1958 Imperial Advertising Images
It is a conundrum as to why there is so much stuff about 1958 Imperials in particular out there to this day. During that year there was a series of published adverts in the like of Life and the Saturday Evening post that comprised of ten different adverts, including one for the limousine, or Crown Imperial - not, of course, to be confused with the Imperial Crown. There were two different fold out brochures issued, also. The black and white edition is the smaller of the two. The colour one is huge and has a dazzling amount of information. There is a video, featuring Tom McCahill of "Mechanix Illustrated", showing the Imperials and other luxury cars being test driven in comparative tests. There are other books and mechanical charts, not to mention a ready supply of technical manuals and owners manuals.
One speculation as to why there is so much material goes as follows: Optimism followed by desperation. 1957 sales were fantastic. The new design was a knock out and the car had everything it needed to succeed. Well, almost everything. Not build quality and good rust proofing, but everything else! The company began the 1958 model year with many of those problems resolved plus a couple of technical innovations. An additional 20 horse power from raising engine compression and re-working the camshaft, the introduction of an all new four barrel aluminum AFB carburetor made by Carter, and the first introduction of "Auto-Pilot," an early form of cruise control. But sales were very sluggish. There was a mini-recession on top of the previous year's reliability reputation and folks were not in the humour to buy a potential lemon. Sales dropped by half from the previous year, which history says was an all time high for the make, but still, the company had to do something!. So they pushed the car - HARD !
As a result, we can see sales training films and the other publicly oriented materials galore, and I for one, am certainly not complaining. If it seems a little odd to you that there is so much stuff out there about a car you may never have heard of, you have every right to be bewildered. But, as a snapshot of times long gone by, getting to know this information and the car it refers to will be, hopefully, as entertaining for you as it is for me.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Here are two 1958 ads from trade magazines, plus a 1957 ad picture
Here are two of the 10 public 1958 ads created, plus a brochure picture
Three Swedish Chrysler Corporation Ads
Three black and white publicity stills
convertible . . . . . . . . . Hardtop . . . . . . . . . checking for leaks
advert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . advert . . . . . . . . . . brochure dash image
advert. . . . . . . . . . . . Goodyear advert . . . . . . . . . . .himself's 58 ad collection
Imperial images in a 1958 magazine, "Auto Show"
Time Mag image . . . . '58 LA showroom . . . . . publicity pic
Mopar Service Ad . . . '58 Road & Track Comparison. . . . . . . .
Various 50's dealer, plus a 1958 street scene
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