When I was 23 yo I found a car exactly like this that had a for sale sign on it. It was an old farmer that had bought it new. It was 1977 and the old man told me he would let me have it for $200. I couldn't hardly give him the money fast enough. The car was in excellent shape both inside and out. Not a scratch on the paint and it was a creamy white. I forgot what the real color was called but it was very close to the car in the video, if not the exact same. He told me that there was a bad oil leak under the hood but did not know what was wrong even though it started right up. When I turned the wheel I knew exactly what was wrong. The power steering pump had a bad leak. I went and bought a repair kit and in no time it was repaired. After I cleaned that side of the engine it was mint. There was absolutely no oil leaks anywhere under the hood or the car. The interior was in mint condition also and the car had 46K on the clock. I cleaned the car very well and polished it up and it looked like a brand new 1960 Imperial Crown and it drove and rode like it too. The only negative about the car was that it only got about 13mpg on the highway and about 10 in town. But if you pushed down the passing gear in it and let it shift by itself you were hitting almost 95 when it shifted ot of second gear. The big old girl would absolutely fly down the highway.
@@sableminer8133 He wasn't any dummy. He was a good old man who thought he was helping a newly discharged veteran to give him some wheels to run around in. I had been knowing this old man for many years and worked on his farm quite a bit plowing fields and harvesting rice as a 14 y/o teenager.
@@FumariVI No I do not. I guess I was tempted too many times and sold it to buy another Mopar a few years later. I still see it every once in a while mostly at local car events. The guy I sold it to went through the car and had it professionally detailed and it looks and probably drives like a new car. It is beautiful and I get pissed at myself for letting it go.
i saw one in a kinda salmon color. i remember 1974-1975 imperial LeBaron then 1976 Chrysler new yorker got moved up same look as the LeBaron until 1978 but 1969-1978 nice Era.
Imperial topped Lincoln in 1957, the only time in its brief history. By 59-60, Imperial sales slumped to the usual 12-16,000 units. I owned a '59 back in the mid-seventies. Loved that car. The gauges/speedometer cluster was beautiful and radiant.
I just bought a beautiful 1964 Imperial 2-door Crown Coupe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! It sat since 1979 in a garage! I’m actually rebuilding the Front End & Rear End! 👍
Typical Virgil Exner glorious excess! There was an elderly lady in my hometown who drove one of these in an almost obscene metallic mauve. Great memories. Thank you!
In my 65 yrs I've only seen 1 on the road.A family @ our church in 67 had one w/ the fins w/ the taillight hanging from the fin,colored in a nice pale yellow.As luxurious as any & at least as big.I think the 73 Imperial was the longest passenger car @ 234 inches or just short of 20'.
I love your channel so much. Bless your heart. I can totally understand why this car appeals to you. Look at its happy face! For me, born as I was in ‘64, with a dad who spent his time fixing cars for people after hours, I look at this as some whacky fever dream. Why were cars so extreme in their styling in that conservative era? Me, I loved our ‘59 Buick that resembled a Batmobile but I also liked its replacement: a Chrysler station wagon because of its modern-looking station wagon. Still, that ‘59 Buick was for me the apex of style.
1961 was the last year for the big fins on the Imperial. The 1962 had them clipped off with taillights mounted on top of the quarter panel. Last year for the separated taillights. I just bought a Dawn Mauve 1960 Custom Southampton, which as you mention is the base model. Mine has the mauve cloth and vinyl interior and is well equipped. I see this one has Auto Pilot with the control in the dash at the base of the steering wheel. These cars are considered a semi unibody by Chrysler with the full frame being unusual that it is a very thin and wide section under the passenger compartment so that it doesn't intrude like GM and Fords full frame cars. The 1960s are under appreciated which means there are good deals for people that like them. Just get a good one as they are very hard to get parts for. This one is lovely, thanks for sharing it.
They were recognizable fins in '62. '63s 'flatlined' with taillight strips atop. 1964 film 'Where Love Has Gone' has Susan Hayward fleeing in a '63 to kill herself.
@@nicksgarage2 Ah, thanks. My car is in primer, however, you can see the original colour on the glove compartment lid and steering wheel etc. I love the colour and also the metallic pink featured in the 1960 Imperial brochure.
Fascinating as a period piece, but not what I would call an attractive car. Moving into the so called Age of Camelot a new, fresher, younger approach is the direction other car makers were moving. This car has too much of the esthetics of the 1950s about it. Consider what a Lincoln Town car looked like 61-63. Then consider what a 64 Imperial looks like. It's clear they were chasing after Lincoln's coattails. It could be that Exner was fired because Chrysler's BOD thought he was looking backwards rather than forward where design was concerned. Just a thought. Interesting car. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend.
