For Sale Claimed 5k (yes, 5k) '81 Imp in TX for $12.9k

[drpreposterous]

Still has electronic FI. That driver's seat looks like a butt has been in it for more than 5k miles. More pix in ad...
1981CHRYSLER IMPERIAL 5K ORIGINAL MILES JUST LIKE NEW PRICED TO SELL

From seller:
1981 CHRYSLER IMPERIAL
5,084 ORIGINAL MILES
IT'S LIKE A NEW CAR

EQUIPPED WITH:
5.2 LITER V8
ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION
TORQUE FLITE 3 SPEED TRANSMISSION
POWER STEERING AND BRAKES
CRUISE AND TILT
DUAL POWER MIRRORS
SUNROOF
AM/FM STEREO WITH CASS
RADIAL TIRES
WIRE WHEEL COVERS
POWER SEATS
REAR DEFROSTER
GARAGE DOOR OPENER
DIGITAL DASH
MARK CROSS LEATHER
PLUSH CARPETS
ORIGINAL KEYS AND UMBRELLA
SHOP AND OWNER'S MANUALS
AND MUCH MORE

EXTERIOR:
ORIGINAL PAINT IS BEAUTIFUL
BODY LINES ARE PERFECT
LOOKS LIKE NEW

INTERIOR:
THE INSIDE LOOKS AND SMELLS LIKE NEW

MECHANICAL:
ALL COMPONENTS WORK PERFECTLY

AN AMERICAN PERSONAL LUXURY CAR
LIKE NON OTHERS BEFORE
ISN'T IT TIME FOR YOU TO OWN AN IMPERIAL?

 

[polara71]

I want it!!

 

[Pete Kaczmarski]

I suspect air shocks in the back but the car could still be low miles.

 

[1978 NYB]

Wow!

Factory Dolby Cassette player.

 

[commando1]

5k miles.
Isn't that about the time they were all being towed back to the dealer?

 

[saforwardlook]

I am virtually certain this must be the same car that was for sale about 2 or 3 years ago in a dealership showroom in Florida. Here are the photos I saved of it back then. I really wanted it back then, and still would like to buy it. Hmmmmmmmmmm....................

 

[commando1]

I am virtually certain this must be the same car that was for sale about 2 or 3 years ago in a dealership showroom in Florida. Here are the photos I saved of it back then. I really wanted it back then, and still would like to buy it. Hmmmmmmmmmm....................

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Research of the VIN shows that it was, plus many other times.
One site showed it sold at 16.6k.
Quite a price drop.
Dollars to donuts it runs like crap and after the owners do some Googling...

 

[Turboomni]

That driver's seat looks like a butt has been in it for more than 5k miles.

Maybe they were homeless for a time.

 

[barnfind]

Nicely optioned, still looks like it was rear ended and smoothed out

 

[69monaco]

Don,t like them at all and under the hood…….what a mess......

 

[Davea Lux]

Shows a lot of wear on the driver side rugs for a 5k car and as noted above a lot of wear on the driver side lower seat cushion. Unusual to see one of these that still has the factory fuel injection, one of the worst pieces of crap Mopar ever designed. If I remember right, were not all of these supposed to have been recalled to remove the injection?

Dave

 

[saforwardlook]

Shows a lot of wear on the driver side rugs for a 5k car and as noted above a lot of wear on the driver side lower seat cushion. Unusual to see one of these that still has the factory fuel injection, one of the worst pieces of crap Mopar ever designed. If I remember right, were not all of these supposed to have been recalled to remove the injection?

Dave

There are still injected versions running around and the big issue back in the day was that most techs weren't up to speed on EFI yet and didn't know what to do to fix these beasts. One of the big issues was that the EFI systems couldn't tolerate any air leaks in the system. But if you kept all the hoses in good shape and properly connected, they ran pretty well. I recall vividly when these cars first came out in 1981 and was still working for Chrysler that year. The techs at our facility were very surprised with this new technology.

And yes, the leather seat bottom cushions looked aged very early, but still held up reasonably well over time. It would be hard to have that underhood to look that fresh if the miles were a lot higher than claimed.

I drove several of those Imperials home overnight as part of my job back then to assess early problems with some of the first ones off the line, but in my drives, they all ran just fine.

Yes, there was a retrofit kit available for those who opted for a more traditional approach to fuel delivery. I don't think any of us would want to go back to carburetors ever again, though. These were definitely the early years, but well worth putting up with to get to where we are today. I give Chrysler credit for looking forward and giving it a go. That is how they pulled themselves out of the bankruptcy that hit them right about that time under Lee Iacocca's leadership.

 

[73Coupe]

That might've been the fanciest K-car ever made.

 

[saforwardlook]

That might've been the fanciest K-car ever made.

Actually, Chrysler made some pretty good vehicles in those years and the K cars also held up their end of the segment well too. They were a lot better than cars of the later 70s and actually ran well for a change without having to pull off a bunch of lean burn crap, with the Imperial being one anomaly due to its first phase of EFI innovation. But it was basically a solid car, well built.

 

[73Coupe]

Actually, Chrysler made some pretty good vehicles in those years and the K cars also held up their end of the segment well too. They were a lot better than cars of the later 70s and actually ran well for a change without having to pull off a bunch of lean burn crap, with the Imperial being one anomaly due to its first phase of EFI innovation. But it was basically a solid car, well built.

