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57 Chrysler Imperial vs 57 Cadillac dealer promo film

Started by Jeff Maltby 4194, January 17, 2018, 11:23:20 AM

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Jeff Maltby 4194

Jeffo 49er chapter

CLC 1985
Honda Gold Wing GL1500

The Tassie Devil(le)

Well, golly gosh, I think I will go out and buy a Chrysler.   But, hang on, how many are left?

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

64\/54Cadillacking

Quote from: The Tassie Devil(le) on January 17, 2018, 05:50:20 PM
Well, golly gosh, I think I will go out and buy a Chrysler.   But, hang on, how many are left?

Bruce. >:D

Haha! Very true. Not too many Imperials left out there as they all have rusted away. If they were truly better than Cadillacs, they would have outsold them or at least come close to them in sales.

Marketing is a 2 way street.
Currently Rides:
1964 Sedan Deville
1954 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special
1979 Lincoln Mark V Cartier Designer Series
2007 Lexus LS 460L (extended wheelbase edition)

Previous Rides:
1987 Brougham D' Elegance
1994 Fleetwood Bro
1972 Sedan Deville
1968 Coupe Deville
1961 Lincoln Continental
1993 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series
1978 Lincoln Continental ( R.I.P.) 1978-2024 😞

Jon S

My dad had a deposit in a 1957 and then a 1958 Imperial before buying his 1958 Cadillac. The Imperial was quite a car with its push button transmission and curved side window glass. It was very quick with torqueflite and the 391 engine. Dad was torn, but finally made the right decision. Chrysler caught GM with their pants down with Virgil Exeter's designs in 1957.
Jon

1958 Cadillac Sedan De Ville
1973 Lincoln Continental Coupe
1981 Corvette
2004 Mustang GT

Karl Clements

Hi, Ref how many are left my friend has a 1957 Imperial Southampton and I have a 1958 Cadillac. You very rarely see any 57 Imperial's in England think there are 3 over here but plenty of 57 and 58 Cadillac's. Wouldn't swap my Caddy for the Imperial.

Karl Clements

1958 Cadillac 62 series coupe
1948 Cadillac 61 series coupe

z3skybolt

I've long been a Chrysler fan,

My passion as a teen in the 50s and 60's was to own a 55 Chrysler New Yorker then the 62 Chrysler 300: which if I recall correctly was billed as " the world's fastest production sedan"  with a top speed of 160 mph. Now that is a memory from 57 years ago...so I won't swear. But I digress.

When I watched the comparison between the Imperial and Cadillac.....I couldn't escape the image of the Cadillac. It looked like a Cadillac.  Cadillac was the way an American Luxury car was supposed to look. I just couldn't help myself despite a desire to prefer the Imperial.   

Can't vouch for the performance comparison.  But the Cadillac just looked right.

Bob
1940 LaSalle 5227 Coupe(purchased May 2016)
1985 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series. Bought New.

James Landi

The torsion bar suspension that they put on those cars may have kept the wheels on the road, but also provided a punishing ride.  My father borrowed his law partner's '57 Chrysler Imperial  in the fall of 1959 as his 53 Chevy was not very road worthy.   Following a 600 mile trip up to Colgate, he was entirely sold on not purchasing a Chrysler...instead purchased a low mileage, 1956 Cadillac...  and thus with that purchase, he, my brother, and I have became life long Cadillac owners.    Happy day,  James

The Tassie Devil(le)

It just goes to prove that any advertiser worth his salt can make anything look good.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Jon S

The 1957/1958 Imperials were very quiet and nice riding cars. They were very quick off the line and in many ways more sdvanced than their GM counterparts. Their bodies were introduced too quickly and as such were prone to premature rusting. The torque flite was very similar to the turbo hydramatic that wasn't introduced by GM until 1964. Chrysler in the 1950's was known for their engineering. I am. GM person, but the 1957/8 Imprials were quite a car.
Jon

1958 Cadillac Sedan De Ville
1973 Lincoln Continental Coupe
1981 Corvette
2004 Mustang GT

jaxops

My Dad was a Cadillac dealer but always talked about the Imperial being his favorite.  Now I know why! Wish we had one of those.   8)  Great video.  So glad you shared it!
1970 Buick Electra Convertible
1956 Cadillac Series 75 Limousine
1949 Cadillac Series 75 Imperial Limousine
1979 Lincoln Continental
AACA, Cadillac-LaSalle Club #24591, ASWOA

chrisntam

Interesting video.  Not sure I'd run my car over those RR tracks @ 30 miles and hour.

The trunk space was certainly won by the Imperial.  Chrysler had the hemi.   8)

Chrysler stylists had already turned the corner from the bulbous looking cars of the '50s.  Cadillac (and others) would get it in '58.

Chrysler had 4 headlights (optional) in '57, did not know that.  I thought the Dept of Transportation mandated only two headlights until '58.

Wonder what the value of a '57 Imperial is vs. a '57 Cadillac?  I suspect (but don't know) that the Imperial is more valuable than the Cadillac because there are fewer around today to chose from.

As others have said, thanks for posting that. 
1970 Deville Convertible 
Dallas, Texas

57 Eldo Seville

I see that the Cadillac has air conditioning.  I don't think that they ever show the engine compartment or dash of the Chrysler products so I suspect that there are no heavy air conditioning components.
Dave Morris
CLC#28497
1957 Eldorado Seville
2020 CT5-V

64\/54Cadillacking

Chrysler engineering at that time from what I heard was very advanced compared to GM and Ford, but their quality control was terrible.

Not sure if that’s all true or not though.

I also hear that the Imperials interiors weren’t that good quality wise vs Cadillac which was an ongoing problem Imperials had even throughout the 60’s..

