Chrysler Imperial one step closer to production

[Drew Dowdell]

Chrysler Imperial one step closer to production

Link to Autoblog

Chrysler may be in the middle of a major ownership change, but the beat goes on when it comes to future vehicle plans. The folks over at The Star are reporting that Chrysler is going to build a fifth model at their Brampton plant in Ontario, which currently assembles the 300, Charger, and Magnum. Challenger production is scheduled for next year, and the fifth vehicle, which could be built in 09' as a 2010 model, is expected to be the Imperial.

Chrysler is reportedly investing $700 million in the Brampton plant to bring the Imperial to life, and the Rolls-Royce and Bentley wannabe is expected to ride on an extended version of Chrysler's LX platform. The Imperial, which sported a 6.1L Hemi V8 as a concept, could also receive a diesel engine. Chrysler has yet to make an announcement on an additional vehicle at Brampton, but word is it that Chrysler Executive Vice President of Manufacturing Frank Ewasyshn is expected to do so June 11.

We aren't sold on the chunky, blocky, copycat looks of the Imperial, but Chrysler apparently thinks enough Americans will want the beast that they've all but pulled the trigger on making it all official.

[Intrepidation]

I wonder if they've changed it since the concept.

It actually looks pretty good in the photo.

[Drew Dowdell]

I wonder if they've changed it since the concept.

It actually looks pretty good in the photo.

Have you ever seen it in person? The nose on that thing is about the same height as an Envoy.

[Intrepidation]

That's pretty huge.

[Flybrian]

Its really an unattractive car and certainly the last thing Chrysler should be worried about building right now. Seriously.

[Intrepidation]

I still like teh front...it's from the B-pillar back that they need to fix.

[Z-06]

Dear Chrysler,

Please stop dreaming and building ugly ass, huge, heavy, unimportant vehicles, which will have pathetic slab sided interiors regardless, which no people will buy.

Instead build something substantial, that people want with terrific interiors, and quality that will bitchslap the import humpers back into your showrooms. In addition to building emotion among the Mopar Community who will buy it passionately.

Yours Truly,

An American Car Fan

[Drew Dowdell]

Its really an unattractive car and certainly the last thing Chrysler should be worried about building right now. Seriously.

At least it will match the rest of their lineup......

[Oracle of Delphi]

P U, something stinks!

[Intrepidation]

Dear Chrysler,

Please stop dreaming and building ugly ass, huge, heavy, unimportant vehicles, which will have pathetic slab sided interiors regardless, which no people will buy.

Instead build something substantial, that people want with terrific interiors, and quality that will bitchslap the import humpers back into your showrooms. In addition to building emotion among the Mopar Community who will buy it passionately.

Yours Truly,

An American Car Fan

Good point, because what they need is good volume cars now...not niche cars.

P U, something stinks!

Sounds like a personal problem

[Dragon]

i could car less how it looks, cause I dont' plan on buying on, as long as they keep pumping money into our economy.

[regfootball]

Dear Chrysler,

Please stop dreaming and building ugly ass, huge, heavy, unimportant vehicles, which will have pathetic slab sided interiors regardless, which no people will buy.

Instead build something substantial, that people want with terrific interiors, and quality that will bitchslap the import humpers back into your showrooms. In addition to building emotion among the Mopar Community who will buy it passionately.

Yours Truly,

An American Car Fan

WHAT MOPAR COMMUNITY

[CSpec]

This thing is a monstrosity.

[Intrepidation]

WHAT MOPAR COMMUNITY

Wow, that was one of the more ignorant posts I've seen on this forum.

[Sixty8panther]

I saw it in person and I assure you this car makes a mockery of Imperial name.

This is almost as bad (close 2nd) as those $hitty Dodge Dynasty/Chrysler New Yorker

based midsize FWD Imperials of the early 1990s with the bread & butter baby V6s.

[aaaantoine]

If the Chrysler 300 sells, this'll probably sell, too.

Even if it is ugly. If Chrysler gets even one rap star interested, it becomes an instant sales success.

[CSpec]

If the Chrysler 300 sells, this'll probably sell, too.

