That quote would be a perfect caption to a picture I stole from the HAMB... someone took a shot at the Road Rockets Rumble of a group mingling around the Lunar Lander. It is a rather obvious shot of a roller derby chicks behind... Plowboy is giving the camera a big cheezy grin which totally makes the picture... (dont know why I replied with this, but I did...)
That is a 59 Imperial, 413 (the best Mopar big block imho 59 was the first year for it), pushbutton torqueflight tranny, torsion bar front suspension, rectangular steering wheel, 'flyte sweep' decklid. I have a 57 coupe, basically the same car but the 57 came with the 392 Hemi that has caused most the Imperials to be crushed. Mine was missing the motor and I've got a 413 for it. I've got three 61 Imperials....same car mechanically...mine are all parts cars basically...even more bizarre...larger fins than the 59 Caddy and free standing headlights. It's an acquired taste but they are truly great cars if you are in to the luxury cars. Beat the heck of Caddys and Lincolns in those years. the torsion bar front really, REALLY makes it handle much better than you'd expect for such a big boat. She ain't no quarter horse but she'll run at 120+ ALL FREAKING DAY LONG! I was going to make a stretch limo out of mine. Don't crush it...please. If you do, part it out to the Imperial club. The stainless, and other pieces parts are getting scarce. Tons of info on Imperialclub.com
One of those on the wrecking yard. The wheel cover on the trunk is missing as is the cool gas fill cap.
You have a good friend because with the price of junk and what that thing would have weighed out,you owe him one............................... I think ?
Damn . . . I was hoping it had a free 392 Hemi in it as well . . . now that would be a story that we'd all like to hear. I know these beasts can be thought of as big and ugly, but I kind of like them. Just build a big stroker 392 that puts out about 600 horsepower, change the whole driveline out to match, slam it and scare the holy hell out of people with your fast new sled! Leave the paint the same but have some pin stripes added on the trunk with the name 'Christine' for the hell of it (yeah I know it isn't a 58 Fury, but who the hell cares!). Big, raw, mean and fast Christine . . . I like it. Yeah . . . that's the ticket . . .
I like it. Even if it's not fixable, it was a good save for all the parts on it. I love Exner-era stuff and this is one of the coolest. If it has the Mirror-Matic rear view mirror on the dash, I'll buy it from you.
57-58 and 60 noses fit, but personally I like the '59s. 413 in those. And if you're going to junk one, junk one that looks like this: Not one as nice and complete as that '59. Custom Rodder magazine not too long before they folded it featured a nice '58 coupe. It was mostly stock, just cleaned up and slammed and had some of those ugly big rims and skinny tires on it. But it looked pretty nice.. sort of a candy rootbeer color with white top.
The Jalopy Journal
