The End

For the first time in Imperial history, an all new bodyshell failed to spark sales. The new '74 Imperial was a victim of a general down turn in the luxury car market of 1974 and everyone, including Cadillac, suffered losses.

The Imperial also had its own special problems. It had been reduced to the Chrysler 124" wheelbase, thus further reducing its distinction from the increasingly luxurious New Yorker Brougham. More than ever, its body resembled that of a Chrysler and the styling itself had succumbed to the pseudo-classic t hemes found on Lincoln and Cadillac. Suddenly there was little reason to buy an Imperial. True, it was handsome, boasted magnificent interiors with admirable amounts of padding and upholstery, and had four wheel disc brakes, but these weren't enough.

For 1974, 14,426 Imperials were built. Not Imperial's worst year by far, but disappointing.

Chrysler didn't seem interested in maintaining a flagship wonder car for the sake of it anymore. Chrysler was slipping into an era of mediocrity.

However, Imperial's final portrait in the 1975 Chrysler-Plymouth catalog is an Imperial classic. Here is the scene: a plaza scrubbed clean by a shower just passed, and a dark sedan radiant with evening's fading light. Whitewall tires glow with new car purity surrounding brilliant discs of stainless steel. All is wealth and beauty in this placid picture where man and wife smile serenely beside their handsome car.

The Bittersweet Metallic '75 Imperial makes elegant promises of power and grace with tapering fenders and a lush vinyl roof. Plush white leather seats suggested by the driver's headrest are cloaked from view by a limousine roof line. Shadow hides the dashboard and a faint shimmer outlines a luxuriant wheel. To the frustration of the onlooker, the silence and security that exists in this sanctum are reserved.

Just as the first Imperial back in 1926 heralded Chrysler Corporation's arrival as a force in the auto industry, so did the farewell 1975 edition signal Chrysler's decline. Since 1973, Chrysler's corporate-wide volume had tumbled by some 653,475 automobiles. People were whispering about Chrysler's finan cial health, and Chrysler wasn't responding to new market conditions intelligently. Eventually, it would take government loan garuntees to save Chrysler Corporation from extinction.

In the end, the last Imperial was a 1975 Imperial LeBaron four-door hardtop, one of 8,830. It was built on June 12, 1975; then Imperial was dismissed. In Imperial's place the next year was Chrysler's New Yorker Brougham, resplendent with an Imperial grille and trim. It was an unkind way to end Chrysler's biggest and best car.

Of course, Chrysler reused the Imperial name in 1981 to grace the fenders of a chiseled, specialty, two-door coupe. For all its uniqueness, it was the wrong bodystyle for the wrong nameplate at the wrong time. Furthermore, Chrysler was no longer in a position to build an Imperial, as the 1981-83 generation proved every time its trouble prone electronic fuel injection system was re placed with a carburetor.

The name was revived again in 1990, but it was obvious that Chrysler had forgotten what an Imperial was. By 1994, that Imperial too was gone.

Perhaps one day Chrysler will remember and build a car worthy of the name.

This concludes the Imperial History. Use the menu below to browse the article at your leisure. If needed, use the '31 Imperial at the bottom of the page to leap to The Imperialist's front page. If you like, view the bibliography.