s cars. And, lets NOT forget "safety" of those relics, where a 20mph crash would almost certainly make you a DEAD PERSON!
classic kool No, according to Democrats and the mainstream media-oh wait those two groups are one and the same-pubic hairs are only found on Justice Thomas’ Coke can which may or may not be found near his TV room which may or may not include a collection of VCR tapes including “Long Dong Silver.” Amazing how NPR and the Democrats still make a bigger deal out of someone’s mere discussion of pubic hairs and Long Dong Silver-I’m not justifying Thomas-than Slick Willy actually BEHAVING in a certain way toward Jones, Willey, and Broaddrick. In the last instance the very credibly alleged behavior is actual rape.
In just one more year--1961, the clean, advanced 1961 Lincoln would hit the showroom, making this Imperial totally dated. In fact, it would not be until 1964 that Imperial finally got rid of the very dated, late 50's styling. Both the 61 Lincoln and 64 Imperial were Elwood Engle cars. The last true Imperial was 1973. After 1973 Imperials shared the same wheelbase and length as a big Chrysler, where as Lincoln and Cadillac still offered something special for high priced buyers.. Soon after, Imperial was done, except for a couple of weak revivals.
The '61 Lincoln was loved by the critics, but not by people who had to fit into the not-particularly commodious back seat. For '64, I believe, Lincoln gave back a few inches of the foot they chopped off the car for '61.
Cadillacs and Lincolns did it too. Cadillacs looked like 98s and Electras in the '70s and '80s and Lincolns bore its resemblance from the Marquis/LTD line. Continental took the big Fords dash in 1978 since it was in its last year's before being downsized. The big Lincolns rode on the Panther platform in 1980 until its demise. All luxury brands took from the lesser brands
This is 1961., not the 80's. Lincolns had their own body and were made in their own "Wixom" factory (with T-birds). All though the 60's and into early 70's Lincolns were clearly different from any Ford or Mercury. Lincoln was also the first US car to have a 2/24 warranty. Each 61 Lincoln was test driven on a Ford track after manufacture..
This car is absolutely hideous in every way. Unbelievable Chrysler later came up with one of the most beautiful cars ever, the "Green Hornet' Imperial of the mid 1960s
David Broughall the dealerships likely didn’t have a movie projector since they weren’t common to everyone. Filmstrip machines are much cheaper. This was meant for sales staff training
Yeah...I'd have to pass on this car. The front end manages to look both sullen and deranged while the rear end is festooned with enough gratuitous detail to make even the most ostentatious Brooklyn pimp hurl. If I were looking to buy a new car in 1960, I would walk into a Studebaker dealer and buy myself a Hawk. Yeah, there would be a thick pillar spoiling things but at least it won't make me nauseous.
Good gosh to my eye that thing drove off the ugly cliff and hit every boulder on the way down. Could it get more tacky and pretentious? It's been made much lighter for 60, was the 59 an aircraft carrier? Yeah, I'll go along with that. Sounds like he had a gun to his head.