With the V-8 under the hood running front to back, I assume this one is RWD? My grandmother had a bare bones FWD '84 Aries with a Mitsubishi 4 cylinder in it. Did they change up the K-platform chassis over years or was this Imperial just a special design?

EDIT: I just did some research and this Imperial is said to be built on the J-platform ('80-'83 Mirada and Cordoba), not the K. I thought it looked like a K because of the small body, dash, and steering wheel design. The J-bodies were all RWD.

I recall that Aries held up well over the years, she had it for 10+ years and it never really gave her any problems.

And cool: For FMJ Bodies Only

 

[saforwardlook]

With the V-8 under the hood running front to back, I assume this one is RWD? My grandmother had a bare bones FWD '84 Aries with a Mitsubishi 4 cylinder in it. Did they change up the K-platform chassis over years or was this Imperial just a special design?

EDIT: I just did some research and this Imperial is said to be built on the J-platform ('80-'83 Mirada and Cordoba), not the K. I thought it looked like a K because of the small body, dash, and steering wheel design. The J-bodies were all RWD.

I recall that Aries held up well over the years, she had it for 10+ years and it never really gave her any problems.

Well, actually these cars had nothing to do with the K cars, which were front wheel drive platforms. Rather these Imperials were offshoots of the B body platform that evolved into F, M, J and R bodies and all were rear wheel drive. The 1981 - 83 Imperials were basically J bodies, which were 2 doors such as the Dodge Mirada and Chrysler Cordoba and at the top end, this Imperial. All were great cars to drive, handling was capable and they were solidly built, although there were some aspects of cost cutting in the dash plastics and door panel upper edge plastic trim pieces that would split in the middle due to flexing of the doors when they were closed many times, at least on the Miradas and Cordobas. The Imperial, however, had well upgraded interior pieces, even though they were J bodies. The R bodies were the 4 door variants of the J bodies, was my impression, and they too shared all the postive aspects of the J bodies, and were models such as the New Yorkers, Dodge St. Regis and Plymouth Gran Furys etc.

 

[saforwardlook]

I did request further details and asked for a phone call from the seller, becaue I was seriously considering it. But all I got back was a reply that it is "sold".

For me, it is probably for the best........................

I believe someone got a great car.

Maybe there will be a third chance that will be the charm................

 

[Carmine]

There are still injected versions running around and the big issue back in the day was that most techs weren't up to speed on EFI yet and didn't know what to do to fix these beasts. One of the big issues was that the EFI systems couldn't tolerate any air leaks in the system. But if you kept all the hoses in good shape and properly connected, they ran pretty well. I recall vividly when these cars first came out in 1981 and was still working for Chrysler that year. The techs at our facility were very surprised with this new technology.

And yes, the leather seat bottom cushions looked aged very early, but still held up reasonably well over time. It would be hard to have that underhood to look that fresh if the miles were a lot higher than claimed.

I drove several of those Imperials home overnight as part of my job back then to assess early problems with some of the first ones off the line, but in my drives, they all ran just fine.

Yes, there was a retrofit kit available for those who opted for a more traditional approach to fuel delivery. I don't think any of us would want to go back to carburetors ever again, though. These were definitely the early years, but well worth putting up with to get to where we are today. I give Chrysler credit for looking forward and giving it a go. That is how they pulled themselves out of the bankruptcy that hit them right about that time under Lee Iacocca's leadership.

God Bless you.


Even if we aren't on the same political page.

 

[Davea Lux]

Actually, Chrysler made some pretty good vehicles in those years and the K cars also held up their end of the segment well too. They were a lot better than cars of the later 70s and actually ran well for a change without having to pull off a bunch of lean burn crap, with the Imperial being one anomaly due to its first phase of EFI innovation. But it was basically a solid car, well built.

The EFI system had a lot of shortcomings which prompted Chrysler to extend the warranty and offer the conversion kit. The kit was, for the time fairly expensive, about $3500 for the kit and the cost involved and the labor was eaten by Chrysler. The conversion involved replacing the gas tank, dash board electronics, intake manifold, exhaust system, combustion computer and a host of fuel line and vacuum tubing.

As noted, the EFI was very sensitive to any vacuum leaks in the system. Chrysler developed a plug in test kit to diagnose the system. This test kit worked fairly well to check the various components, including the computer and sensors attached to it. The test kit was incapable of of diagnosing minor vacuum leaks which often led to a situation where the car would run like crap and test out fine on the equipment.

There were also electronic issues with the computer system. The system used a high low methodology to control fuel delivery. At about 25mph the computer was supposed to switch over to the high speed fuel delivery module. There were a lot of problems with this transition between the two modules which adversely effected performance and the vehicles had problems with leaning out at moderate to high RPMS. There were also problems with a fail to start when the vehicle was shut off warm, another fault in the electronics left the fuel supply turned off. The electronics were not shielded and this lead the the computer shutting down around power transformers or other forms of magnetic interference.

As far as a tech getting up to speed, we all took the technical training to work on these systems. Problem was the technical training was not keeping pace with the problems in the field. That is why Chrysler opted to supply the conversion kit. It was estimated at the time that Chrysler lost about $10k per car in tech time trying to get the cars to run, doing the conversion and setting up the retro fitted components, a disaster in anybody's book.

Dave

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Carmine can fix that FI with his eyes closed. Open up a module, scrape some carbon off, give the air cleaner a good smack and vroom--vroom......
Maybe that was something else I am thinking of.
Still a cool car. I would buy one. Easy finding mechanical parts, and if the injection licks your *** you can always put a Hellcrate in it.