1974-75 Imperials;the Disco years

["A. Foster" <monkeypuzzle1@xxxxxxx>]

Dirk;

  One thing that I should point out is that the 1974/75 Imperials, and indeed all cars were styled and developed years in advance of when they came out. To me they fit in more with the Spanish revival and Baroque styles of the late sixties early seventies furniture then Disco. Musically speaking it was a little early for disco, hard rock and funk were more the rage at that time. You are right about the quality though, even the Newports used cast metal grilles instead of the cheesy plastic ones of other manufacturers.

 As for fake wood the Imperials of the late thirties and forties had dienoc dashes so I can't fault them too much. I think that the exclusion of real wood had more to do with the safety regs of the time. A friend of mine, who is into English cars, told me that they had to heavely coat wood dashes with plastic to prevent splintering such that the wood looked like plastic, ruining the novelty of having it.

Best Regards

Arran Foster

1954 Imperial Newport

Needing A Left Side Tailight Bezel and other trim parts.

----- Original Message -----

From: Dirk Bekker

To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 5:26 AM

Subject: IML: 1974-75 Imperials;the Disco years

Hello,

 

So much is being said and done about the sixties Imperials. But as the 21st century continues, the seventies Imperials are getting older..and rarer.

 

So what about the 74-75 years?? In my opinion they are the ''disco years of the Imperials" (and the later NYB of course)

 

The Imperial marque began to see a climbing trend of the use of fake wood, padded door panels and velour cushions in American luxury cars...In 1974 the Imperial LeBaron was the ONLY top class American luxury car to offer the loose cushion look standard!

 

I also see the 1974 Imperial as a result of a more aware becoming public towards the energycrisis. I think the 1974 Imperial is one of the first cars to use easier/lower cost production methods that need not have to be ugly.

 

The clip on front for instance is quite inexpensive to make and cuts costs, but it looks way better than the cheap looking plastic Cadillac grille!

 

Maybe it's time to see these special features and appreciate these true seventies products more...

 

As the disco music, the 1974 Imperial (and later New Yorkers) were ment to hopefully save the Imperial marque, and this was done in a marketing / styling mix..just the way they made salable disco songs that would attract many buyers, but the Imperial didn't have that Cadillac or Lincoln image, so people somehow didn't trust or believed in the marque.

 

But I cannot understand why people did not choose a 1974 Imperial LeBaron over a Cadillac Fleetwood or Lincoln Continental (they are so boring)

 

any comment?

 

Thanks, Dirk

 

Ken & Tracie <ktjosephson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: "Rob McCall" :

> As fodder for the Haze Green Era controversy, couldn't the '67-68's be
> referenced as the first generation unibody Imperial?

Over the years, I heard nicknames such as "slab siders" and "box cars"
applied to the '67-'68s. Don't know if either of those labels would be
appropriate for an Imperial.... :-)

K.




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