Patrik Strub's 1955 Crown Imperial

Here's a brief history of Patrik's wonderful Imperials:

I bought my first Mopar when I was about 14 years old. It was a 1949 Plymouth DeLuxe, which I sold 3 years later. At age 17, I accidentally found a Crown Imperial C-70 (VIN #C551010) in Switzerland, which was heavily damaged. The Hemi and the disc brakes turned out to be recent additions. The Crown was delivered with a "km/h-speedometer" to the US-embassy in Bern (Switzerland) in 1955, and
was in the diplomat's service for roughly 2 years.

At the moment, I'm in the middle of a frame off restoration of the C-70. I noticed that a lot of body parts are missing, for example: body-side sill panel, wheelhouse panel, floor pans, etc. That's why I decided to buy a 2-door or a 4-door 1955 Imperial for manufacturing the missing parts. But that was not easy at all because I needed an Imperial that came from the factory with all the available options! I finally found one in California in 1997. I bought an Imperial Newport (Vin#C557731) from Bill Madden in Anaheim, CA. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of missing parts in the interior of the C-70, for example the jump seats. Luckily, Doug Behr from CA sold me a pair. But I haven't always have as much luck as in this example; many other things are missing or have to been replaced.
The day, when the Crown's back in the street, my dream will come true. There's nothing more beautiful than to be able to drive an Imperial with
my girlfriend at my side and to listen to the Hemi......................what a feeling............CRUISE ON!

Patrik's website:
www.classic-limo.ch

Patrik Strub
Bahnhofstrasse 10
8592 Uttwil
Switzerland

Click on the small image to see a larger one.

	Patrik's restoration project began about a year ago when Patrik stumbled upon this Crown. It is the elusive 8 passenger sedan body style, as opposed to the 8 passenger limousine body style. Only 45 of these cars were produced, and this one, miraculously ended up in Patrik's hands. This car had many problems, including the fact that the previous owner had welded incorrect parts onto the Crown's body.

	The interior of Patrik's car was completely shot! This picture is a good example of what he faced when he began his project. There are many interesting details about the original interior on the Crowns. The driver's seat is upholstered in black leather and the instrument panel is gray. The back seats, headliner and jump seats were covered in the traditional "Crown" upholstery which was a light blue/gray color.
	This Crown came originally with disc brakes, the first car in the industry to have discs. Because the original owner had problems with these brakes they had been replaced, but Patrik has restored the original disc brakes...amazing!! All Crowns had a 12 volt electrical system, as opposed to the regular 6 volt which came standard on all other Imperials for 1955.

	Patrik plans on repainting the Crown in its original formal Black. Here is a picture of the car as it was being disassembled and being made ready for paint stripping.
	And here is where Patrik's project is today...with a completely disassembled Crown that is ready to have the body work begin. HOPEFULLY, Patrik will keep us well informed of his progress.
	Here is a picture of one of those interesting details of the Crown. The rear mirror has a clock on it. Patrik is trying to find a new one, so please keep your eyes open for one of these unusual gadgets.
	A close-up of the clock