IML: Back in 58 it was different, of course

["Hugh & Therese" <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx>]

Our spirited discussion today led me to thinking, always a dangerous time, 
mainly for me.  Anyhoo, back in 1958, Imperial production, at 16,133*, made 
it the 16th largest name plate.   Plymouth, by comparison, made 443,799 
cars, at number three.  Sales of all cars slumped in 1958.  In 1957, by 
comparison, there were 37,593* Imperials built, but that was a peak year, 
with the introduction of the new body style.  In 1959, the number went up 
slightly to 17, 269*.

*Source: 100 Years Of The American Auto (Publications International, Ltd), 
2002

The math becomes interesting if you break it down.  At 16,133, there were, 
on average, 1,344 cars a month being sold.  (A number of these cars would 
also have been sent abroad, particularly to Canada.)  I am obliged to guess 
how many MOPAR dealerships there were in the entire USA at this time.  As 
mentioned in a previous message, none of these was a dedicated Imperial 
dealership.  My own 58 was purchased from a Plymouth dealership in a very 
small town some thirty miles from San Antonio, Texas  Does 2,000 dealerships 
seem like an appropriate guess?  That would be only 41 in each state, 
remembering that Alaska and Hawaii had yet to be formally designated as 
such.  That seems a little low, but lets go with it anyway.

That would means that each dealership would only have to sell 8 Imperials 
throughout the year to absorb the entire production run.  Selling them was a 
bit of a pain.  You might have one on the lot but more than likely all you'd 
have is a plastic model and a lot of sales materials stating trim levels, 
color combinations, materials and equipment.  It also meant your repair shop 
would have to carry tools to work on the car and a certain amount of spare 
parts as well.  I met a man who ran a Plymouth dealership in an even smaller 
Texas county town called Karnes City.  He said that the Imperial was just a 
pain in the behind, in every respect.  He wanted folks to buy what was on 
his lot, not have him fooling around on special orders that were complex in 
every respect.

In passing, I don't know if you could buy an Imperial at any MOPAR outlet, 
such as Chrysler, Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth.  I have somehow come to hold 
the idea that Imperials were mainly sold at Plymouth dealerships but cannot 
recall upon what this supposition is based.

Many features of the Imperial were also on the company's lesser name plates. 
The idea was that the press would talk up these features and then the 
salesmen would be able to sell the Plymouth on its close relationship with 
the Imperial, hence giving the owner a sense that he was getting some of the 
Imperial's prestige when he bought his Plymouth.

The actual Imperial buyer would have quite a set of choices to make when he 
made his purchase.  Only one engine and only four body styles narrowed the 
choice quickly but then you'd have to begin thinking about colors, and cloth 
or leather, and trim levels.  I recently had the pleasure of seeing Patrick 
Moore's base model 58 Imperial.  It was black outside, with a black cloth 
interior.  The main difference, as near as I could tell, was than his car 
does not have rear A/C whereas mine does.  Other than that, except for 
color, the cars are remarkably similar.  They both have two cigarette 
lighters, whereas the Crown and the LeBaron have three.  With its lack of 
two tone paint, less interior and exterior trim and cloth seats, the base 
model makes a different statement that the Crowns.  It was more understated, 
you could say, but it could still have all the mechanical bells and whistles 
you might want.  The only thing I miss is the passenger side mirror.

Once you chose your trim level, the number of options kept on reducing. 
Certain decisions on the part of the buyer, such as a dislike of leather, 
obligated him to go with the lowest trim level, but, then again, not 
everyone wanted two tone paint, either.  On the other hand you could still 
get as much "extra" equipment on the car as your pocket book allowed.

The amazing thing is how varied these cars were once you get down to 
specifics.  For such a low production car, there were no less than three 
different types of wheel cover, one for each trim level.  In 1958, the 
Imperial was built at the same factory as the Chrysler, but on its own 
production line.  It must have been relatively leisurely paced.   63,681* 
Chryslers were built that year, almost four times as many.

Hugh




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