1957 Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe

1957 Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe, click picture to enlarge.

I have always thought of the big Chrysler cars as being some of the best and most luxurious cars made. I still think of the ones made in those years as being some of the finest cars on the road.

I do have a little story to tell about one of them that I still chuckle about when I think about it. I had already been discharged from the army in 1956 so it must have been around 1957 or 58 . I was going home from Atlanta to Cairo, Georgia and was driving a big engine 1956 Ford Fairlane Victoria on Geogia highway 27 when a new looking Chryler Imperial came up beside me, passed me, and acted like he wanted to race against that Ford. Now the story begins to be "non-typical" or "atypical" because I floored the gas pedal and soon re-passed that Chrysler with the speedometer needle on that Ford hidden down behind the dash, well past 120mph and still climbing. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that Chrysler setting on the side of the road with the hood up and smoke just boiling from the engine. Well, as it was I was young and somewhat foolish about some things like that but I just laughed and slowed back down and went on home like I was going to do to start with. Now, I said this story is non-typical because the Imperial Chrysler had a large hemi head V-8 with twin four barrel carbs and so could normally have outperformed a stock Ford with a single two barrel. That makes me believe that the Chrysler had not been maintained and cared for like it should have been which was the reason it blew out on that race.

This information came mostly from the Wikipedia encyclopedia about the car.


The Chrysler Imperial had been the company's most luxurious model, and in 1955 when the company decided to introduce a separate luxury brand, Imperial was the natural choice for the nameplate of the new spin off vehicle line. The Imperial became a separate marque and division within the corporation. Imperial would see new body styles introduced every two to three years, all with V8 engines and automatic transmissions, as well as technologies that would filter down to the lower rungs of Chrysler corporation's sister offerings.

1955-56: A separate make In 1955, the Imperial was launched and registered as a separate marque, apart from the Chrysler brand. It was a product of the new Imperial Division of Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler introduced Forward Look Styling by Virgil Exner, who would define Imperial's look (and the look of cars from the other four Chrysler divisions) from 1955 to 1963.
The 1955 models are said to be inspired by Exner's own 1952 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton show cars. The bodyshell was shared with that year's big Chryslers, but the Imperial had a wide-spaced split eggcrate grille (also used on the Chrysler 300 "executive hot rod") and "gunsight" taillights mounted above the rear quarters. Models included a two-door Newport hardtop coupe (3,418 built) and a four-door sedan (7840 built). The engine was Chrysler's first-generation Hemi V8 with a displacement of 331 cu in (5.4 L) and developing 250 brake horsepower (186 kW).
The 1956 models were similar, but had small tailfins, a slightly longer wheelbase, a larger engine displacement of 354 cu in (5.8 L) with 280 brake horsepower (209 kW), and a four-door Southampton hardtop sedan was added to the range.
1957–1959 Imperial Crown from 1957 Trunk lids featured an imitation continental tire bulge.1957 saw a redesigned and larger bodyshell available, based to an even greater degree on Virgil Exner's "Forward Look" styling (also used on other full-size Chryslers of the period). It featured a complicated front end (very similar to Cadillacs of the period) with a bulleted grille and quad headlights, tall tailfins, and Imperial's trademark gunsight taillights. The Hemi engine was available for the first two years that was enlarged to 392 cu in (6.4 L). For 1959, the third and final year of this bodystyle, a 413 cu in (6.8 L) Wedge-head engine replaced it. A convertible was available for the first time on an Imperial and available in the mid-range Crown series. Sales were helped by Exner's "ahead of the competition" styling, with 1957 becoming the best-selling Imperial year ever.
Starting from 1957, Imperials were available in three levels of trim: standard Imperial, (also known as Imperial Custom) Imperial Crown, and the new, super-luxury Imperial LeBaron (the latter named after a coachbuilder, bought out by Chrysler, that did some of the best work on prewar Chrysler Imperial chassis, and not to be confused with the later, cheaper Chrysler Le Baron). Through the late 1950s and into the early 1960s styling would continue to become "Longer, Lower, Wider", with the addition some of the wildest fins ever put on a car.