Article about imperials

With the '64-'66 Imperials, Chrysler was out to "out Cadillac Cadillac", but few people noticed, it seemed. Buyers did not flock to buy Imperials, as they had hoped.

I do remember how McCahill talked about HIS Imperials being so great. Seems he did a lot of long-distance travelling in those days in his Imperials, talking about what great vehicles they were in the process. In the days when the super-highways were being expanded with many two-lanes still around. Places where the Chrysler power and roadability could excell and be appreciated by those that cared to notice.

Thanks for posting that article!
CBODY67
 
@CBODY67, @Davea Lux, @saforwardlook, @Imperialist67 and @detmatt -- care to comment on the claim that "as a classic car, it does not need much restoration and can be used as-is with minimal expense. If well-maintained, a classic Chrysler Imperial does not require too much money spent to keep it running"? Those cars were complicated for their time and are now 65 years old, after all.
 
I would say that’s up to too many variables to be thrown out there so flippantly.
Region, miles on the clock, the definition of minimal as it pertains to expenses, etc..
 
There is no doubt these were technically advanced vehicles in the lineup and in Chrysler's case, they introduced features before they were thoroughly "cooked" to go the distance. Owners too often found systems failing around 30K miles and wouldn't put up with the visits to the dealer to get them rectified. Introducing new features on the supreme model of a brand was not a good idea in my opinion.

Lexus is still at the top of sales ratings these days despite being pretty boring cars because they do have the reliability ratings that consumers crave more than anything - visits to any dealer are no fun and a hassle.

Tesla, for example, has some pretty poor reliability ratings and has for some time now - if they don't get their problems under control, I believe despite their constant innovation that helps keep them ahead currently, the Germans or the Chinese will eat their lunch in time, especially if Huawei starts getting involved in making electric vehicles in the near future as has been recently reported.

If you have never heard of them, here is a link to help explain their resources, which are huge:

huawei - Google Search
 
they introduced features before they were thoroughly "cooked" to go the distance.
In the specific case of those 1965 models, what options would be major sources of headaches? I know to avoid ATC on 1969-1970 fusies, and I understand that the 1969 sequential turn signals were a nightmare waiting to happen, but what about the 1965 options.
 
In the specific case of those 1965 models, what options would be major sources of headaches? I know to avoid ATC on 1969-1970 fusies, and I understand that the 1969 sequential turn signals were a nightmare waiting to happen, but what about the 1965 options.
I would agree that they were largely durable machines still at this time but I would guess that the options like auto pilot might have been troublesome? Not sure about what year the Sentinal was introduced but I think that could be another one that didn’t stay reliable. The more complicated and delicate the circuitry got the less reliable it was as the years went by.
I’m really mostly speculating here though as a 51 year old enthusiast.:D
 
Tom Mcahill's articles are among my favorites.,.....

Hard to tell what they were (or weren't) thinking with that statement, or what they're making a comparison with. Keeping the car running, and keeping all the power options/accessories operating; are entirely different matters. In '65 though, most options these cars had, had been around for a while.
 
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I own a couple of these feature laden boats (A '64 Crown 'vert and a '74 LeBaron coupe) I don't find anything particularly challenging to service on these glorious specimens of automotive excellence. Keeping the electronics working is 90% cleaning years of dirt and grime gears/lead screws ect. Damaged parts may difficult to acquire, but that's just hunting for parts; nothing unique to these cars.
 
I would agree that they were largely durable machines still at this time but I would guess that the options like auto pilot might have been troublesome? Not sure about what year the Sentinal was introduced but I think that could be another one that didn’t stay reliable. The more complicated and delicate the circuitry got the less reliable it was as the years went by.
I’m really mostly speculating here though as a 51 year old enthusiast.:D

We had a couple with the high-beam sentinel. Dad turned it off after the first entrance ramp. The reflectors flicked the high-beams on and off all the way down the ramp. Other road side lights interfered with the sensor. Also the sensor could not be set to lower our brights before oncoming cars flipped their brights at us. Like the early cruise controls they weren’t perfected yet
 
The main issue with reliability on the '65-'66 Imperials was the auto dimmer. Any kind of load in the trunk threw the geometry of the sensors off to where the system stopped working because the sensors could not detect the oncoming headlights. The cruise control (auto pilot) also had problems with the governor assembly coming apart or sticking and causing a lot of erratic issues trying to maintain a set speed. Aside from that the engines, transmissions and rear ends were very reliable as was the suspension. There were the usual issues with the door hinges that was shared with all Mopars of the era, the locking cams falling apart. Leather interiors were posh, very comfortable and durable. All in all these cars were at least the equal of competing automobiles and had a decided edge on their major drive train components.

Dave
 
Thank you all for the responses! I remember reading a Car and Driver article on the 1965 luxury cars (MB, Jag, Cady, Lincoln and Imp) a long time ago, and it was less than flattering -- here is a version online. That article is one reason for my question about long-term quality -- I was wondering about cooling and rear A/C, in particular.
 
I would suspect the comments about "easy to restore with minimal parts" might relate to the quality and durability of the interior items involved. Not that they didn't deteriorate, but it was apparently a slower process because they started at a higher level than other similar cars.

In the '80s, I'd take a vacation day and head to a local salvage yard. One day, I was sitting inside a '67 or so Chrysler and admiring the shininess of the interior chrome AND the un-cracked instrument panel pad. Definitely better durability than what GM had back then, by observation. So, even on their normal models, Chrysler was using better materials which held up better as the cars aged.

