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a 1973 Motor Trend road test of the Imperial, Cadillac and Lincoln found them to like the imperial because it was "more of a driver's car than the others". they also liked the "blend of the old and the new" I don't remember what was old about the Imp but the "new" was the Chronometer clock
they did complain about the "wind and tire noise, tho not excessive, it is noticeable". they went on to say that it was "inexcusable in a car of this size and class"
if you rode in a new 73 imp and you didn't know what a Lincoln and Cad was like to ride in, would anyone even notice the "tire noise" in the Imp? is tire noise considered to be that low frequency roar that you hear from the tires going over a harsh road surface or is it more of a hiss? would you think that difference in sound level would be significant?
Thom McCahill's test of the 73 Imp found him to say "even your mother in law would have difficulty faulting it for its comfort and quietness"
I'd be interesting to see an objective test between one of these land yachts and a Japanese car of the era.
Why bother? The Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial of that era were long, low, wide, smooth-riding, glamorous, comfortable, powerful (but not quite as much as the '60s models).
The typical Japanese cars of that era was small, skinny, cramped, hard-riding, cheap, uncomfortable and underpowered.
In other words, an econo-box, meant to only get from one place to another.
yeah, remember the old Toyota Corona? wasn't that the top of the line back then?
They sold the Crown, but only it very limited numbers. The Cressida was more popular, but that didn't come out for a few more years.
It'd be interesting to see how the Japanese cars were in comparison ten years prior to the point the Big Three were no longer capable of competing and lobbied for import quotas.
i don't think the Imp was top rated i think they were all tied. The Imp handled the best and had the firmest ride and was the "driver's car" the Cad was the most stylish and the Lincoln had the best interior and quietness
It's unfortunate that the Imperials never got the attention that they deserved. Even though Imperials looked awesome in the 60's, I never understood why not too many people bought them vs a Cadillac, and Lincoln.
It could've have been that Chrysler/Dodge products were known to be inferior to GM and Ford in those days? So buyers stayed away? IDK. Everyone I know dislike Dodge/Chrysler vehicles for legit reasons.
I think they were all great cars, and each one had their strengths and weaknesses. The difference in years matter too. Some years maybe Cadillac was better, other years Lincoln, and Imperial.
But you can't help to question the fact that Cadillac and Lincoln easily outsold Imperials by large margins in the 60's and 70's, especially Cadillac. That had to mean something, either the Imperials just weren't as luxurious as the other 2 makes, and lacked Cache, or it plainly had terrible marketing from Chrysler, and the money to produce more cars for people to buy. I wish I knew what it was!
probably the carryover effect from the general buying public back in the late 60's where the big Mopars were seen more as fleet vehicles, and the "civilian versions" were not seen as much nicer than the fleet versions by the public. im sure this feeling generated to the Imperial. it also seemed that starting in 1969 with the fuselage body style, Imps just seemed more like an "add on" to the Newport and New Yorker as opposed to a big entity like Lincoln and Cadillac. it seemed that an early 70's Cad was a lot more than an Olds 98/Electra 225, a Lincoln was a lot more than a Marquis, but an Imp maybe didn't seem like it was more than a New Yorker
I tho thought the Imps were really cool and very substantial
probably the carryover effect from the general buying public back in the late 60's where the big Mopars were seen more as fleet vehicles, and the "civilian versions" were not seen as much nicer than the fleet versions by the public. im sure this feeling generated to the Imperial. it also seemed that starting in 1969 with the fuselage body style, Imps just seemed more like an "add on" to the Newport and New Yorker as opposed to a big entity like Lincoln and Cadillac. it seemed that an early 70's Cad was a lot more than an Olds 98/Electra 225, a Lincoln was a lot more than a Marquis, but an Imp maybe didn't seem like it was more than a New Yorker
I tho thought the Imps were really cool and very substantial
I agree, but I also think the Imperials lost their way in a sense of styling in the 70's. Imperial never really had anything that was "uniquely" distinct about them. The 60's Imp's looked a lot like 60's Lincoln Continentals this obviously had a lot to do with Elwood Engel going over to Chrysler, the original stylist of the 61 Lincoln Continental. So it was sorta like a copy cat in a way even though the Imps looked really great back then. Also Lincoln had the best build quality out of the 3 throughout the 60's, just take a seat in a 61-63 Continental, open and close the doors, and you'll see what I mean. Not only that, but Lincoln was the only luxury car in those days to have such an intense testing program. A 12 mile road test of each Lincoln, everything was checked for working preciseness. The tester also made sure that they were no squeaks or rattles, that the cigar lighters lite up to a certain temperature, radio and AC/Heater controls operated smoothly without any sort of stickiness and much much more.
The engine was ran for like 2 hours, torn down for inspection and rebuilt, each transmission was tested for 30 mins, torn down for inspection and rebuilt.
It's hard to believe that Lincoln went that far out to make sure that their cars were the best in the biz, but they were literally on the brink of death in 1960, so the company went on a "Quality First" approach to prove to luxury car buyers that their cars were built better than anything that you could buy on the market in that time. Also they didn't want a bunch of different models either which can hurt quality control and prestige. There was no "Lower End" Lincoln, unlike Cadillac, you could buy a Caddy but without Power Door locks, Power seats, etc...so that was Lincoln's argument.
If anything, Cadillac wasn't nearly as luxurious like many would like to believe in the early 70's. The 69-70 Cadillac's were better built, and better feeling cars than the cheaper feeling 71-73 Cad's and IMO, they were one of the best looking Cadillac's of the 70's with that huge "Shark" like grill and knife-edge chrome bumpers. Plus the 69-70 Cad's ride better than the flimsier feeling 71-73. I know, because I used to own a 72 Cad Sedan Deville, and test drove 69 Sedan Deville that was for sale nearby, and the difference was pretty noticeable.
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