No car at the time could match the smooth floaty soft ride of a Cadillac either. The coil spring suspension is superior in every way compared to the rear leaf suspension that Lincoln used up until 69, and torsion bar Chrysler’s.
Currently Rides:
1964 Sedan Deville
1954 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special
1979 Lincoln Mark V Cartier Designer Series
2007 Lexus LS 460L (extended wheelbase edition)

Previous Rides:
1987 Brougham D' Elegance
1994 Fleetwood Bro
1972 Sedan Deville
1968 Coupe Deville
1961 Lincoln Continental
1993 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series
1978 Lincoln Continental ( R.I.P.) 1978-2024 😞

Jon S

Quote from: 64CaddieLacky on January 24, 2018, 12:31:52 AM
Chrysler engineering at that time from what I heard was very advanced compared to GM and Ford, but their quality control was terrible.

Not sure if that’s all true or not though.

I also hear that the Imperials interiors weren’t that good quality wise vs Cadillac which was an ongoing problem Imperials had even throughout the 60’s..

No car at the time could match the smooth floaty soft ride of a Cadillac either. The coil spring suspension is superior in every way compared to the rear leaf suspension that Lincoln used up until 69, and torsion bar Chrysler’s.

Remember this was comparing. 1957 Cadillac to the 1957 Imperial. 1957 Cadillacs had rear leaf springs. Coil springs appeared in 1958.
Jon

1958 Cadillac Sedan De Ville
1973 Lincoln Continental Coupe
1981 Corvette
2004 Mustang GT

64\/54Cadillacking

#14
Quote from: Jon S on January 24, 2018, 10:40:16 AM
Remember this was comparing. 1957 Cadillac to the 1957 Imperial. 1957 Cadillacs had rear leaf springs. Coil springs appeared in 1958.

Correct, my mistake. I believe the Cadillac suspension  was still more tuned for comfort and isolation than an Imperial, but I also could be wrong. I have a friend that has owned Imperials and currently has a 65 Imperial that doesn’t work at the moment (it used too), but he has owned Cadillacs in the past, and he has informed me that Cadillacs in the 50’s and 60’s were softer riding than the Imps, so going over bumps and potholes weren’t felt as much. The Imps, depending on the year has more solid feeling bodies, were bigger inside, handled way better and had more power than certain year Caddies.

The Imperials he said used a lot of fake plasti chrome and cheap feeling trim, while Cadillacs used real chrome and nice quality trimmings for the most part until the 67 model year.

Styling wise, I do love the 55-56 Imperials and early 60’s Imperials, they were really beautiful cars that had a lot of character.
Currently Rides:
1964 Sedan Deville
1954 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special
1979 Lincoln Mark V Cartier Designer Series
2007 Lexus LS 460L (extended wheelbase edition)

Previous Rides:
1987 Brougham D' Elegance
1994 Fleetwood Bro
1972 Sedan Deville
1968 Coupe Deville
1961 Lincoln Continental
1993 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series
1978 Lincoln Continental ( R.I.P.) 1978-2024 😞

Jon S

The push button drive was innovative and the Chrysler air conditioning was fantastic. The whole family wanted dad to buy the Imperial but he remained loyal to GM and traded the 1953 Buick Roadmaster for the 1958 Cadillac. We were still happy.
Jon

1958 Cadillac Sedan De Ville
1973 Lincoln Continental Coupe
1981 Corvette
2004 Mustang GT

Jay Friedman

I can't comment on the cars' performance, but in my opinion the Cadillac is a better looking car. 

The Airflows of the 1930s notwithstanding, Chrysler products were best known for engineering excellence from the company's founding in the late 1920s, including having hydraulic brakes some years before Ford and GM.  But I think this was much less true from the mid-1950s when Chrysler began emphasizing speed and futuristic styling.  As previous posters have said, the fact that there are so many more '57 Cadillacs extant today says a lot. 
1949 Cadillac 6107 Club Coupe
1932 Ford V8 Phaeton (restored, not a rod).  Sold
Decatur, Georgia
CLC # 3210, since 1984
"If it won't work, get a bigger hammer."

Barry M Wheeler #2189

One thing I remember about the 1957 Chrysler products... All of them had sweep style trim from front to back along the sides, and on about forty percent (or better) of them, the trim on the doors did not match the front and rear fenders. If you were lucky, two out of the three possibilities "matched." Oh, did that ever bug me. (Type "A" personality even back then.)

Plymouths were especially bad. They had double lines of stainless. I don't know why the customers put up with it.
Barry M. Wheeler #2189


1981 Cadillac Seville
1991 Cadillac Seville

jdemerson

Quote from: Jon S on January 19, 2018, 07:33:24 PM
The 1957/1958 Imperials were very quiet and nice riding cars. They were very quick off the line and in many ways more advanced than their GM counterparts. Their bodies were introduced too quickly and as such were prone to premature rusting. The torque flite was very similar to the turbo hydramatic that wasn't introduced by GM until 1964. Chrysler in the 1950's was known for their engineering. I am a GM person, but the 1957/8 Imperials were quite a car.

Jon, you have it exactly right. In principle, the Imperials were superior to Cadillac and Lincoln in 1957. The video contains a number of truths. The Imperial's engineering was advanced and so was styling (though of course styling preferences are very subjective). The rub is that Imperial's (and other Chrysler Corp's) build quality was especially poor in 1957, and history is not equivocal about the Imperial and other Chrysler models being very prone to rust.

I've always thought that the 1957 Cadillac was especially attractive, and its quality was good for its day.

John Emerson
1952 Cadillac 6219X Sedan
John Emerson
Middlebury, Vermont
CLC member #26790
1952 Series 6219X
http://bit.ly/21AGnvn