Beautiul 1966 Crown Coupe.

[bluefury361]

[QUOTE="Snotty, both are gorgeous, but the one on this thread is better priced.[/QUOTE]

That plus it's a 64. I love the split grille on the 64.

 

[Snotty]

[QUOTE="Snotty, both are gorgeous, but the one on this thread is better priced.

That plus it's a 64. I love the split grille on the 64.[/QUOTE]
Taste is such a funny thing, I've never liked the '64 grill. My favorite of the 3 years is the '66.

I was offered a '64 years back - for whatever price I wanted to give. Seriously, blank check. The seller was going to give one-half to his church. Well, I didn't want it because it was a '64. I sold it for him on eBay and got $3,000 (some time in the early 2000s). He gladly gave $1,500 to the Grand Avenue UMC in Porterville.

I drove the car home to Bakersfield where the buyer was going to pick it up. ONE OF THE BEST DRIVES I'VE EVER HAD! Wow, that car rode and drove supremely! The only problem was a very leaky power steering pump, it was empty and howling by the time I got home. I really wished I had bought that car. I could have had it for a grand! But NO! I didn't like the grill!!!

 

[bluefury361]

I've always leaned towards the first year of a newly styled body. It's the freshest and the updated models that follow seem to be change for the sake of change. The exception with Mopar's is the 69 B body, Clearly the best execusion of the 68-70 body's. IMHO.

 

[Snotty]

I've always leaned towards the first year of a newly styled body. It's the freshest and the updated models that follow seem to be change for the sake of change. The exception with Mopar's is the 69 B body, Clearly the best execusion of the 68-70 body's. IMHO.

Again, taste. I like the '70s. I never liked the body side molding that appears on so many '69s. I also like the taillights of the '70s better too, especially on the 300. I will agree here: the '65 Chryslers are much better looking that the '66s.

 

[patrick66]

The '66 Imperials have one styling cue I do not like. The reverse lamps are in the bumper, rather than a part of the taillamp assembly, like in '64 and '65. Other than that, the '66 has the '64 and '65 better in many ways. The rear axle in '66 changed from the tapered axles and those damn drums that require a puller, to the more modern axle and drum set-up. Of course, first year of the 440! The AM/FM radio became available. The trunk lid no longer had the "Imperial" letters in the center of the trunk, but were now a less conspicuous script on the right side of the lid. The grill on the '64 is actually my favorite, then the '66 and the '65. The interior trim in '66 is more tasteful.

All in all, the '64 - '66 Imperials were rather understated, as compared to the '61 - '68 Lincoln Continental and the '63 - '66 Cadillac Coupe deVille. With less trim and a more sculpted look, the Imperial is a rather beautiful car, as compared to the clutter of the Cadillac and the dated look of the Lincoln and Cadillac both. To me, of the three cars, all made a beautiful convertible. If one were in the market for a coupe, the Imperial again wins in appearance and overall room. In each, the four-door hardtops are all still attractive automobiles; yet the Imperial again pulls off a subtle luxury where the other two tend to go in a more gaudy and ostentatious direction.

In the late '90s, I owned all three makes at one time - a '73 LeBaron four-door hardtop, a '62 Continental convertible, and a '66 Coupe deVille. It made for an impressive, though a little cramped, garage! The Lebaron was blue with the white top and blue brocade and leather interior. The Lincoln was a green-gold color with a white top and dark green leather interior. And the Cadillac was white with a tan leather and cloth interior. All were in great shape overall! The Imperial and Lincoln were both classic auction buys, and the Caddy was a buy from an estate sale where I was the sole bidder!

I owned the Cad a mere four weeks, when I was driving it around and stopped for gas. A guy in a '78 Seville pulls up and wants to look at the car. We talk for a few minutes. He offers me considerably more than I paid for it, though it was not for sale...until that moment. So, I sold it! I still see it about once or twice a year. Still looks great!