You summed up my thoughts, too. "Suddenly, it's 1960!" was replaced with "Suddenly, it's 1965!" when the '61 Lincoln hit the market. Of course, VW continued to flourish well into the 1970's with "Suddenly, it's 1938!" designs.
@@donswier VW had an unusual and new niche market. Virtually all younger and very few older for whom VW represented something too damned German. Memories of WWII lingering in their minds. America's youth were suddenly affluent post WWII and VW was smart enough to go after it. Affluence among the young was something completely new and those youthful buyers wanted something all their own that was totally different than mom and pop's big square sedan. Affluence and rebellion and VW cashed in on it. What better way to piss off mom and dad than by buying something small, round and made in a country that mom and dad's brothers just died defeating in a global war. Humorously those same rebels got married and had kids and quickly learned the value and absolute necessity of having a larger US made car. You have to laugh. All this proves how very wise and true are the words of the late William F. Buckley. IF YOU ARE IN YOUR 20S AND NOT A LIBERAL YOU HAVE NO HEART, BUT IF BY THE TIME YOU REACH YOUR THIRTIES YOU ARE NOT A CONSERVATIVE YOU SIMPLY HAVE NO BRAIN.
-If you look at a lot of Cadillacs and this Imperial, you see two headlights on each side with a prominent shroud. Especially on the Cadillacs, you see in the middle a prominent rounded body colored hood bulge, that tapers down to meet the grill. This reminds me of a parade with the President or other VIP in an open car, the bald forehead of the VIP being the hood, and the headlights and shroud on each side evoking police on motorcycles wearing helmets. I think they did this to signify that a very important person was coming through. This sounds silly but people subconsciously respond to this sort of thing. To this day you still see front end automotive design aping persons faces or a visage like the above. Today, a lot of SUV's convey "safety" by purposely large and scowling front ends, rather like the gargoyles that were installed on medieval churches to ward off evil spirits.
‘60 Imperial is my favorite of the finned Imperials. Fred Astaire owned one, too. By the way, it was the ‘67 Imperial that went to unibody construction.
@Eric Ruud I would like to find a ‘66 LeBaron just for that isolated quiet ride. I think the also moved the motor mounts closer together for ‘66, to further reduce engine shake.
The two giant binnacles in the dashboard each have a "spike" sticking out toward the driver -- those are the turn signal indicators. For a left turn, a bulb in the tip of the left-land spike blinks, and the other spike blinks for a right turn. The sales brochure for the 1960 Imperial calls the steering wheel a "steering ellipse."
Nice styling touch for the indicator lights. The actual control, on the other hand, was a different story. I understand from a "Motor Life" article published back in the day that the control for the signals was placed on the dash, purely for symmetrical aesthetics, and making it much harder to get used to. If people today don't use the flip-lever which is the standard, just imagine how many would not use a dash-mounted turn-signal switch to signal their turns.
Even before the downsized 1962 fiasco, the designs of Virgil Exner were getting farther from beauty and even bizarre. Note the grill of the 1961 DeSoto, and his proposals for ASYMMETRICAL cars. The asymmetrical cars, in sketches and models, were the most horrid things ever conceived!
I dunno, I think it was BECAUSE of his funkiness that this old hippy artist really appreciated about his efforts. It was like a period where anything goes and it was just crazy
Those trim pieces on the roof give the illusion of doors which cut way into the roofline. Interesting how the emblem is in the center of the rear seat-back, while the the one in front is on the driver seat because of that giant armrest. I don't care if I sound like a lout, but I would've stowed the console and speaker in the trunk, for the show. I hope you will do a feature on that beautiful blue Buick! (1967?) Its slab sides rival Lincoln's. Those always looked long and low and beautiful going down the street. I think the late '60s full size Buicks were the most elegant out of the GM lineup. And in keeping with that theme, I'd love to see a feature on that '70 Country Squire, with its crazy radio to the left of the steering column.
Interesting (?) story about those drivers seats. My parents owned Chrysler products exclusively from 1950 through 1988. In all those years, the one and only seat they found uncomfortable was the high backed driver’s seat in their 1961 Dodge. Both said it gave them a backache! Mom was 5’6”, dad was 5’7”. Maybe that had something to do with it?
