There were a lot of stories about the next-to-final and last-generation Chrysler Imperial. One tale had the car conking out every time it went over a set of railroad tracks (which did indeed happen to me in a prototype, while going over tracks which crossed Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles, on, naturally, a rainy night, with, probably a new girlfriend out on our first date. Nothing like making a good impression!). Another favorite was that Lee Iacocca had given an Imperial to his buddy Frank Sinatra, in exchange for Sinatra doing a commercial for Chrysler. This probably happened around 1980, when the last real Imperial was made and Iacocca was still at Chrysler (he was there from 1978 through 1983). The final Imperial, an upscale variant of the New Yorker, with a 'throbbing' 150 horsepower 3.8 liter V6, was built from 1990 through 1993. While driving through the desert to Las Vegas, the Imperial gave out on Sinatra and when he finally found a pay phone (this was way before cell phones, kids), he called Iacocca and registered a complaint or two. Iacocca sent a helicopter to pick-up Sinatra and his guest(s), stranded as they were somewhere in the open desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Sinatra and party boarded the chopper and a few minutes later were landing on the roof of whatever hotel Sinatra ordered the pilot. In the meantime, no one ever saw hide nor hair of that Imperial ever agin, and for all anyone knows, it's still sitting in that desert, under a few feet of wind-blown sand ... Exactly where it belonged in the first place! (Photo - 2006 Chrysler Imperial concept car's engine bay with Hemi engine cover and Chrysler logo).
One more quick Sinatra tale which has nothing to do with this story: Sinatra made some TV spots for GM in the early '60s, for some then-new Pontiacs. Sinatra, in one of the spots, played a car valet at a fancy restaurant, and also played the ritzy customer he was helping! Fun stuff. GM asked Sinatra what he wanted for doing the spots. Money was nonsensical; he had enough, and didn't need anymore to declare to the IRS, anyway, the way they were scrutinizing him at the time. So he told GM, "You know, I just got a new boat and I need a couple of big V8 diesels for it". They way the story was told to me, by one man who absolutely knew the truth, one morning soon after doing the spots, Sinatra awoke to find two GM diesel engines made specifically for marine use, in crates, on his lawn. No record of his receiving them was ever made inside GM, so there was no reason for Sinatra to ever declare them as a gift or income. Ring-a-ding-ding! (Photo - Frankie as a priest --- definitely in a movie!).
Now Chrysler tells us, through their PR channels, that a new Imperial is on the way. They even showed a prototype at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show (ok, ok ... "North American International Auto Show"). All we can say us: Uh
oh. Does Chrysler really need to offer a car larger than their great-selling 300 model? The only engine which would make sense in such as car is (here we go again) the Chrysler V8 Hemi, and with both gas prices and fuel mileage standards changing on what seems an hourly basis, it would seem Chrysler might do better by simply freshening up the proven and accepted 300 with some nice "paint and tape" work, perhaps some NASCAR-y touches in front and on the rear deck ... who knows? But one thing this country does not need is yet another 4,500 pound land yacht with V8 power at north-of-$50,000 pricing. Maybe the folks at Cerberus, Chrysler's new owner, can talk some sense into the marketing folks at Chrysler and let them know that, officially, it is no longer 1979 ... (Photo - Chrysler Imperial concept apprently undergoing undisguised testing in San Francisco).
And then, on the other hand, we have the 2009 Chevrolet Camaro, snapped during recent appearances at some regularly-scheduled southern California car gatherings (Friday nights at Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake, Sunday mornings at the Donut Derelicts gathering in Huntington Beach, for example). We really liked this shot of the convertible concept version of the car so thought we'd share it with you, borrowed off one of the many, many active General Motors' BLOGS. Unlike the Imperial, this Camaro makes you smile by just looking at it ... Exactly what every car-maker in the world wants from their products! Not that this is often achieved ... Latest "smile-producing" car we've seen is the fabu-loso all-new Audi R8. GM has a home run here, no one is going to argue that. Surely the small block V8 350cid engine will be offered, but, like the current Mustang, we bet whatever V6 GM may offer in the car will be ... by far ... the most popular engine. The V8 versus V6 mix in the current Mustang is about 70% V6 and 30% V8, typical for pony cars since the Mustang first was exhibited at Ford Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair (and, yes, I was there, too ... Born in Brooklyn, NY and split my time growing up, first, until age 16, in Rockville Centre, on Long Island, NY and then in Santa Ana, California and other So Cal locations from 1970 on).
(Photo - Smile! Audi's R8 on the stand at the Los Angeles Auto Show).
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