Even if it is ugly. If Chrysler gets even one rap star interested, it becomes an instant sales success.

Except this is twice as expensive.

[Drew Dowdell]

It won't sell to people of taste.... luckily for Chrysler, there aren't many of those left in the U.S.

[balthazar]

...copycat looks of the Imperial...

What's wrong with paying homage to one of your own past models ??

I sure can see the quad, free-standing round headlights, the 'brow' above them, the horizontal grillework and the thin horizontal elements below the headlights on both Imperials. Looks like a logical progression to me.

[AxelTheRed]

I, for one, like the Imperial and I'm glad its going to enter production.

I'd honestly rather see big American sedans again than to see the roads littered with tiny little Japan-inspired economy cars.

Edited May 18, 2007 by AxelTheRed

[mustang84]

Chrysler needs to dig into the 90s concept bin...they had some good stuff like the Chronos that would make a great Imperial. I miss the swoopey Chryslers...the 300C was a breath of fresh air, but everything since then has been blocky and trucky looking. Even the Sebring looks kinda pigish.

Mopar used to have some real style back in the 60s and early 70s. The great thing about Chrysler today is that they really have a tendency to surprise...unlike Ford where I've been waiting for eons for an updated RWD full-size and ANYTHING at all to happen to Mercury. Chrysler surprised me with both the Challenger and the Imperial...and even though the Imperial is kinda ugly, at least it's getting built unlike Lincoln's concepts over the last 5 years. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they brought Plymouth back from the dead...ChryCo tends to do the unexpected. I wish Ford had the product push like Chrysler does...Chrysler just gets things done, even if they aren't done perfectly all the time. They have a knack for make a hit when it is needed (300C).

[Flybrian]

What's wrong with paying homage to one of your own past models ??

I sure can see the quad, free-standing round headlights, the 'brow' above them, the horizontal grillework and the thin horizontal elements below the headlights on both Imperials. Looks like a logical progression to me.

So why does their current execution look so bad?

The '62's grille is rather bland and nondescript, but its not the centerpiece; rather, the eye-catcher is the dynamic chrome prow that wraps and sweeps down the fuselage over floating round headlamps. Its low, wide, and beautiful.

The concept has headlights buried in this rectangular alcove. It looks like a Continental with busted headlamp doors.

And the concept's grille is so JC Whitney that I bet they actually sold something very similar for the stock 300. Combined with the absolutely wasteful dead slab of wasteland beneath the headlamp cutouts, and you're left with a bad joke.

Its tall, narrow, bulky, has suicide doors, and looks ridiculous...like a Phantom.

What irritates me is not ten years ago, Chrysler built this...

Its low, long, sleek. Its modern yet classic. Its unmistakably Chrysler and undeniably timeless. The Chronos would transcend age; this 'Imperial' concept would fade worse than an Earl Scheib paintjob.

[balthazar]

You know, Fly- I cannot disagree with a single word you said (well... I sort of like the fact that it has suicide doors; sorry). Overall, this current proposal is Not Good to the point of Completely Awful.

BTW- is there some reason you might not be able to read PMs from me? I answered your PM to me from the other week, but for some reason I feel mine aren't getting thru...

[Sixty8panther]

Fly said it all... althought suicide doors are cool and there's NOTHING

boring or bland about the 1962 Imperial!

I've sent Fly three PMs over the past two months asking if it was

too late to order one of each of the calendars and NOTHING....

[Cory Wolfe]

I think Fly tends to forget to check his inbox... I also tend to get silence for responses.

As for the Imperial, I must agree with Fly. This Imperial is pathetic while the Cronos is something I actually like, as well as many other Chrysler concepts of the 90s.

[Intrepidation]

I never liked the front end of the Cronos. It suffers from the `90's "blob" effect... Things don't line up or flow together...

[Drew Dowdell]

That's strange... Fly always answers me...

[Clownzilla]

I still like teh front...it's from the B-pillar back that they need to fix.

Lol, I agree with you. I think we are the only two people in this world that likes the looks of this car (front).