My uncle had a pink '61 once owned by Doris Day. I saw it mid-1980s in Canada where he'd shipped it during a move. Tailfins to extreme, planned so the lights could hang off them.
Love the channel and how you stick to classic American cars, nice to have a channel that reviews cars I grew up with and even owned, took my driver's Ed class in a 1977 Chevy Monte Carlo, parallel parking was a challenge especially with the opera windows and mile long hood, though it did handle the 305 surprisingly well
I love these. They are one of my favourite cars and I’ve always wanted one. A few years ago I bought a blue 1960 LeBaron four door that needs full restoration but I wanted it regardless. It is one of only 999 made and is a great companion to my project 1960 Plymouth Fury sedan (I found via RU-vid channel Carcheology) , my 1960 Windsor sedan (from RU-vid channel Adventures Made from Scratch and a 1960 Chrysler Windsor pillarless wagon that was converted into Ambulance duties in the Detroit area. So, a full box of Virgil’s finest.
The one thing that helped save some of these Imperials is they were outright banned from demolition derbies. Because of their double frame they were deemed to have an unfair advantage.
Exner’s cars were artwork on wheels. The 1960 is my favorite Imperial. I find the design to be very clean, nothing would I change. I miss the flair of that period. In more recent times cars, although quite amazing in what they can do, more resemble appliances .
..hi Adam..you're certainly getting some good mileage out of that car show....that Imperial was a beauty...I owned a 61 and a 64 at the same time back in the 90's, though neither was as remotely nice is that one...still, they were great cars......
Sorry Adam, but they did not outsell Lincoln. 1960 IMPERIAL SALES 17,707 (total) 1960 LINCOLN SALES 25,126 (total) But as always, thanks for another great video.
I've got a Tom McCahill story for you from my childhood. In 1949 Cadillac and Oldsmobile introduced their OHV V8 engines which used hydraulic lifters for the first time, to my recollection. GM advised its customers that they had to use detergent oil in these engines, and that the use of non-detergent oil would void the warranty. McCahill was then writing for Mechanix Illustrated magazine and he tested the new GM V8 cars. He stated in his article that detergent oil was just a sales gimmick, and that owners should feel free to keep using non-detergent oil. Many of McCahill's readers took his advice because he was supposed to be such a car authority figure. Their hydraulic lifters and camshafts failed; GM refused to repair their engines under warranty; and McCahill backpedaled from the issue in a manner that would have made Muhammad Ali proud!
Wow, this really reveals something about Tom McCahill. I enjoyed his style, but I always wondered about him because he was always so "folksy" sounding in his reviews. I can sympathize with his being looked on as an "authority". I always wanted to be one. I know many times I have run off at the mouth when I was sure that I knew something I didn't. lol
Remembering Jacqueline Kennedy's White House limousine, it was a black 1960 Crown Imperial that was lengthened and upgraded from a stock Imperial by Ghia in Italy. I think Mamie Eisenhower probably used it first.
Great review of the 60 Imperial…One of my favorite “Forward Look cars from Exner….Loved my 61’ New Yorker 2dr Hrdtop…These cars handled quite well for their time with the torsion bar suspension…Thanks again and always appreciate and enjoy your videos
I have to say, if I were forced into picking a car from the befinned '50s that was *not* the Continental Mark II, the 1960 Imperial would be my top choice. It was the best-looking of the Imperials from that time; and unlike most cars of that period, somehow it looked slim compared to the obese contemporary monstrosities. True, most cars by that year were starting to adopt slimmer looks, but the oversculpting and the extraneous styling-only fins offset that slimness. Yet, it seemed to work well for Imperial. I read in an article in 1991 that Chrysler actually adopted fins for a purpose other than pure styling. After conducting some experiments, they discovered that fins could contribute to aerodynamic stability, the first such (re-)discovery since the Airflow (and shortly afterward, Zephyr) days of the Depression. Plus, Virgil Exner, Sr., designed those fins to look like they were intrinsic to the overall construction and not tacked on as afterthoughts, like nearly all others did...and his pioneering of curved side glass on Imperials starting in '57 gave more to the overall look that could help those Imperials move past the decade they were built in. Flat glass is just so bland, so '50s...so *OLD.* On the other hand, finding one that hasn't gone through terminal cancer is the real challenge, never mind the very low production numbers of that year. That was what really sullied Chrysler's reputation, which it never fully recovered from: Every '57 and '58 Highland-Park car, from Plymouth to Imperial, rusted with a vengeance, something the buyers discovered right at the time the flash recession of '58 came crashing down on the U.S. economy. By the end of that year, only about 1 in 10 buyers who switched to a Chrysler product from a rival make in '57 would have thought about buying another Chrysler product. But, enough history. I find the '60 Imperial to be one of my top non-Lincoln choices of vintage car, especially an example of this one with its B-pillars. However, that turn-signal switch would have to take some getting used to; it's not a flip-lever like all other cars have. It's a toggle on the dash, placed there strictly for dash aesthetics. Even "Motor Life" back in the day criticized that setup.
