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1958 Imperial

Statistics

Length - 225.7 inches ( 18 Feet, 9.7 inches )

Wheel Base - 129 inches

Width - 81.2 inchess ( 6 feet, 9.2 inches )

Height - 56.7 inches ( 4 feet, 8.7 inches )

Weight - 4795 pounds

Wheel size - 14 Inch

Body Styles & Trim Levels

The museum's car, which is called Mrs. Blueberry - it was named by the daughter of the main volunteer who looks after the car, is a base model four door Southampton with power everything, including front & rear air conditioning. Although it used to have a white vinyl section over the back window, which was never a factory option, and now sports a white main roof with a blue rear section, which is more correct, in fact the car was originally all blue and it will be returned to this configuration in the correct "Ballet Blue" once it some current engine and interior work is completed.

There were five body styles:

Southampton coupe - Two door, no B pillar *

Southampton 4 door - Four door, no B pillar *

Sedan - 4 fully framed doors, complete with B pillar and third side window

Convertible - Two door with electric soft roof

Limousine - Strectched at the 'C' pillar in Italy, these cars were made to special order.

* Southampton is the name given to Imperials with no B pillar. These are generically known as hard tops. The doors are not full frame and when the windows are retracted, there is no obstruction between windshield and rear window, giving the illusion that they are convertibles. The phrase 'Hard top' is short for 'hard top convertible.' This all gets very confusing, as there are convertibles with folding hard tops. To accomodate additional strengthening, the four door Southampton has a much stronger and wider 'C' pillar and, as a result, no third window. Also, there is no non-Southampton coupe!

There were three trim levels:

Base model - this had no name as such

Imperial Crown - the most popular trim level *

LeBaron - Top of the line

* One has to say Imperial Crown, as the name Crown Imperial refers to the Limousine!

Trim level refered to upgraded materials, some badging, embossed crowns in the leather seats and one or two extras, such as map pockets with arm rests, which also had built in cigarette lighters. This author believes you could not get leather in a base model. Mechanically, all Imperials were identical, except for cruise control, or AutoPilot, which was introduced as an option for the first time in 1958. Even A/C is not a simple matter to list. You could get front and rear A/C on the base model or a Crown without it. From the factory, you could get a car with both front and rear A/C or rear A/C only. You could get front A/C installed by a dealer.

Powertrain

All 1958 Imperials had the same powertrain:

High compression 90 degree V8, with Hemispherical combustion chambers

Displacement - 392 cu. in.

Brake Horse Power - 345 @ 4600 RPM

Bore - 4.0 in.

Stroke 3.9 in.

Compression ratio - 10:1

Pistons - Aluminum alloy, with three rings each

Twin exhaust with two mufflers and resonators

Transmission - 3 speed Torque-Flite Automatic with push button controls

Other Mechanical

Rear wheel drive

Suspension - Independant front wheel, with torsion bars. Leaf springs in rear. All round shocks.

Steering - Full time power. 3.3 turns from full left to full right.

Brakes - Power assisted, two cylinders on each front wheel, one apiece on the rears. Independant parking brake on drive shaft.

Gas Tank capacity - 23 gallons

Cooling System - 6 gallons. Engine has full lengthe water jackets around cylinders.

Oil Capcity - Six quarts, including cannister filter.

Transmission fluid - Ten and a half quarts

Electrical

Dual Sealed Beam Headlights, with floor mounted dimmer switch

Back up lights

Variable speed windshield wipers, with automatic washer

Power windows

6 way power seats

AM radio with foot activated signal changer

Clock

Flashing red brake light reminder

Cigarette lighters - one in front and back on base models, two in rear on Imp. Crown & LeBarons.

Other, Optional Equipment

Front and rear air conditioning. Rear A/C only was also an option.

Auto-Pilot, or cruise control

Power antenna

Imperial was the top of the line Chrysler brand from the company's earliest days. From 1926, when the company changed its name from Maxwell to Chrysler, to 1954, all top of the line Chryslers were Imperials. In 1955 Imperial became a stand alone brand, complementing Plymouth, De Soto, Dodge and Chrysler itself. Imperial went head to head with Lincoln and Cadillac, and gave them both a good run for their money. The cars were never hugely popular. Imperial was a prestige brand, something to which people might aspire. They had the latest and best of the latest automobile innovations, paving the way for their introduction in lesser models in subsequent years.

From 1957 to 1966 the cars were entirely different from any other Chrysler product. In 1967 they became a highly modified form of the top of the line Chrysler and were still regarded as an exclusive brand. While sales were acceptable, Imperial never reached the sales of Lincoln and Cadillac and the brand was discontinued in 1975. It was briefly resurrected in the early 1980s, as a coupe only contender for the Ford Thunderbird, and the name appeared again in the early 1990s but this was a return to the brand's earliest days. It was a trim level version of the regular top of the line Chrysler.

The museum has owned its 1958 since 1984. It was brought out of static display in the early 1990s and has become the most widely travelled of all the museum's vehicles. It has presented a fair amount of challenges over the years but the car is so unique and is such a pleasure to drive that it continues to act as the museums roving ambassador. While obviously we cannot take our trains all over the place, the Imperial is highly mobile, and because it is so unique it tends to stand out in any crowd.

The car was purchased on July 3, 1958, from Pete Smith Motors in Seguin, Texas by a man named Alvin Kroesche. Mr. Kroesche ran a popranne gas company. His main past time was riding and breeding Tennesee walking horses. He later moved to San Antonio where he purchased a small ranch. Not much is known about the car until it was donated to the museum by a Mr. Leslie Tabor, who also gave a 1957 and a 1962 Imperial, plus one other car. Both those Imperials were disposed off but the 1958 was put on static display. Most visitors knew nothing about Imperials but an educated few were taken aback to see one again. Not being able to fire up its Hemi began to be a problem. It seemed like quite a waste of such an impressive engine. This led to the decision to get it running again, and the rest, as they say, is history in the making.

As of April 2004, the car in the shop - again! The top end of the engine was rebuilt in 2001, and, almost predictably, the bottom end then blew out. In particular, several pistons lost their oil sealing rings, causing what is known as blow by. Oil consumption was terrible and the car was smoking badly. Fortunately, a local company, SMT Truck Lines, agreed to fix these problems for the museum and the car should be out roving round the roads of Texas in no time.

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