This 1973 Imperial is an impressive luxury car that is exceptionally smooth in terms of engine performance and ride quality and exhibits relatively taut handling capability, and is very quiet - just like a luxury car should be. The leather dual power bucket seats are among the most comfortable I have ever been in. The feeling of this car driving down the road is unique and the view over the long hood gives the sense of an indestructible force like no other car I have driven. It also has a distinctive and elegant appearance.
This Imperial is a straight car with nice chrome and is very clean. Features that work include all but one of the power windows (and the one that doesn't move still exhibits a sound like the motor wants to do its function but the window might be stuck in the track, needing lubrication probably). The power door locks engage, but they might need some lubrication as well to ensure the locking function is carried out. Both power seats work well. The radio turns on and exhibits some static but the power antenna does not work so no clear signal is received. The climate control system does not work (the control unit is available from Performance Analysis Company, however, and one I purchased for another vehicle 5 years ago is still working). I did not try all of the options so ask about specific ones that I have not mentioned if you would like, and I will try them out. All the lights work, including the cornering lights.
While this Imperial is shiny, the paint is not uniform around the vehicle indicating some touch up at various times because the paint does not match that well such as the driver side rear quarter panel doesn't seem to match properly with other panels. I do not see any rust on the vehicle but there may have been some in the lower quarters in the past given a couple spots where I see some different paint. But I do think any repairs that might be there are not very big since a magnet placed along the lower body always stays on the metal and does not lose its magnetism, which indicates little if any bondo at least. I have had the car for 10 years and the previous owner in Arizona who owned the car for 11 years said he did no rust repair, so what ever might have been done has held up. The vinyl roof was removed at some time in the past and a textured paint job that seems to have been carefully done even including the normal seams, presumably to avoid rust that comes with vinyl roofs. It still looks pretty good. I do not see any evidence of any collision or big dents and the undercarriage seems to be pretty nice with only surface rust in some places as shown in some of the photos. The trunk floor also looks good. After I bought the car it sat for the 10 years I have had it with two covers on it to protect it and only recently I have decided that I need to reduce my collection of cars to make more sense since I am now retired and can not get to all the cars I wanted to. Since it was sitting so long, I had the fuel tank boiled out and coated and rebuilt the original Thermoquad carburetor and installed a new fuel pump, hoses, filter and sending unit in the tank. The front brake hoses were replaced and the brake booster was also replaced with a remanufactured one. As a result, this car always starts easily, idles extremely smoothly and performs very well without issues and brakes powerfully and evenly. The steering is tight and the car drives straight and rides very smoothly.
This car is a very nice driver quality vehicle. The driving experience is exceptionally nice and smooth and the appearance is very presentable I believe and turns heads wherever it goes. If I were going to keep the car though, I would repaint it fully to make it stand out even more impressively. The interior is already very nice except the headliner and rear package tray need to be redone, probably due to the effects of the sun in very hot Arizona. Otherwise it is very nice, clean and comfortable as shown in the photos. The chrome is already very nice adding to the current appearance. All the glass is good. All the gauges work. The transmission performs very nicely. Of course, this car could also be restored fully and a cosmetic restoration would probably be the most likely approach since the miles on the car are relatively low so that the powertrain seems to need nothing from what I have experienced. Fixing the climate control would probably be desired and the parts to do so do exist, which is not always the case with these systems. One nice plus of this vehicle is that it comes with the original window label showing all the options and the total cost when it sat on the showroom floor. It also includes the purchasing paperwork for the original South Dakota owner and some other paperwork. I do not know much about subsequent owners before me though.
Please ask all questions you might have before bidding. The car is sold as is with no warranty and no returns. A deposit of $500 is due within 2 days of close of auction with the remainder due within 7 days from end of auction. Overseas bids are welcome and I can assist with shipping if needed. If you have less than 10 feedback, you will need to check with me before bidding or your bid may be cancelled.
