IML: 1960 Imperial

After seeing the post from Steve and Margaret Townsend last week reminding the group of the "Mopars on the Mississippi" event this past Saturday and Sunday, I decided to polish up the Royal Chariot as best I could with one arm (and the wrong one, at that) and head down to Dubuque Iowa from Minneapolis. This was to be my "last hurrah" with the Imperial for the driving-season, since I am having shoulder-surgery (again) on Wednesday and won't be able to drive, let alone eat, write, and a host of other things.

The drive down was great, particularly the 170 or so miles between Rochester and Dubuque, which was all two-lane and went through the big hills, valleys, and bluff-country of southeastern Minnesota and eastern/northeastern Iowa, before descending to the Mississippi River valley where Dubuque is situated. This was NOT the sort of thing where you sit on the freeway holding the steering-wheel and trying to stay awake-- THIS was actual DRIVING! I haven't had this much fun all summer-- and going home was just as good. I was having such a good time just DRIVING that I didn't even listen to my book! I have always been confident of the suspension on my Imperials, and also of the brakes, which I keep in top condition. And it helps to have been a professional driver and to have some handling skills for this sort of thing.

In Dubuque I connected with Steve and Margaret Townsend, neither of whom I had met before, and he said, "I'm really glad you came and brought your Imperial- My 1962 LeBaron is usually the only one here, and we even have a separate category for them". The Townsends' LeBaron really is a beautiful un-restored original--black with the silvery-grey leather-and-cloth interior. I really like that-- most of the black LeBarons I've seen have had the medium-blue interior.

Friday late afternoon and into the evening was the cruise-in at a local McDonalds, and also a "poker run/tour of Dubuque, something I've never done before (I wouldn't know a good poker hand from a bad one, anyway), but it was a fun way to show off the cars to the town, There WAS one gentleman with a silver 1968 Cadillac convertible- I never DID find out if he was some sort of wishful wannabe, or maybe that he had just gotten lost or something..... Anyway, it was a nice evening; we got some pictures of the two Imperials holding court in as dignified a manner as possible while surrounded by more than a hundred neon-hued smaller muscle-Mopars, pushing and shoving each other like a bunch of kids in a school-yard.

Sunday was the main show at a park near the river, and there were even MORE cars-- again, almost all muscle-cars, mostly in the late 60's and the early 70's. The spot designated as "O" class (IMPERIALS) was more-or-less in the centre of everything and my Mayan Gold '63 Crown 4-door stood proudly and elegantly all by itself with no competition in sight. It got a lot of attention throughout the afternoon and I answered a lot of questions about mine and about Imperials in general. I'm even proud to say that I held my tongue and walked away fuming silently when I heard the two good 'ol boys discussing what a great demo-car this would make if you ripped off all that chrome and "junk" from the inside and outside of the car, dropped in a chevy 350, and... ooh.., I'm starting to steam again...!

Shock of all shocks, my Imperial won "best in class", (against all comers, no doubt). I must admit that she WAS looking pretty good-- after all, I got up early at the motel and spent three-and-a-half hours waxing and buffing, and polishing chrome(now, THERE"S a project on one of these!)

Thanks to the Townsends for posting the notice and for being so welcoming-- I hope some other Imperial folks in the Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa area will show up with their cars in future and "show up" all the miniature stuff that is usually there.

I couldn't help but think again of the thread that ran a couple of weeks ago regarding the relative handling characteristics of the American luxury cars-- I didn't, and didn't WANT to, get in on any arguments between those with differing opinions and what-not, but I know that I would NEVER have done the kind of driving with my '66 Lincoln (which was new at the time) that I did-- safely-- with my rather elderly Imperial. And what's furthermore, my tea-cup stayed nice and steady throughout, without losing a drop!