{"id":47361,"date":"2015-11-28T00:04:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-28T00:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=47361"},"modified":"2015-11-29T00:08:49","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T00:08:49","slug":"collector-car-corner-chrysler-imperial-and-chrysler-cordoba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/11\/28\/collector-car-corner-chrysler-imperial-and-chrysler-cordoba\/","title":{"rendered":"Collector Car Corner – Chrysler Imperial and Chrysler Cordoba"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Collector<\/a>

Chrysler Imperial advertisement featuring two big name \u201cChairmen of the board\u201d – Lee Iacocca and Frank Sinatra. (Ad complements Chrysler Corporation).<\/p><\/div>\n

Q: Greg, I always liked the Chrysler Imperials and Chrysler Cordobas.\u00a0What is your opinion of the older and last generation Imperials and those neat Chrysler Cordobas? I think they were both fine looking cars in the decade of the 1980s. Bill C., Worchester, Mass.<\/p>\n

A: Bill, although the Imperial brand goes all the way back to 1926 when Chrysler built the car to compete with other luxury brands, the Imperial dates all the way up to 1990-1993 when Chrysler reintroduced the Imperial after a seven year hiatus on the smaller front-drive Y-platform chassis.<\/p>\n

This 1990-1993 model was the eighth generation of Imperial, followed in 2006 with a special concept Imperial that was shown at car shows. It was built on the Chrysler 300 series rear-drive platform and looked great. However, this concept Imperial never made it to production, although I always like to hope one day they will bring it back.<\/p>\n

Personally, I most remember those grand Imperials from the late 1950s through the 1960s, and then the 1981-1983 Imperials you mention. Imperial became a stand-alone model after 1955 and did not carry any Chrysler badges. However, although the Chrysler dealers did have Imperial signage, there were no standalone Imperial dealers to help justify the car as being \u201cdifferent enough\u201d from, say, a Chrysler New Yorker. Today, if you ask most car enthusiasts, they still regard the Imperial as a \u201cChrysler Imperial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Collector<\/a>

The Chrysler Cordoba was a huge success story for Chrysler, selling 750,000 cars from 1975 to 1983 thanks to the popularity of Ricardo Montalban\u2019s \u201cCordoba\u2019s Corinthian leather\u201d print ads and TV commercials. (Ad complements of Chrysler Corporation)<\/p><\/div>\n

Built continuously through 1975 as a full-size luxury car, Imperial took a break and did not appear again until 1981-1983 thanks to the efforts of Lee Iacocca, who is credited with saving the company.<\/p>\n

After being absent from Chrysler’s lineup for six model years, the 1981-1983 \u201cfull size\u201d Imperials arrived just as Chrysler waded through serious financial woes. Overall, a grand total of only 10,981 Imperials were ever built and I still feel it was a great looking and well-equipped car.<\/p>\n

Most surprising is the fact that these new Imperials were built on the mid-sized Aspen \/ Volare platform, not a special \u201cfull size\u201d Imperial assembly line. Built to coincide with Chrysler\u2019s new marketing theories of sharing, the 1981-1983 Imperials shared mechanicals with the popular Chrysler Cordoba that debuted the same year the Imperial previously ceased production, namely 1975. The new Cordoba was so popular it sold a stunning 150,105 units its first year.<\/p>\n

Personally, as nice as Cordoba was, I feel a large part of its success came from the now legendary TV commercials and newspapers ads that featured late actor Ricardo Montalban, (\u201cFantasy Island\u201d TV fame) who would always ballyhoo Cordoba’s “rich Corinthian leather” interior and fine, lavish good looks. Not surprisingly, the Chrysler Cordoba also lasted until 1983, and finished its career as one of Chrysler’s most popular mid-size models with over 757,000 sold.<\/p>\n

The 1981-1983 Imperial came with an electronic fuel injected 318-V8 engine (a first for Chrysler) that developed 140 horsepower. It featured tons of luxury items while the sibling and equally good looking Cordoba came with either a six-cylinder engine or a carburetor fed V8.<\/p>\n

\"Collector<\/a>

This is the 2006 Imperial concept car that appeared at national car shows. Built on a Chrysler 300 platform, the concept Imperial was never produced. (Photo complements Chrysler Corporation).<\/p><\/div>\n

As for styles, Imperial\u2019s 1981-1983 design is quite beautiful in my opinion as a Lincoln type front grille merged nicely with a rear that mimicked the second generation Cadillac Seville of the era. Imperial\u2019s raised \u201ctire imprint\u201d on the trunk is called the “bustle-back” rear trunk design, similar to the British cars from the Fifties like Rolls Royce, Jaguar and Bentley. Some of the main features Imperial offered included designer Mark Cross interiors, digital instrumentation and clear coat paints. As for pricing, a fully loaded 1981 Imperial cost $18,311 and the only option available that year was a power sunroof.<\/p>\n

However, unlike Cordoba, dismal sales were the order of the day for Imperial. Just 7,225 1981 Imperials were sold, even though Chrysler head Lee Iacocca, remembering Montalban’s success with Cordoba, hired friend Frank Sinatra to sing “Isn’t it time for an Imperial” in commercials and appear in newspaper ads. Unlike Montalban\u2019s efforts in 1975, poor Sinatra just couldn\u2019t help sales overcome a nasty economy as consumers wanted smaller gas saving compacts. Imperial sales dropped to just 2,329 in 1982 and only 1,427 the final year.<\/p>\n

Iacocca, however, had a trump card in his hand. He took to building and introducing one of the car industry\u2019s top success stories in 1984, namely the industry first Dodge – Plymouth minivans. Not only did the company survive, it flourished thanks to the minivan, which is still popular today in Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan dress.<\/p>\n

Thanks for your letter and bringing back some great memories of those noteworthy Imperial and Cordoba vehicles.<\/p>\n

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader questions on old cars, auto nostalgia and motorsports at 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840 or email at greg@gregzyla.com).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: Greg, I always liked the Chrysler Imperials and Chrysler Cordobas.\u00a0What is your opinion of the older and last generation Imperials and those neat Chrysler…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nCollector Car Corner - Chrysler Imperial and Chrysler Cordoba - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/11\/28\/collector-car-corner-chrysler-imperial-and-chrysler-cordoba\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Collector Car Corner - 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