Imperial (1955–1956)
| Imperial | |
|---|---|
 Imperial Custom Sedan
|
|
| Four Door Sedan (1955) | |
| Production period: | 1955-1956 |
| Class : | Upper class |
| Body versions : | limousine |
| Engines: |
Otto engines : 5.4 and 5.8 liters (250–280 hp) |
| Length: | 5692-5768 mm |
| Width: | 2009 mm |
| Height: | 1554 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 3302-3378 mm |
| Empty weight : | 2070 kg |
| successor | Imperial (1957–1963) |
The Imperial from model years 1955 and 1956 is a luxury vehicle from the US automobile company Chrysler . It was the first model Chrysler offered under the newly established Imperial brand in 1954 . The vehicles were available as sedans and coupes and were marketed as Newport (factory code C-69) in 1955 and as Southampton hardtops (C-73) in 1956 . The model family also included the Crown Imperial (C-70). The first Imperials were stylistically and technically related to the other, much cheaper standard vehicles of the Chrysler concern, but were equipped with higher quality. They competed with models from Cadillac , Lincoln and Packard .
background
At the beginning of the 1950s, the Chrysler Group was set up on four tracks. In the upscale market segment, the group entered with the Chrysler brand, including the Dodge , DeSoto and Plymouth brands. Unlike General Motors and Ford , Chrysler did not have an independent brand in the upper class at that time. This segment was instead served with high-quality variants of the Chrysler models, which were more expensive than the Chrysler Windsor , Saratoga and New Yorker models and were sold under the Chrysler Imperial name, which had been used since 1926 . The fact that these models belonged to the Chrysler brand, which also belonged to the mass manufacturers, was, in the opinion of the management, a hindrance to sales, because the name Chrysler was given less appeal than, say, Cadillac or Lincoln.
In 1953, the group therefore decided to make Imperial an independent brand starting with the 1955 model year. Unlike Cadillac and Lincoln, Imperial hardly distanced itself technically and stylistically from the vehicles of the other group brands. The similarities were intentional. Chrysler hoped that this would give the other group brands a boost to their sales for the cheaper, high-volume models.
In the first two model years, Imperial sold a total of 21,716 sedans and coupés; In addition, there were approximately 400 Crown Imperial sedans. Cadillac sold nearly 300,000 vehicles in the same period, and Ford's luxury brand Lincoln had 78,000 cars sold.
Model description
technology
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The Imperial had a box frame , the construction of which largely corresponded to that of the Chrysler Custom Imperial from 1954. For 1955, Chrysler engineers had initially shortened the wheelbase by 3 inches (76 mm) compared to the previous year. With the introduction of the 1956 version (C-73), the wheelbase was again extended to the level of 1954. The length of the vehicle grew accordingly. The suspension of the Imperial was similar to that of contemporary Chrysler, DeSoto and Dodge station wagons. The front suspension consisted of double wishbones with coil springs, the rear was a leaf-sprung rigid axle. The Imperial from 1955 is considered to be one of the first American automobiles with standard disc brakes .
In the first year, it was powered by an eight-cylinder V-engine with a displacement of 5,424 cc (331 cubic inches) of the Firepower type . The combustion chambers were hemispherical. The performance was given as 250 gross horsepower (SAE). In the 1955 model year, this engine was used in Chrysler's top model New Yorker in addition to the Imperial ; the vehicles of the other Chrysler brands had smaller and less powerful engines. The eight-cylinder Cadillac engines were exactly the same size and had the same power. In the 1956 model year, the displacement of the Imperial eight-cylinder increased to 5,801 cm³ displacement (354 cubic inches); the engine output rose to 280 gross horsepower (SAE). The engines were connected to a three-speed automatic transmission as standard in both years; In model year 1956, she was first through buttons on the dashboard ( push buttons controlled).
construction
The body of the Imperial was a design by Chrysler designer Virgil Exner . It followed Exner's Hundred Million Dollar Look , the name of which indicated the total volume that Chrysler had invested in the redevelopment and design of all Group vehicles for the 1955 model year.
The 1955 and 1956 Imperial shared its body with the top models from the Chrysler brand with a 100 mm shorter wheelbase. In the area of the front end, including the fenders, and behind the B-pillar, the Chrysler New Yorker and the Imperial were almost identical; the rear doors of the four-door sedan were even interchangeable. The longer wheelbase of the Imperial compared to the Chrysler New Yorker was reflected primarily in the area of the front doors; the imperial doors were correspondingly longer.
Outwardly, the Imperial differed from the Chrysler New Yorker mainly through decorative elements. A special feature was a radiator grille that was divided into two halves by a wide metal bar. The radiator openings on both sides of the central bar were rectangular barred. The regular Chrysler models did not have this pattern; only the sporty Chrysler C-300 took over the radiator grille and the chrome grille. The front indicators were in chrome attachments on the bumper, which, when viewed from the side, reminded of Dagmar Bumpers . The front design was perceived by contemporary viewers as being emphatically European. The design of the Imperial rear was independent: the gunsight taillights were not integrated into the body. They were in chrome attachments on the rear fenders, which looked like "retrofitted artillery". The tank filler neck was hidden in the right of these attachments. The Gunshight taillights remained with the Imperial in 1956. While other models of the Chrysler group received attached rear wings, Exner put through an unchanged rear design for the second model year of the Imperial "in the interests of clear lines".
