Projects Strangest Car Ever. 1961 Imperial CL Find!

Check out the latest CL find! I got it for a good price so it came home with me!

 

Damn phone won't let me YouTube !@*#% !!!!!! Did you buy it ? I like it. What the hell came in those? 318, 413 wedge ????? I would cruise it definitely !

 

413 wedge. watch it when you get home, it is a HUGE BOAT of a car!

 

probably a 413. not a bad start. i'm wondering if that's on a frame or were those a unibody design? i remember them when they were new cars--i never was crazy about the headlights or the "sparrowcatcher" taillights. get that thing driving and i guarantee it'll be a conversation piece!

 

Hardly the ugliest car ever, though not my cup of tea. good luck with it.

 

Boxed frame front to back.

 

I guess I should say "strangest" car ever.

 

A damned good road car in their day. I'd buy it, paint it back the stock color, lower it a bit and after getting the engine, trans and chassis dialed in it's the rig that you can pile a few of your buds in and take off on a road trip to maybe an indoor car show that you want to show up at in a cool old car rather than your buddy's 07 Burb that you usually all go in.
Want to hit the bars in Austin during Roundup but not want to get busted, Draw straws for designated driver and pile six people in the car and off you go tail fins ten feet in the air.

 

I think it would look good sitting next to my 1956 buick wagon!!!!Bruce.P.S. I wonder if the motors locked up????

 

PS the motor turns free...

 

I love those cars.

 

You called it a Chrysler. I think these were marketed as Imperials. Does it say Chrysler anywhere on the car?

 

It may not be the ugliest car ever but its probably in the top 10, tinting the windows so not to be seen in it must not have worked out
No, seriously, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I would like to see something cool done with one as they are kind of ugly/cool.
If I were gonna start on it, the first thing I would do is delete that top trim or maybe even the whole top to make a 4 door roadster/vert out of it, or............

 

So the motors free .I wonder if it will run???

 

I have heard it is not a Chrysler but it does say it on specific parts, like the ac compressor.

 

Whoever ends up with it has an amazing piece of automotive styling history. My hope is that someone will thoroughly restore it rather than cartoon it into what is perceived as a Traditional Custom. The detail on every inch of this car speak for themselves. That Sir is what Space Age styling is all about. PLEASE don't let it go to someone who needs to bag it and put it into Primer.......The parts on this car are IMO, greater than the whole package. This is pure time travel.....Good Luck! Centurion9

 

Just another 61 imperial. The 2 doors look a lot better. When I was a kid, the neighbors had a 62 crown coupe. neat car, 413, pushbutton torqueflite that leaked about a quart every 100 miles. They kind of gave up on it in the late 70s. Being in Arizona all it's life, it had no rust, of course. but the interior was cooked by then, from the Tucson sun.

The 61 has neater tail lights.

 

The "Chrysler" name was eliminated from "Imperial" back in '55 or '56, making the Imperial stand on its own name, against Lincoln competition.
Not an "ugly" car or "strange" car, but to those of us who knew the car, when it was new .... it was commonly referred to as an "unique" car.
Either way, it was never considered a "cookie cutter car", as we see so much of today.

 

Damn. Backyard pick up. Score one for Frisco. The lighting treatments are curious, and with those door handles and fins.... it's definitely unique. 413, push button, and air. Cool enough for me.

 

Try to see interior pics of the dash area ..... interesting.
Here's a pic.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/30553946@N06/4291798748/

 

I dig it. Like the wheel and cockpit. Definitely something else, huh? Seats seem spartan on the blue one though. Wonder if cooler stuff lies beneath?

 

I didn't go far enough into the video to see the interior, thus my comment about the dash.
Sitting behind the wheel of the car, looking at the dash, one has to believe a countdown will come through the radio speaker, as you prepare for "launch".
I agree, the upholstery on the seats look "spartan".

 

The interior shot should be in the video
Blue car with silver/black interior

 

Those were great demo derby cars

 

Awesome score!!

 

A 413 and a TF trans. Chrysler's winning combination. Ferd and GM didn't match up in those days,IMO.

 

@chstitans42 -

Cool find! ... reminded me a bit of @StillOutThere's cool find ... Nelson Rockefeller's '60 Crown Imperial Limousine (with coachwork by Ghia):

click thumbnails to enlarge​

 

Be fun to slam that one, uh ? Nice paint on a lot of acreage.....and two tones of leather. I'll be damned.

 

Geeez, I don't know how my car reminds you of that, that car is absolutely stunning!! Looks like it is in perfect condition!

 

Impressive car! I have a 1961 issue of Car Life magazine around here someplace where they did a comparison test with the Imperial, Cadillac and Lincoln Continental.

I believe that steering wheel is clear plastic underneath the rim cover, chances are by now it's pretty cracked up and weathered.