imon_2nd
Active Member
Believe me, if I could have found the original parts or bought some, I would have. ---much less hassle even if it costs more money.
Big Blue, the 67 Crown Coupe - Managing Director Edition
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Believe me, if I could have found the original parts or bought some, I would have. ---much less hassle even if it costs more money.
Yeah, I know but I wouldnt have looked in this direction ......
imon_2nd
Active Member
My first pass at getting the table installed is pictured. It's functionally equivalent to the long-gone original, except solid walnut on an aluminum pedestal. I included a picture that shows the bottom part of the pedestal being machined. I used a fishing boat captain's chair base and modified it. Some welding was required, too. Sorry, no pics of that.
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Well done!
imon_2nd
Active Member
A.J. Baime put my Imperial in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal. The online version is already up:
An Office on Wheels, Straight Out of the ‘Mad Men’ Era
Not sure if a subscription is required to see the article.
An Office on Wheels, Straight Out of the ‘Mad Men’ Era
Not sure if a subscription is required to see the article.
Dang, subscription required......... Congrats, though.
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Neat but I'm not going to subscribe....
If I start getting Wall Street types nosing around my car to see if it has a table in it I'm going to be pissed.
If I start getting Wall Street types nosing around my car to see if it has a table in it I'm going to be pissed.
imon_2nd
Active Member
I'll create PDF version of the article and post it here. May take an hour to do. The print issue of Wednesday's WSJ will have it, minus most of the pics.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
David Schwartz, 68, an architect from Fair Oaks, Calif., on his 1967 Imperial Crown Coupe Mobile Director, as told to A.J. Baime.
In 1966, Imperial, a brand owned by Chrysler, built a show car with an executive office inside. The front passenger seat swiveled to face backward, and a fold-out table created a mobile conference room. It had a telephone and a “datafax transmitter” (a fax machine) that could transmit a page in six minutes. It was the ultimate “Mad Men” automobile. (Don Draper actually drove a 1964 Imperial on the show.)
This concept car got so much attention, Imperial produced some for customers, minus the phone and fax, called the Imperial Crown Coupe Mobile Director. Imperial advertisements noted, ‘Now you may work your way to work.’ While it was one of the more expensive American cars of its era, it wasn’t very popular, and very few were ever built. Today, probably a handful or two still exist.
Recently, I was searching online and I was stunned to find a Mobile Director on eBay. I bought it two months ago from an owner in Oregon. The car came with the original build sheet, showing that it was originally purchased in Lancaster, Calif., in November 1966. I also have the original brochure, which shows a picture of a Wall Street Journal sitting on the back seat with some driving gloves. The brochure reads, in part: “The seats swivel to face forward. The table folds and pivots to become an arm rest. The reading lamp stows away. Thus the conference room vanishes.”
I could see myself as a young architect in the early 1970s, rolling out plans in my mobile office at a construction site. But most of the owners of these cars probably used the mobile office to smoke cigarettes in comfort (there are four lighters and four ashtrays).
The car is about 19 feet long. That’s a lot of acreage to keep clean. The trunk is so big, you could camp out in it; all you need is a mosquito net. Under the hood is a 440 cubic-inch motor, the largest V8 Chrysler had ever offered customers at the time.
I have been a gear head since I was a kid. I’ve owned English cars, Italian cars, muscle cars, station wagons. But I have never owned a car that gets as much attention as this one.
In 1966, Imperial, a brand owned by Chrysler, built a show car with an executive office inside. The front passenger seat swiveled to face backward, and a fold-out table created a mobile conference room. It had a telephone and a “datafax transmitter” (a fax machine) that could transmit a page in six minutes. It was the ultimate “Mad Men” automobile. (Don Draper actually drove a 1964 Imperial on the show.)
This concept car got so much attention, Imperial produced some for customers, minus the phone and fax, called the Imperial Crown Coupe Mobile Director. Imperial advertisements noted, ‘Now you may work your way to work.’ While it was one of the more expensive American cars of its era, it wasn’t very popular, and very few were ever built. Today, probably a handful or two still exist.
Recently, I was searching online and I was stunned to find a Mobile Director on eBay. I bought it two months ago from an owner in Oregon. The car came with the original build sheet, showing that it was originally purchased in Lancaster, Calif., in November 1966. I also have the original brochure, which shows a picture of a Wall Street Journal sitting on the back seat with some driving gloves. The brochure reads, in part: “The seats swivel to face forward. The table folds and pivots to become an arm rest. The reading lamp stows away. Thus the conference room vanishes.”
I could see myself as a young architect in the early 1970s, rolling out plans in my mobile office at a construction site. But most of the owners of these cars probably used the mobile office to smoke cigarettes in comfort (there are four lighters and four ashtrays).
The car is about 19 feet long. That’s a lot of acreage to keep clean. The trunk is so big, you could camp out in it; all you need is a mosquito net. Under the hood is a 440 cubic-inch motor, the largest V8 Chrysler had ever offered customers at the time.
I have been a gear head since I was a kid. I’ve owned English cars, Italian cars, muscle cars, station wagons. But I have never owned a car that gets as much attention as this one.
imon_2nd
Active Member
Here's a PDF with most of the photos from the WSJ slideshow. (Don't know if this will work.)
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
imon_2nd
Active Member
If you right click on the attached PDF, it opens (for me, at least).
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
imon_2nd
Active Member
Mucho thanks, Commando1!
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
No problem. Everybody needs to see this drop dead gorgeous car.
One question...
Did you replicate the original stand or did you design one yourself?
That pic of you laying in the trunk is a classic. Great photo's
Stan thanks for posting
Stan thanks for posting
imon_2nd
Active Member
A purist would call my table base a "cheat" because I bought an adjustable pedestal base for a fishing boat captain's chair and then modified it. It swivels, goes up and down like the original equipment, but also slides side to side, which is handy for improving rear seat access. Also, I haven't added the cushions. Instead, my wife will make a kind of padded sleeve. That way, I can use the table top in the folded position as a smaller work surface.
purists are always getting a bad wrap from the man. Why do we have to have labels man ???
Great photos, and great to see such coverage in the WSJ...... nice work on the replacement table too! Just stunning.......
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