1959 Chrysler Imperial 4 Door Hardtop For Sale
1959 Chrysler Imperial 4 Door Hardtop
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Okay....who wants to have some fun! Because I have had a ton of fun with this 4 door hardtop since I bought it from a guy on eBay back in 2003. It came with a cracked windshield, torn seats, deteriorating tires and some other ailments. And over the years I have fixed a number of those problems and others. I went through a couple of starters. And the one that is in there now is a little dodgy, so I have a \'high torque\' replacement in the trunk...ready to be installed. The brakes work but do need some adjustment. The photos I have taken show the car in its true \'driver\' state. In other words it is a solid no rust car (due to the fact that it spent most of its life in California and most of the rest of the time garaged where I live just outside of Washington DC), but it does have a number of cosmetic issues. In addition to cosmetic issues (as shown by the photos) the car has a few exterior pieces that make Imperial aficionados scratch their heads. First, the taillights are from a 1960 Imperial. And the rear bumper is from a 1958 Imperial. Why is this? Don\'t know for sure...I was told that a previous owner did not care for the looks of the 1959 taillights or bumper.
Most things in this car work and I drive it around on nice weather weekends. But there are a few items that don\'t work. Like the aftermarket air conditioning that was installed back in the 60s does not work. All the power windows work but the rear ones need help going up and down. The cruise control (\"Auto-Pilot\") does not work at all. I replaced the tires with Coker steel belted radials when I bought the car. There is plenty of tread left, but the whitewalls are showing their age. The power bench seat works (as do the swivel seats). The radio (tube...it has to warm up!) works...and I have added a little Audiovox FM tuner below the dash. The gas gauge does not work...I use the trip odometer to keep from running out of gas (I have been using premium gas since I got the car).
When you start the car up, there is some blue smoke coming from the exhaust. And now and then, a few drops of transmission fluid appear on the garage floor. Not sure whether the engine (413 V8) or the push-button transmission (Torqueflight) have ever been rebuilt. The odometer reads just over 34000 so it has at least 134000 miles on it. I have installed an electronic ignition so there are no points to wear out.
But as I said, if you want to have crowd pleasing classic or antique car fun, this big old blue boat may be the car for you. Driving this car is like being in a perpetual parade....people wave, kids tug on their parents pointing at the car, etc. My favorite is when people come up to me and ask me if I am the original owner (I was 6 years old in 1959...).
So I have run out of garage space and now it is time for someone else to have some fun. I have tried to provide a candid representation of this car. It is NOT a show car. It is a driver....a fun car to go get ice cream (and have people come up to you and ask you what year the car is even though the license plates read 1959). But it is also a solid car that with time, tinkering and expense could be brought up to show condition. Over the years, I found the Online Imperial Club (OIC)very helpful with interesting history and info on keeping the car running.
The 1959 Imperial is not a very common car...you simply do not see many of these as compared to the 1959 Cadillac. I believe they made about 3 times as many Cadillacs that year.
If the purchaser lives in Maryland, I will assist in transferring the 1959 tags.
All shipping charges are buyer\'s responsibility. Seller will accept payment by cash (in-person), bank wire or cashiers check.
I am listing this car for sale locally so I reserve the right to end this auction early.
Good luck bidding!
On Jun-22-17 at 05:11:21 PDT, seller added the following information:
Added some photos. And just to be clear, there is some surface rust on the frame and some areas underneath. But again, this appears to me as surface rust. Feel free to ask more questions
On Jun-23-17 at 14:35:03 PDT, seller added the following information:
Here is my response to some questions sent to me:
On Jun-23-17 at 14:40:35 PDT, seller added the following information:
The locks work and I have all the keys. The parking brake works fine and I have an extra set of parking brakeshoes. As I said in the narrative, the fuel gauge does not work. Nor does the clock. The temperature gauge and speedometer work. Not sure if the battery gauge works. The muffler and pipes are in good shape with no leaks. The front windows work but the rear windows require assistance. Especially the rear window on the drivers side....that requires quite a bit of assistance going up and down.