Mechanically, there probably was not much difference between a normal Chrysler and Imperial. Except that a lot of the Imperial's electric doo-dads were probably designed back in the middle 1950s (for the 1957 introduction) and might not have received periodic updates for better operation? Just a suspicion.

The Auto-Pilot was a Dana/Perfect Circle sourced item, as I recall. Not as easy to use as the later 1960s units, I suspect.

The electronic headlight options were probably right out of the Delco-Guide parts bins. Which means Chrysler switches and parts ID on otherwise Cadillac-use equipment. Funny thing has seemed to be that a Cadillac owner might have similar issues with some things as a Chrysler or Imperial owner might, but the GM owners tend to be more forgiving of the components than a similar Chrysler owner might? Considering how many flubs that GM divisions tended to have and the owners kept right on buying GM cars. Sure, a GM owner might bad-mouth their vehicle and its problems, but next time around, they are right back at the same dealer for a similar car (possibly without the troublesome options).

I can kind of understand the "have to know how to use them" orientation, but I also suspect that few dealer operatives had real knowledge and experience with these things. Meaning, outside of the owner's manual section on how to operate those items, the customer was on their own for their own education of "how to use them". Here they'd spent a chunk of chnage on these new luxury car options to make their driving easier to do and NOBODY could really help them figure it all out! Not good.

Auto Pilot was probably at its best on the new Interstate Highway system where a constant speed was possible for hours on end. The headlight options might have been difficult to adjust and such (as mentioned). End result, those options were not really as beneficial as they might have been, for many customers. Who decided they could do things on their own and do it better.

Which tends to put things right back into the lap of the selling/servicing dealer and how they responded to the concerns of dissatisfied customer. Which has tended to be, by my own observations, a weak point of the Chrysler dealer body over the years. They do well with existing customers (whom they have developed a good relationship with), but with a new customer with many expectations, things usually don't go quite so well. Also, it seems that long-time Chrysler dealers, even with a family succession plan, did better than "newer" Chrysler dealers did. Perhaps GM dealer employees were used to seeing mad customers and better knew how to deal with them?

When the pre-'67 Imperials were new was when I was in elementary school and junior high. I knew they were special cars owned by special people. I liked the '64-'66 Imperials the best. Stately style and elegance PLUS they knew what to do with corners and rough roads. Only thing which came close, to me, were the Lincolns (in style and elegance).

Here's ONE thing that, no mater how good the Imperials might have been . . . I overheard a sales rep say that he always drove Cadillacs, but decided to try a Lincoln one time, as he traded every year or so. All of his friends recognized him in a Cadillac, as they waved at him and he waved back. Then he got a new Lincoln and suddenly his friends were not waving at him, although he waved at them. He asked them why they never waved anymore? They responded "We didn't know that was you (in that Lincoln)." So, next trade cycle, he got another Cadillac and everybody was waving at him again. That tended to explain the many repeat Cadillac customers as it was obvious to me that Cadillacs were certainly NOT "The Standard of the World" by that time (earlier 1980s). The sales rep admitted that the Lincoln was a better car, but he had to drive something that people expected him to drive, so he kept with his Cadillacs.

Observations and thoughts,
CBODY67
 
Thank you all for the responses! I remember reading a Car and Driver article on the 1965 luxury cars (MB, Jag, Cady, Lincoln and Imp) a long time ago, and it was less than flattering -- here is a version online. That article is one reason for my question about long-term quality -- I was wondering about cooling and rear A/C, in particular.

The A/C systems used the RV-2 compressor, mostly the same as the more modern variants. These were a very reliable unit running on R-12. If you were going to buy one of these older Imperials, you would either need to find a source of R-12 or convert the system to R-123a using a Sanden compressor as the RV-2 compressors do not hold up well using R-134a, units with rear seat air are especially prone to failure running R-134a because the refrigerant oil tends to collect in the rear unit and starve the compressor for lubricant.

Dave
 
I used to have a 2006 Jeep GC w/ "auto-dim" headlights - even w/ all of the electronics and 50 years of "technological progress", they NEVER worked right (would see a road sign, and dim - always at the exact wrong time!). Turned 'em off, and never used them again . . .

So, I could easily forgive one of these beautiful Imps w/ a high beam sentinal that didn't work . . . !
 
I'm happy my '66 Imperial does NOT have Auto-Pilot, the auto-dimmers, or the vacuum-actuated trunk lock release. I dunno, were I too lazy to actually move my foot six inches to hit the dimmer switch, or keep my foot on the gas pedal to hold a given speed, or actually walk to the back of the car to open the decklid, then yeah.

I like to drive.
 
There were execs at Chrysler working with Dad that would order every option available on their big cars. Often they just told their secretary what color they wanted that year and she would fill out the order sheet. Many, like Dad, saw their company cars as promotional tools. They loaded them up and kept them clean. Often these cars got “tagged” by lower level employees before they were turned in knowing they were well maintained.
 
I'm happy my '66 Imperial does NOT have Auto-Pilot, the auto-dimmers, or the vacuum-actuated trunk lock release. I dunno, were I too lazy to actually move my foot six inches to hit the dimmer switch, or keep my foot on the gas pedal to hold a given speed, or actually walk to the back of the car to open the decklid, then yeah.

I like to drive.

I dunno; when I picked up my Crown I went through and fixed all the things that didn't work. That included Autopilot and the remote trunk. The Autopilot worked briefly before failing again. The fact that it doesn't work now doesn't diminish the pleasure I get from driving it. Contrast this to a modern vehicle in which when an ancillary system fails, you'll end up with a light or a message on your dash, and that gets pretty darn annoying. Just my two cents
 
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