Art & Inspiration What the hell would you do with a '60 Imperial coupe?

And porknbeaner will send it down here to Texas where I will drive the wheels off of it!

 

LOL, this has been a fun thread! I didn't realize how many HAMBers appreciate these rare, powerful, LUXURIOUS beasts!

 

John D'Agostino's 1957 Imperial, from the mid-nineties.

 

Nice one... (Lots of photos of the build and the car here. Courtesy of Rik Hoving)


.

 

No he'll drive it to Texas and then the fella in Texas will drive him home before he delivers it to the next guy.

It will damn sure get used if it goes that route won't it.

 

'beaner, you get it to arkansas, I'll deliver it to texas---- in a couple years. lol

 

---------------------
Nope...you're not the only one.
Count me in too. That misshapen,
out-of-proportion "thing" is proof
of the adage that "just because
something can be done, it doesn't
mean that it should be done".

Mart3406
===============

 

That shorty convertible thing was such a waste of everything that went into building it. Except maybe the wire donk wheels, those are scrap metal.

 

Giving it some thought.... Hmmmm... Gentleman's Hot Rod, like Jimmy's Caddy.

The first thing people say about it when they see the car is "It's so huge!"

So, it shall be dubbed the That's What She Said

 

I actually disagree. It didnt really need to happen even if just once.

D'Agostino's is bitchin, totally forgot about that one.

 

It will be a genuine HAMB car by the time all 100+ thousand of us drive it for a day or two it will need an overhaul, I hope it doesn't land on me at overhaul time.

A lot can be done with them for sure, everything from stock to mild to wild. They are a boat for sure but sometimes a boat ride as all that we need to keep us sane.

 

I remember driving my Dad's '59 La Baron all through high school. Push button shift, swivel seats, dash like a Wurlitzer juke box. Loved it!

 

I don't think I have the fortitude (or the wallet) to do this thing up right... It'll be a few weeks before I get it pried from it's nest in my Dad's suburban garage. I'll post it in the classifieds then with all the details and pics. I wanna give a HAMBer the first shot... DON'T POST ASKING FOR INFO ABOUT IT HERE!!! I don't even know what ridiculous figure my dad has in his head, or what is TRULY wrong with it until I take a look at it in the open (I haven't opened the hood or gotten into it myself for about 4 years). I don't want this tagged as spam... I truly thought about keeping it and spent time photoshopping ideas.

 

Why not black out the windows, and cruise the bus stops in the mornings handing out candy? They're all on to your other cars by now....

 

Thanks alot DV8! Now I have to do a whole new pro and cons list...

BTW, I don't know if they told you, we got a set of wheels for that Pontiac and Skip has a REAL tire changer... We just need the car over to ABdale and make the switch.

 

Dang.. now I want one too!!!

 

Fix it, drive it and you will never pass yourself on the road coming the other way.

 

Beaner & Jim, you two guys pretty much epitomized WHAT is so special about these amazing, short-lived land yachts. They were designed & built to out-Caddy Caddy, in the post-Packard era. For at least a few, definite years (I'd say, '57 through '64), they DID. LONG LIVE THE FRAME-ON IMP!!!!

 

That car should be saved at all costs.
I'm not a huge Chrysler guy having owned only one, a '67 R/T for a short while, but I do respect and admire them.
That's a rare item you own, something no manufacturer will ever produce again.
Enjoy the ride.

 

------------------
You got that right about it being
something the likes of which no
automotive manufacturer will
ever produce again. My 82-year-old
Dad tells me horror stories of scores
of Packard 8's and even 12's - and
other huge late-'20's and early and
mid-'30's luxury cars that were
scrapped in the late '40's and
early-'50's because they where
considered to be just huge,
gas-guzzling, money-pits, far too
impractical to have any further
use or value by anybody as
'transportation' anymore - and
literally nobody wanted them. But
try and buy one of these, now, highly
desirable "classic cars" now and see
the astronomical prices they go for!
It's already starting to happen now
with the late-'50 through '70's even,
luxo-barges. They've already, due to
their "impracticality" and thirst for fuel,
long-since disappeared from the roads
and I believe in a few more years, that
these cars - if they're not already - will
be considered to be the '30's Cadillacs,
Packards and Pierce-Arrows and such
"classic cars" of our era. If you don't
want it and/or you can't afford, to fix
it up properly, sell it to someone who
can and will, but please, don't part it
out or otherwise junk it!

Mart3406
=========

 

just pass it this way

 

You're pretty lucky getting a coupe....most I've ever seen are sedans.

Well, since you asked....if it was mine, all I'd do would be- clean it, straighten it if need be, and give it a nice black gloss. Chrome reverse rims, slight nose down, full dual exhausts. It's got enough funkiness and style as is, I like the 60 and 61's.
Just a big, black, cruiser to pile the miles on, and stretch out in. You're a lucky dog.

Never owned a Mopar yet, so I have no clue if either an early Hemi, or the 2x4 long ram wedge setup could fit under the hood if you wanted a bit more giddy-up-go out of it. Maybe 3x2 or 2x4 on top of the stock engine, with a bit of lope to it would turn a few heads if that's what you'd want. Man you got my mind racing now, a period tweaked 60 Imp coupe. Wow.

I know lots of folks don't like the Exner stuff. Not 'mainstream' enough. But I've grown to like the 57-63 Mopars, some of the detailing is fascinating. Exner, Anderson, Teague, Loewy, they did some neat stuff. Even the Engle Imperials aren't too terrible, but they are tame compared to the prior stuff.

Well, good luck with whatever you decide to do. What a cool car. I'd take it in a heartbeat if I had the coin, and never look back.

 

Give the ugly cars to the people who will love them, rather than doing something with your heart half in it.

 

So what happened to the car? Did someone from the HAMB site buy it?

 

Wow, that should have been the original Batmobile!

 

Dad always called those taillights "Sparrow Strainers"