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HomeImperial

Imperial

1961 Cadillac
History

The ‘compact’ 1961-63 Cadillac that went nowhere

April 30, 2025 Steve 17

(EXPANDED FROM 12/16/2022) One of the more popular comments about previous versions of this story has been that the 1961-63 “compact” Cadillac failed because it looked out of proportion. It was basically a regular Cadillac […]

1988 Chrysler Fifth Avenue front quarter
History

It’s too bad that the late-70s big Chrysler didn’t become a stretched Volare

April 21, 2025 Steve 34

(EXPANDED FROM 12/30/2022) This story operates on two levels. The first one is how the car-buff media could be wrong in its predictions about future products. The second level looks at how slow the Chrysler […]

1972 Stutz Blackhawk
Design Notes

Which looked better: Exner’s 1966 Duesenberg or 1971-87 Stutz Blackhawk?

March 11, 2025 Steve 8

(UPDATED FROM 9/20/2021) A few years back Hemmings published a for-sale ad about a 1966 Duesenberg prototype designed by Virgil Exner (Stohl, 2017). The car shared major styling themes with another one Exner subsequently designed — […]

1961 Dodge Polara 4-door hardtop
Data Dive

Chrysler’s collapse in premium-priced field was a bigger deal than Edsel’s

February 20, 2025 Steve 13

(EXPANDED FROM 6/23/2023) A while back Indie Auto reader Geeber asked about what happened to Chrysler Corporation’s market share in the premium-priced field after Dodge went downmarket in 1960. He was referring to a major […]

1958 Imperial grille
Design Notes

1958 Imperial: Virgil Exner’s best shot at Cadillac

February 5, 2025 Steve 8

(EXPANDED FROM 9/2/2022) The 1958 Imperial has received little attention by automotive historians even though it arguably represented the brand at its peak. Never again would Chrysler’s luxury car offer so many field-leading product innovations. […]

1955 Dodge
Data Dive

1955-56 Chryslers: ‘Forward Look’ wasn’t as successful as sometimes assumed

January 8, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 2/19/2021) This story has seen a burst of renewed interest, so I have updated and expanded it — partly in response to reader comments. However, the punchline remains the same: that Virgil Exner’s […]

1957 Packard proposa
Multimedia

Film shows Fred Hudson’s design talent — and groupthink

January 2, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 1/25/2023) When rechecking links I was disappointed to see that Hemmings has apparently deleted one of the better comment-thread discussions about late-50s American car design. This illustrates a downside of the digitization of […]

1956 Ugly Car of Year
Design Notes

1956 Ugly Car of the Year Award: Indies get desperate

December 31, 2024 Steve 17

(EXPANDED FROM 11/25/2022) For 1956 the Big Three were on relatively good behavior. Only two of their products was outrageous enough to be nominated for Indie Auto’s Ugly Car of the Year Award. All the […]

1960 Lincoln Premiere 4-door hardtop
Data Dive

In 1960 Lincoln moved upmarket despite struggling sales

December 10, 2024 Steve 13

(EXPANDED FROM 8/9/2022) A few years ago Corey Lewis (2022) wrote that the 1960 Lincoln’s entry-level model was “rebranded as simply ‘Lincoln,’ to compete with the new base model Chrysler New Yorker (1960-1962) and Series […]

1968 Imperial Crown Coupe
Gallery

Why did the 1968 Imperial sell so poorly in a booming market?

October 4, 2024 Steve 14

The domestic luxury-car field saw output rise by a healthy 11 percent in 1968, but the Imperial went in the opposite direction — down by almost 13 points. At least on paper, the Imperial should […]

Posts pagination

1 2 3 »
  • 1964 Studebaker Challenger
    Brooks Stevens’s rejection of brand continuity was bad for small automakers
    June 14, 2025 0
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    June 13, 2025 16
  • Citroen SM
    Citroen SM: A surprisingly conventional next step
    June 12, 2025 5
  • 1936-37 Cord 810/812 tried to do too much at once
    June 11, 2025 10
  • 1963 Studebaker Daytona convertible
    Classic film shows human side of Studebaker’s end
    June 10, 2025 15
  • Once upon a time, car wheels were 36-to-42 inches in diameter
    June 9, 2025 5
  • Ram customized pickup
    What would you think if it was 1965 and you could magically see this truck?
    June 8, 2025 1
  • Brooks Stevens’s 1965 Studebaker Lark concept: Almost a baby Continental
    June 6, 2025 5
  • 1949 Packard Super Eight
    Packard kept a bigger foothold in the luxury-car field than commonly assumed
    June 5, 2025 9
  • Exner bio offers mostly positive take on controversial car designer
    Peter Grist views car designer Virgil Exner through rose-tinted glasses
    June 3, 2025 9
  • 1970 Mercury Cyclone
    1970 Mercury Montego had a last-of-the-wine quality
    June 2, 2025 2
  • A query, a thank you and an update on miscellaneous stuff
    April 4, 2025 0
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 124
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