Regarding the designs of the 1959 Chrysler (Corp.) products, Virgil Exner was still recovering from a heart attack. He wasn't yet able to sign off on the finished products.
Great looking car! Algorithm boost! May I post a link to my late father's 1958 Plymouth Suburban? Some may enjoy following along as I get it back on the road. Thank!
I have an inate fondness for Imperials, but in this case it's for car as caricature (same for the 58-60 Lincolns and 59 Cad, but to a lesser extent). The 60 Imp however is my least favorite, (the 61 is god awful, but so bizarre you have to love it). Imperial did not outsell Lincoln in 59 or 60 for the model year (or 57 for that matter as is more widely claimed). The Continental division had been folded back into Lincoln, so you have to include the Mark IV and Mark V respectively in production count.
What an terrific beauty the front says in a subtle way get the F out of my way while the back says oops I farted but you didn't hear that and the interior I fell asleep on like a baby in a cradle! Imperial's were the Cadillac of Chrysler😁
Forgive me please Im sooo sick of people doggin on mopar. Chrysler is an American institution. One of the staples of the modern America economy..and btw ... Nissan wishes it was the Chrysler of Japan..
Imperial always tried to b cutting edge w/ their style.I think by numbers comparison they built A car as big & roomier w/ all the luxury options as Linc or Caddy.But by 61 when Linc & Caddy cleaned up their style Imperial didn't fair as well.Most cities have Lincoln car clubs where you'll see old suicide slabs adorning the roads.
Loved many of Virgil's Forward Look cars. The Dashes on these Imperials, and other Chryslers of that era, were Electroluminescent Dashes. They are quite unique. Love your channel. Keep up the good work!
Truly, a magnificent ride; you ramp-up a busy interstate in this thing, folks just move out of the way in deference... you don't even need to gun it. I think Jackie Kennedy went to her husband's funeral in the Ghia limo version of these things... an even more beautiful automobile... 100% class, as though the car were tailor-made for her.
Impressive Imperial, however I prefer the understated 64-66 model years. The 60's tail lights are beyond cool but, in between is the toilet seat cover.
The car is a beautiful timepiece. In my opinion, weird and ugly. Why did they approve the later designs od Extner? Someone had to see the designs going in the wrong direction and sales falling. Not good business sense.
This year was so much nicer than the '59, and the '61 had those ugly inverted fins/lights. Period mags said the front end looked like a cowcatcher, and of course this has the famous 'toilet seat' on the trunk lid. The massive dashboard with its "panelescent" lights was the best of the '60 luxury cars. Check out the brochure on Old Car Brochures, including a beautiful woman at that dashboard using a radio-telephone! Amazed that Mopar stuck with that turn signal lever, as the car mags uniformly condemned it through '63.
I wonder if, as in '63-4 Rivieras, the headlight specs were not finalized yet? Front-to-rear car balance had shifted from '57-9, but the grille looks a bit fill-in and Dodge Dart-ish.
My favorite car of all time! Thank you for taking the time to talk about this car! Yes they were their own brand until from 55 to 1975 and again in 81-73. The 60 imperial was the only mopar that was still body on frame while the rest were unibody construction. The silver roof inserts were available on crown models as the “silvercrest” roof option along with a plethora of other appearance options such as the rear flitesweep wheel hump on the deck.
Yes, there were many knowledgeable engineers in the auto industry who believed that unibody construction would be the way of the future (go figure!); they weren't only at Ford. On the other hand, most of those "unibody" cars weren't true unibodies; they were body-on-frame cars, the only exception being that the body was welded to the full-length frame, as opposed to being bolted on; it was that difference alone which would reclassify them as unit-bodies. It would make some sense, as that would be the cheaper route of addressing the construction of the future back then. TRUE unibody construction was very expensive, especially if you were talking about anything bigger than a Volkswagen...like Ford's two main examples, just in that year. Sure, over time that cost would be diluted by amortization and sticking to the true standard for unibody construction...but in the late-'50s they had to ease into it at the start. Well, except for Ford, of course, but you know how that is.
