For Sale Not Mine 18K Mile 75 Imperial LeBaron Crown Coupe

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Belongs to Richard Carpenter,. He bought it for his parents! Wow what a great car
 
I just happened to click the link and arrived at the BAT site with 10 seconds left to go on the countdown.

$34,000

Is that a new record for a formal?

Jeff
 
I just happened to click the link and arrived at the BAT site with 10 seconds left to go on the countdown.

$34,000

Is that a new record for a formal?

Jeff
Could be but how much is it the car and how much the celebraty ownership?
 
That has to be the ultimate Formal...................................triple black!

I remember that car from many years ago when Richard and Karen and their parents attended a Chrysler car show. My mom and dad went along with me that year (early 1980s I believe) and my mom struck up a conversation with their mom. I got to meet Karen during that meet as well and she was very humble and nice. Richard was more aloof though.

Richard had a museum full of very collectible mopars called "Yesterday Once More" and I visited with Gary Goers who is also well known in doing interior work on many early Chrysler products and he was working there at the time. That museum was full of really special Chrysler products.

Sad how things ended with Karen...................

That car still looks like it did then.

I would estimate the celebrity status contributed a lot to the price and the fact that the ATC is still working had to add some too and the ashtray pin stripes are still not wiped away by fingers.......................the first thing I would do if I bought the car is bypass the OSAC (orifice spark advance control) valve near the front side of the air cleaner - it delayed vacuum advance to the distributor for 27 seconds after removing the foot from the accelerator and resuming acceleration again to lower HC & NOx emissions and really ruined any fuel economy that car might have been capable of without that valve, especially around town driving.
 
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A Formal going for above $30,000? That’s awesome to hear.

Car certainly looks beautiful and would make any owner - car enthusiast or not - proud
 
Beautiful car! I know I am dating myself, the 1975 price, that original window sticker totaled $11,000. That was big bucks back then. I was working for the water company that year loading pipes and fire hydrants on trucks at $4.00/hr.
Not too bad at the time for an 18 year old, but not enough to put an Imperial in my driveway. I don’t know how much the celebrity connection has to do with the price, it’s not like Karen Carpenter herself actually owned and drove the car.
 
It is Insane! If that car was owned by anyone on this Forum....It would have gone for somewhere between $8-$12 grand , tops!
 
Stunning car and amazing level of preservation the likes of which I have not seen for some time. A photo essay of factory marks for the Formal era.

Only flaw I see on the car is the Master cylinder cover is a non-stock replacement, likely because you can no longer find factory caps for the 50-50 master cylinder.
 
Hey Jeff.... Please show a few pix's of your '74's if you can! Also, hope you're well.
 
The Carpenter's fan base must be a LOT bigger than I imagined it still could be... :realcrazy:

I don't think it matters who the celebrity is. Of course Richard Carpenter is known as a Mopar collector. Years ago I went to Barrett Jackson and they were auctioning off some of his Forward Look cars.
 
So.... Someone bought a $8-9K car for 34 grand. On BaT, nonetheless.
Let's predict what happens next?
 
Celebrity status doesn't always translate into $$$$.

The 1978 Lincoln Continental Mk V Emilio Pucci Designer Edition I once owned (now owned by a friend in Melbourne, Australia) cost me around 9K.

its original owner was Seattle entertainer Stan Boreson, maybe if I had bought it from Washington State instead of Pennsylvania it would have sold for more???
 
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