Chrysler Imperial

Vehicle information

Features:
The 1960 Imperial adopted wildly exaggerated styling featuring front fascia with a swooping bumper gaping mesh grille giant chrome eagle and hooded quad headlights and tall rear fins. Soaring fins had bullet style tail lamps at the peak of the fin with a halo of a chrome ring surrounding it. The grill and bumper on the front of the 1960 used large pieces of heavy chrome and the furrowed brows of the fenders over the double sets of headlights gave the car a ponderous look. Imperial LeBarons now featured a distinctive smaller formal rear window for greater rear seat privacy. Sales increased to 17719. Imperial again finished ahead of Lincoln but would never do so again. While the rest of Chryslers lineup adopted unibody construction Imperial stayed with its unique platform and body on frame construction. Despite the annual styling changes all 1960-63 Imperial Crowns featured a similar space-age dashboard. The steering wheel was squared-off designed for better leg-room in the straight ahead position. Dashboard lighting was electroluminescent. Chrysler called it Panelescent and it was shared on some Chrysler models. There were no light bulbs: electricity running through a five-layer laminate caused the phosphorescent paint to glow in the dark. The effect was eerie and surprisingly modern with its glowing green face and bright red needles. This particular car is a 106000 original mile Southhampton 4 door hardtop that has been in California for most of its life. We recently purchased the car from the California owner that has had it since 2002. During ownership the family spent thousands of dollars on the mechanics to bring it to the condition you see today. In 2004 the steering box was rebuilt all control arm bushings were replaced brake booster rebuilt and all wheel cylinders were replaced. In 2005 the transmission had a complete rebuild at a cost of 2745. The paint on the car is in good overall condition with no major imperfections to speak of. The most notable is a small dent to the front corner of the passenger side fender as you can see in the photos. There are a few minor chips and dings to the rest of the car but nothing uncommon for a car of this period. The paint is older on the car. Both front and rear bumpers are in great condition with no major dents or dings. All of the stainless trim looks good as well. Inside the seats appear to be the original white vinyl which looks very good overall for their age with just some minor wear showing. The carpet has been replaced and looks very good with just some loose spots showing. The door panels do show some wear and buckling along with the arm rests. The dash has had a black carpeted mat installed over the dash which shows some minor cracking. The steering wheel does have some minor cracking as well. The headliner is good as well as all of the gauges. Lights blinkers and horn all work with no problems as well as the wipers. Under the hood the big 413 Cu In V8 runs great and starts up with no issues. On the road the car performs as it should and has plenty of power. The engine bay is very original and shows the originality of the car. We have receipts from 2004 when the steering box was rebuilt along with the brake booster and brake switch. New brake lines were also installed with new wheel cylinders all the way around. In 2005 the transmission received a complete rebuild at a cost of 2745. The underside of the car is solid and has had a coat of undercoating applied. In the trunk there is a full size spare. The miles currently show 06734 and the car is being sold on a clean California title with VIN number of 9204115499.