| Imperial History | Chapter Five |
After the war, Chrysler was firmly established in the luxury car field. Chrysler's eight cylinder cars were competing with Cadillac, Lincoln, and Packard. In fact, the glamorous wood bodied Town & Country was outselling the Lincoln Continental and Chrysler's statistics had grown to Imperial dimensions.
The Chrysler straight eight produced more horse power than the Packard Clipper eight and Lincoln's V-12. The senior Chryslers also spanned longer wheel bases than those of the Cadillac 61, Lincoln, Lincoln Continental and all standard Packards. In fact, 1946-1948 Chryslers were the match of any Cadillac, Lincoln, or Packard in most aspects but price. Costing anywhere from $1,735 for a Saratoga to $2,725 for a partially hand-built Town & Country, senior Chryslers were underpriced.
Imperial at this time was a formal machine, a limousine for dignitaries and the discretely rich. However, as consumer demand for premium cars grew during the early Fifties, Chrysler would attempt to separate Imperial from Chrysler and transform Imperial into a main-stream luxury car.
The inspiration for Imperial expansion was obvious. While Chrysler was building 50 Derham bodied 1949 Imperial sedans and selling them for $4,665 a piece, Cadillac, the self declared "Standard of the World", was rushing out $3,050 Series 62 four door sedans at a rate of nearly 40,000 units a year. Cadillac's 1949 model year production was a staggering 92,554 cars. Clearly, post war prosperity had created a new mass market for cars with prestige names and prestige prices.
Chrysler ventured into this new market with a powerful line of owner-driver 1951 Imperials. They were unusual cars, almost arrogant in their denial of current fashion, and priced with a healthy confidence. Imperial's prices began at $3,839 for the sedan, and escalated to $5,430 for the eight passenger Crown Imperial limousine. Cadillac was asking a mere $2,917 for its Series 61 four door.
Imperial was well worth the extra cost. It came with the longest standard wheel base, the industry's first and only power steering system, electric windows, Fluid-Torque semi-automatic four speed transmission, and an exciting new overhead valve, V8 engine. That engine, of course, was the 331.1 hemi-head. Rated at 180 horse power, the hemi made Imperial, once again, America's most powerful motor car.
Buyers had their choice of Imperial 4-door sedan, club coupe, convertible, Newport 2-door hardtop, and two Crown Imperial limousines. Imperials hadn't been offered to the general public in such an array of body styles since the 1930s, and customers responded to this new availability. An estimated 17,300 1951 Imperials were sold.
Imperial continued relatively unchanged through 1954; selling in small quantities and remaining staunchly conservative in looks and manner despite increasingly garish peers. Then, in 1955, Chrysler made the decision to register Imperial as a separate make. Suddenly it was improper to call an Imperial a Chrysler Imperial, and Imperial was transformed into one of the flashiest cars on the road.
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