[Flybrian]

The PM alert thing doesn't always go off. Checking now!

[andy82471]

This car will flop big time. It might sell well for a first new months or so, but after that sales would drop like a rock. Obviously Chrysler Motors is still living in the 90s when gas price was a buck a gallon.

[sciguy_0504]

I think it will flop, too. This is not what Chrysler needs right now. Any sort of halo car is supposed to be built after the rest of the lineup is better than average.

[6t5frlane]

Looks pretty cool,almost Bentley like

[dimitri0917]

I kinda like the style, but if this thing gets more than 15 mpg, I'll $h! my pants! THat isnt what chrysler needs... THey need cheap Plymouths

[A Horse With No Name]

Its really an unattractive car and certainly the last thing Chrysler should be worried about building right now. Seriously.

Exactly.

Chris

[Drew Dowdell]

I kinda like the style, but if this thing gets more than 15 mpg, I'll $h! my pants! THat isnt what chrysler needs... THey need cheap Plymouths

I have this vision of a new kind of car, a new kind of company. The cars would be smaller and economical to own yet compete with the best of the economy imports. They would be sold by friendly, no pressure sales people in attractive new facilities. There would be no haggling on price. There would be a small coupe, sedan and wagon, a midsize sedan, a small SUV, a minivan, and a fun 2 seat convertible.

They would be called Plymouth!

Neon

Neon Coupe

PT Cruiser

Breeze

Duster <small SUV not based on anything currently available>

Voyager

Pronto Spyder

[Viperfan07]

Why is everyone (or nearly everyone) bitching about this car? So what if its HUGE, its a CONCEPT. The car is fine the way it is as a CONCEPT. For production however the rear needs to be revised and the dimensions need to be shrunken down to size just a little bit ie, front end and height (mayb an 1 or 2). Other than that I pretty much like the car. Can't wait to see it in another color besides this brown.

[Sixty8panther]

The Chronos is the Chrysler equivelant of the Cadillac SIXTEEN...

It's about a MILLION times cooler than the 300C, nevermind the

lame a$$ed monkey-&#036;h&#33;-brown Imperial.

Imperial --- is to --- Chronos

as

Catera --- is to --- CTS-V

[dimitri0917]

I have this vision of a new kind of car, a new kind of company. The cars would be smaller and economical to own yet compete with the best of the economy imports. They would be sold by friendly, no pressure sales people in attractive new facilities. There would be no haggling on price. There would be a small coupe, sedan and wagon, a midsize sedan, a small SUV, a minivan, and a fun 2 seat convertible.

And this is what GM was supposed to have with Saturn. If a brand like this comes in, everyone but Hyundai/Kia and maybe Scion would be totally and completely un-prepared...

Anyway, they really dont need that monstrosity!

[Dirty Harry]

I saw the Imperial concept at the Portland Oregon Autoshow this year and I can say it is not the Chrysler concept I would ask them to build. I kept hearing people ask which end is the front.

[Ravenfreak13]

I have this vision of a new kind of car, a new kind of company. The cars would be smaller and economical to own yet compete with the best of the economy imports. They would be sold by friendly, no pressure sales people in attractive new facilities. There would be no haggling on price. There would be a small coupe, sedan and wagon, a midsize sedan, a small SUV, a minivan, and a fun 2 seat convertible.

They would be called Plymouth!

Neon

Neon Coupe

PT Cruiser

Breeze

Duster <small SUV not based on anything currently available>

Voyager

Pronto Spyder

You just described the original saturn vision lol.

Plymout my dear late friend...mine still runs to this day with minimal problems. Good mpg for its size, normal standard features, and a very good price.

[Drew Dowdell]

You just described the original saturn vision lol.

that's why I used the original Saturn tag line.... I've always felt that would have been a much better role Plymouth than just being a simple Dodge/Chrysler rebadge.

In my world, Dodge would never have had the Neon, that would have been a Plymouth thing

[Flybrian]

Agreed completely.

One big thing holding Chrysler/Dodge back right now is that they offer the exact same vehicles with different styling. The budget 300 is cheaper than the budget Charger. Chrysler sold the Voyager for less than the Caravan for a few years. This is a problem.