Exner borrowed some design details such as the design of the C-pillar and the torpedo-like rear lights from the Chrysler K-310 show car presented in 1951 .
Body versions
The Imperial was only available as a closed vehicle. Only one example of a convertible was produced as a prototype. There were several body versions to choose from:
- a four-door sedan, the 1955 Four Door Sedan and 1956 as Southampton Hardtop Sedan was called
- a two-door coupe that was named Newport Hardtop Coupe in 1955 and Southampton Hardtop Sedan in 1956 .
Crown Imperial (C-70)
Right from the start, the brand offered the Crown Imperial, known internally as the C-70, as an extended representation limousine. In the 1955 and 1956 model years it had a wheelbase stretched to 3,797 mm and was 6,192 mm long. Technically and stylistically, the Crown Imperial resembled the brand's short Southampton Sedans. However, it had a third, fixed window between the rear doors and the C-pillar, and the C-pillar was shaped differently. While the Southampton Sedan had a rear panoramic window pulled into the sides of the car, the C-pillar of the Crown Imperial was wide. The rear window was much smaller than on short models. Unlike the regular hardtops, the entire roof section of the Crown Imperial was not made of metal, but of plastic. The Crown Imperial was offered as a six- and eight-seater; the eight-seat sedan had two folding seats in the rear. There were hardly any changes in the model year. It is true that the Crown Imperial took over the eight-cylinder engine, which has now been enlarged to 5.8 liters; Apart from that, nothing changed with the representation limousine.
The Crown Imperial of the 1955 and 1956 model years was the last representation sedan that the Chrysler Group produced itself. From 1957, the Italian bodywork manufacturer Ghia took over the production of elongated limousines on Imperial chassis. From 1957, Crown Imperial stood for the middle equipment line of the regular Imperial models.
Imperial Parade Phaeton
In 1956 three open representation vehicles appeared, which were designed in the style of the contemporary Imperial models. They were intended for use in public parades. These vehicles were first built in 1952. They used the chassis of the 1952 Chrysler Imperial Crown sedan, but had a completely independent body. They were designed as dual cowl phaetons , i.e. H. they were open vehicles with two separate rows of seats, each with its own windshield. Initially, one model each was stationed in New York , Los Angeles and Detroit . In late 1955, the vehicles came back to Chrysler. There they were overhauled and given new bodies to match the current Imperial models. One of the cars continued to be used in parades; In 1969, for example, the Apollo 11 crew drove with him through New York City. Another example was taken over by the Hotel Imperial Palace in Las Vegas , and the third vehicle was repeatedly used as a set in feature films.
production
| Model year | Imperial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 door coupe | 4 door sedan | Crown Imperial limousine | total | |
| 1955 | 3,418 | 7,840 | 172 | 11,430 |
| 1956 | 3,637 | 6,821 | 226 | 10,684 |
| total | 7,055 | 14,661 | 398 | 22,114 |
literature
- Sarah Bradley: Imperial Highway. Classic American, March 2001 issue.
- Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980 . New York (Beekman House) 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2
- Stanley Opatowsky: The Eagle Spreads is Wings . Classic American, August 1975, p. 4 ff.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980 . New York (Beekman House) 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 , p. 387.
- ^ John Katz: 1955 Imperial . Special Interest Vehicles No. 129 (May / June 1992), p. 52.
- ↑ Time Magazine, November 15, 1954, p. 100.
- ^ NN: Imperial LeBaron. Chrysler's Largest has a Stylish New Look . Car Life dated July 2964.
- ^ Stanley Opatowsky: The Eagle Spreads is Wings . Classic American, August 1975, p. 5.
- ^ A b c Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980 . New York (Beekman House) 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 , p. 392.
- ↑ Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980 . New York (Beekman House) 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 , p. 104.
- ↑ a b Gerald Wilson: The Hundred Million Dollar Look: Chrysler for 1955-56. www.allpar.com, April 2012, accessed November 17, 2016 .
- ^ A b c Stanley Opatowsky: The Eagle Spreads is Wings . Classic American, August 1975, p. 10.
- ^ A b John Katz: 1955 Imperial . Special Interest Vehicles No. 129 (May / June 1992), p. 53.
- ^ A b c d Sarah Bradley: Imperial Highway. Classic American, March 2001 issue.
- ^ John Katz: 1955 Imperial . Special Interest Vehicles No. 129 (May / June 1992), p. 50.
- ^ A b Stanley Opatowsky: The Eagle Spreads is Wings . Classic American, August 1975, p. 11.
- ↑ Description of the Imperial Phaeton Parade Car on the website www.imperialclub.com (accessed on November 18, 2016).