This is by far my favorite year for Imperial, front end is clean and modern. The interior and amazing duel luminous dials with the center point on each the L/R turn indicator. The air conditioning vents look like something the old luxury steamer had for intakes. Just beautiful.
Honestly Adam, I don't know what is cooler: This 1960 Imperial or Tyler Hoover's 1949 Cadillac. And this comes from a die-hard Porschephile... Great video!
It's a shame Hoovie got another restomod Though it is a cool car and the wizard fixed his a/c Can't wait for a classic breakdown though it isn't as fun as watching an expensive high end German car doing it's inevitable expensive breakdown
@@althunder4269 I thought his buying BMWs and Mercedes Benz was ground breaking in that it broke the German luxury car myth of well engineered dependable cars. Though they are well engineered it's their reliability and repairability that he brought to light was his shining moment
@@hynestimothy411 Was there ever a myth German luxury cars were well engineered and dependable cars? I never thought they were. Hoovie decided to go upmarket with his channel and it ruined it. Plus, he never does any work himself, the wizard does all the repairs and Tyler writes a check.
I would like to see a good video on the 1960 Chrysler Windsor, my first favorite car. With that cool domed instrument panel, push button controls with green back and segmented lighting. Including the 383 "Golden Lion" engine. The 300 is very similar.
Love the open taillight rings. I wonder how many pedestrians got clipped by them... I also love the symmetry of the controls - transmission buttons match the heating buttons, turn signal lever matches the fan lever.
I've always wanted a car from my birth year 1960. I've heard the big downfalls of these cars are the body rust and the "One stop brakes" that fade almost instantly
I inherited my parents ‘64 Imperial LeBaron. I had it a few years until I sold it in the mid 80s. The man who bought it used it in a demolition derby! I wish I had never sold it!
IMPERIAL’S Roadability was FAR AHEAD of its Cadillac and Lincoln competition. Those cars leaned heavily on curves ,bottomed out on bumps, dived on braking, and aimed skyward on acceleration. IMPERIAL DIDN’T . It cornered FLAT and predictably. It drove more like a European Road Car, then a wallowing American Luxury Barge. IMPERIAL was clearly the DRIVER’S CAR among American Luxury Cars . It had ADVANCED FOUR WHEEL DISC BRAKES and ANTI-LOCK BRAKES at a time when you couldn’t get EITHER on Cadillac and Lincoln. IMPERIAL was the FIRST Production Car in the WORLD with POWER STEERING and CRUISE CONTROL, Curved Side Glass, Transistorized Radio and more !! It’s a shame that Cadillac and Lincoln are still here…while IMPERIAL is GONE.
Thank you for the ACCURACY of your presentation. I grew up with Dodge (1950 Coronet Deluxe), DeSoto (1955 Fireflite 2-door hardtop), Chrysler (1954 New Yorker Coupe, 1964 300 Convertible was my 1st new car, 1967 300 hardtop and 1973 New Yorker Brougham) and Imperial, (1952 Town Sedan,1966 Crown 4-door hardtop and 1975 Le Baron.)
THE MIGHTY CHRYSLER IMPERIAL for 1960. Claimed itself "the most carefully built car". It wears its perpetual grin as though just being an Imperial was enough
My uncle had a '61 4-door sedan ('Dusty Rose', a today term), once Doris Day's car. Fins here show taste but '61 fins, shaped so taillights could hang down, looked extra silly at time of the fad dying.
Not a bad impression of Tom McCahill! Old Tom was pretty much in Mopar's pocket, and bought? a new Imperial every year. Until the unibody cars came out in 1967. He didn't like those AT ALL!!
They were simply Sooo flamboyant. With 1961 being the penical of outrageousness surely Liberace would love. Talking about celebraty Jackie Kennedy had her own personal 1960 Imperial Limousin. She allegedly adored it. Pictures of 1960 Imp. Limo at White House can be found on internet.
Beautiful land yacht. I agree, it would look better as a hardtop. The sedan treatment is a tad heavy and clumsy looking. The 1960 Lincoln was hideous. The ugliest Lincoln ever---to be followed in '61 by the most elegant, clean slab-sided beauty that has never been equaled. Great video. I miss all those American beauties. An era long gone.
Upon that visual overview of its interesting steering wheels’ flow-up then down-in fashion, had me questioning whether Citroën copied Imperial or, Vice versa?