[DetroitNut90]

If Chrysler really wants a status car, they simply need to make this:

Much more classy, and probably not as big of a perception hurdle to jump as the Imperial would be.

[Ravenfreak13]

hmmm........

[Intrepidation]

I have this vision of a new kind of car, a new kind of company. The cars would be smaller and economical to own yet compete with the best of the economy imports. They would be sold by friendly, no pressure sales people in attractive new facilities. There would be no haggling on price. There would be a small coupe, sedan and wagon, a midsize sedan, a small SUV, a minivan, and a fun 2 seat convertible.

They would be called Plymouth!

Neon

Neon Coupe

PT Cruiser

Breeze

Duster <small SUV not based on anything currently available>

Voyager

Pronto Spyder

That's actually a really good idea. I wonder if Cerberus would consider it?

If Chrysler really wants a status car, they simply need to make this:

Much more classy, and probably not as big of a perception hurdle to jump as the Imperial would be.

They could build this too:

Edited May 20, 2007 by Dodgefan

[Cory Wolfe]

They could build this too:

I have to say.. I never saw what was so appealing about the Firepower. Its just... blah.

[vonVeezelsnider]

What's wrong with paying homage to one of your own past models ??

I sure can see the quad, free-standing round headlights, the 'brow' above them, the horizontal grillework and the thin horizontal elements below the headlights on both Imperials. Looks like a logical progression to me.

It doesn't look enough like a 1962 LeBaron Imperial IMO! The 62 Imp is my favourite classic car, and if that car had a more pronounced grille styling, and a better ass-end with gunsight taillights and a trunk that is continental kit reminiscent, I'd dream of driving one... Now it's just a vaguely Imperial resembling brick.

Unique Wheels:

The Most Shocking Neglected styling cues:

On top of that, it needs to use the Imperial Eagle logo, and should be less beefy and more sweepingly graceful like this LeBaron.

Edited May 20, 2007 by vonVeezelsnider

[LosAngeles]

I have this vision of a new kind of car, a new kind of company. The cars would be smaller and economical to own yet compete with the best of the economy imports. They would be sold by friendly, no pressure sales people in attractive new facilities. There would be no haggling on price. There would be a small coupe, sedan and wagon, a midsize sedan, a small SUV, a minivan, and a fun 2 seat convertible.

They would be called Plymouth!

Neon

Neon Coupe

PT Cruiser

Breeze

Duster <small SUV not based on anything currently available>

Voyager

Pronto Spyder

I think the way times are doesn't necessarily allow for a brand as stodgy (sounding) as Plymouth to come back in these think-they-want-retro-but-really-want-the-future times. It should never have been allowed to die in the first place, but it did, so it's time to do something different.

It's like the Oldsmobile situation...Olds was killed and Saturn was moved into its position. At this stage in the game Saturn may as well be considered today's Oldsmobile instead of trying to dust off the Olds name....simply different and more forward thinking perception, because it's here now and here rather strongly as well. Bringing back the Olds name simply doesn't look right in these times.

Brands are much harder to resurrect than nameplates (see Indian motorcycles)

I'd love for Chrysler to do non-Dodge/non-Chrysler/non-Jeep cars again. Valiant compact (and a companion Duster two-door), Fury, BARRACUDA, and Pronto would be beautiful for today, even an Eagle car (a brand Chrysler really mishandled). The Plymouth brand name won't work however. It's going to have to be something youthful, fresh, and forward-thinking. This is when you call those weird image companies to think of something.

Back to Imperial for a moment: Imperial should be s separate brand again. And the car itself should be more low-slung instead of looking at being monstrous and heavy. Not many people want the Americans bringing more new obviously-large cars at this point.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Back to Imperial for a moment: Imperial should be s separate brand again. And the car itself should be more low-slung instead of looking at being monstrous and heavy. Not many people want the Americans bringing more new obviously-large cars at this point.

Amen Brother!

[maxximus1]

Chryslers version of the Ford Edsel.