The Lincoln was a car I traded a beautifully-restored (by me!) '67 GMC Suburban, with a 327, auto, heater, AM, and all three seats. Damn nice truck! The Lincoln was a restored car, but ran "quirky". That big 430 Lincoln engine had a weird setup with the oil pump drive. Traced that down, and sold the car to a guy in the Bay Area for pretty damn good money in 2000!

And the Imperial went to a guy in Kansas that had the same, identical car he bought new in 1973. He repainted the car, and drove it for several years.

OK, I kinda rambled a little and got off-topic.

 

[Kp1226]

In the late '90s, I owned all three makes at one time - a '73 LeBaron four-door hardtop, a '62 Continental convertible, and a '66 Coupe deVille.

How did these 3 compare to one another?

 

[patrick66]

The Imperial was a nicer-driving car, all around. Best-handling of the three, no doubt. It was the ugly red-headed bastard mutant stepchild of the three, though. It drew far less attention than the Cad or the Lincoln. The Lincoln was the biggest head-turner and conversation-starter. The Cadillac was right behind that. Took all three to a show one day and parked them together. The Cadillac got attention from the "urban customization" crowd. The Lincoln got attention from everybody. The Imperial got attention from the Mopar guys.

In terms of fit and finish, the Lincoln was on top, then the Cadillac, then the Imperial. The Lincoln was tight, consistent in fit and finish, and everything worked. The Cadillac and the Imperial were close behind, though. All three were well-assembled, but all three had their issues because of age.

Sad to say, I never did get a picture of all three together. I have a lot of pics of the Lincoln, a couple of the Imperial, and none of the Cadillac.

 

[saforwardlook]

The burgandy 66 Imperial that is the subject of this thread is perhaps the nicest example I have seen in a long time, and that color looks great on that car.

I always thought the 64 - 66 Imperials looked a lot like the overall styling of the 1961 - 63 Lincolns, and then later realized why. Elwood Engle was the stylist at Ford most responsible for the game changing styling of those exceptional Lincolns. When he was passed over as Vice President of Design at Ford in 1961 for Eugene Bordinat instead, he then moved over to Chrysler and was made Chief Stylist in 1961, replacing Exner who had suffered a major heat attack earlier and decided to retire due to declining health. As much as I liked the 64-66 Imperials though, it was near impossible to match the Lincoln Continentals for their exceptionally clean and sweeping design. Those Lincolns are among my most favorite designs of all time, and Engle was also key in the design of the rest of the slabsides and ultimately the fuselage designs too. Engle retired from Chrysler in 1963 and styling had taken a new turn with the introduction of the Formals in 1974 and subsequent. Personally, I rate Exner and Engle as the best stylists ever, and Chrysler had them both for awhile.

 

[crv]

The burgandy 66 Imperial that is the subject of this thread is perhaps the nicest example I have seen in a long time, and that color looks great on that car.

I always thought the 64 - 66 Imperials looked a lot like the overall styling of the 1961 - 63 Lincolns, and then later realized why. Elwood Engle was the stylist at Ford most responsible for the game changing styling of those exceptional Lincolns. When he was passed over as Vice President of Design at Ford in 1961 for Eugene Bordinat instead, he then moved over to Chrysler and was made Chief Stylist in 1961, replacing Exner who had suffered a major heat attack earlier and decided to retire due to declining health. As much as I liked the 64-66 Imperials though, it was near impossible to match the Lincoln Continentals for their exceptionally clean and sweeping design. Those Lincolns are among my most favorite designs of all time, and Engle was also key in the design of the rest of the slabsides and ultimately the fuselage designs too. Engle retired from Chrysler in 1963 and styling had taken a new turn with the introduction of the Formals in 1974 and subsequent. Personally, I rate Exner and Engle as the best stylists ever, and Chrysler had them both for awhile.

Hence the reason people mistake the '64-'66 Imperials for Lincolns. Imperial went from being unique and a standout to a copycat, as nice as the Imperials and the rest of Chrysler Corporation cars were in those years, there's always that niggling feeling of being 2nd to the Lincoln of '61 (which is indeed a beautiful automobile).