The year Imperial became its own make, it also got a world first riding along: Chrysler and Philco's all-transistor car radio, a 1956 option that beat every other automaker to solid-state.
Lead trim: Imperial 331 cu in FirePower Hemi V8 (250 bhp, 1955) · up to 280 hp
Imperial ImperialC-69 · 1955–1956
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Imperial Imperial yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe year Imperial became its own make, it also got a world first riding along: Chrysler and Philco's all-transistor car radio, a 1956 option that beat every other automaker to solid-state.
Chrysler Imperial was Chrysler Corporation's luxury brand from 1955 until 1975 and again from 1981 through 1983: the Imperial name was first used in 1926 for Chrysler's flagship model, and in 1955 the maker relaunched it as a separate make and division to compete with Lincoln and Cadillac (Chrysler notified all 48 state licensing agencies that it would no longer be registered as a Chrysler; Cadillac stopped using the "Imperial" name for its limousines). The first generation (models C-69 and C-70, designer Virgil Exner) used his "100 Million Look" on the big-Chrysler platform with a wheelbase 4.0 in longer, a wide-spaced split egg-crate grille and standard power brakes and steering. The 1955 cars (2-door Newport hardtop and 4-door sedan, plus a 172-unit Crown limousine) had the 331 cu in (5.4 L) FirePower Hemi V8 of 250 bhp with the 2-speed PowerFlite; the 1956 cars had small tailfins, a 354 cu in (5.8 L) Hemi with 280 bhp, the 3-speed TorqueFlite A488 and a 133 in wheelbase, and the Newport was renamed the Southampton with a four-door Southampton hardtop added (10,268 produced). Curb weight 4,700 to 4,900 lb is a range and not entered.
Collectors Spotted in the Imperial Imperial Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Imperial Imperial yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial 331 cu in FirePower Hemi V8 (250 bhp, 1955) | 1955–1955 | 5.4 L V8 | 250 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Imperial 354 cu in Hemi V8 (280 bhp, 1956) | 1956–1956 | 5.8 L V8 | 280 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Buy the Imperial's Frank Sinatra Edition and you got more than his name on the fender — 16 cassette tapes of his music, locked in their own leather case under the dash.
To cut costs, the 1974 Imperial shared most of its body with the Chrysler New Yorker — keeping only its own front clip and trunk lid to look distinct.
The 1971 fuselage-era Imperial quietly made history as the first production car in America offered with a 4-wheel anti-lock braking system — a Bendix option almost nobody ordered.
Imperial's switch to a shared C-body platform wasn't really about progress — it was about money. Keeping a separate platform for such low sales volume had become impossible to justify.
The 1957 Imperial set a front shoulder-room record so wide that no car — not even a later Imperial — beat it for more than a decade, until GM's full-size cars of the mid-1970s.
These Italian-built Imperial Crown limousines were made so slowly by Ghia that they kept the old 392-cubic-inch Hemi long after the rest of the lineup had moved on.
The year Imperial became its own make, it also got a world first riding along: Chrysler and Philco's all-transistor car radio, a 1956 option that beat every other automaker to solid-state.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
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The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
The Vigor was sold only with a five-cylinder engine, an unusual configuration Honda used to fit a longer engine transversely under a short hood.
The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.