patrick66
Old Man with a Hat
I've been around Mopars since I bought my first one in 1972, for a whopping ten bucks...and drove it home. On five cylinders. Ever since that '52 Plymouth, I've wondered how many are actually still out there. They were not very common in 1972, for certain. I think I've seen one in the last two years!
So, I was mulling about cars that are left, of any particular year, make, or body style. As a percentage of production, I'd have to say convertibles outlive coupes, wagons, and sedans in general. In 1966, Chrysler built 514 Imperial convertibles. If you were to peruse Bing or that g--gle thing for 1966 Imperial convertible pics, you'd see perhaps a hundred or so distinct cars. Sure, some have 50 pics of the same car, but going through them slowly, I figure a hundred have photographic existence in that particular venue. That is approximately 19% survival of the 514 1966 cars. And that's pretty good! Convertibles tend to be taken care of better than their metal-roofed kin. Garaged or covered? More than likely! Not driven in inclement weather? Especially if it's a second or third car. So many of the big cars of all the Big Four ended up in demo derbies, or crashed, or simply neglected to the point they were scrapped out or crushed. I don't know of a convertible demo derby anywhere, thankfully!
So, what do you guys think? EDIT: Do you think more ragtops exist of any particular model, as a percentage of total production over other body styles of the same car?
So, I was mulling about cars that are left, of any particular year, make, or body style. As a percentage of production, I'd have to say convertibles outlive coupes, wagons, and sedans in general. In 1966, Chrysler built 514 Imperial convertibles. If you were to peruse Bing or that g--gle thing for 1966 Imperial convertible pics, you'd see perhaps a hundred or so distinct cars. Sure, some have 50 pics of the same car, but going through them slowly, I figure a hundred have photographic existence in that particular venue. That is approximately 19% survival of the 514 1966 cars. And that's pretty good! Convertibles tend to be taken care of better than their metal-roofed kin. Garaged or covered? More than likely! Not driven in inclement weather? Especially if it's a second or third car. So many of the big cars of all the Big Four ended up in demo derbies, or crashed, or simply neglected to the point they were scrapped out or crushed. I don't know of a convertible demo derby anywhere, thankfully!
So, what do you guys think? EDIT: Do you think more ragtops exist of any particular model, as a percentage of total production over other body styles of the same car?
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