Road trip.....
- Thread starter sixpkrt
- Start date
Congrats on your purchase! Looks like a decent car! Any in depth information on it? I would love to hear the Story behind it!
What color was it from the factory?
@marty mopar should have the missing Hood Emblem for it!
What color was it from the factory?
@marty mopar should have the missing Hood Emblem for it!
sixpkrt
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Thanks for the responses on the newly purchased Imperial.
Back in the beginning of February I had asked my daughter to log into her fakebook account so that I could have a look of the 5th Annual C Body Show flyer I recently made, and that Wyatt had posted to a couple of FB C body sites for me.
While on FB, I went to their marketplace page, and did some random searches for C bodies, as I’m not signed up on FB, so I thought I’d take a look. After doing several geographic locations of locations closer to home, I widened one of my searches to NY using a 250-mile radius. That is when I saw the ad for the Imperial listed. The ad only had the following 3 pics and very little deal, but it was worth pursuing from what I saw in those 3 grainy pics.
Eventually the seller of the Imperial responded, we exchanged phone numbers and we continued to stay in touch with each other on a regular basis until this past weekend. (I have sent her some new pics though after the car had been washed, so we’re still staying in touch)
The seller turned out to be the spouse of the late owner of the Imperial who had passed away 2 years ago. Her late husband was a pioneer in the auto customizing scene, along with his brother back in the 1960’s. Their company, Bernardo Bros. Auto Body had created some wild customs, and I was told he was an artist when it came to body & paint work. One of his customized cars was named the Fantasy, which was made from a late 50’s/early 60’s Chrysler and a Studebaker of the same era. The two brothers also had a popular customized truck that they had done too. The two brothers had seven cars they had created displayed at the 11th annual AutoRama Custom Car Show in 1961.
His wife mentioned her husband knew George Barris, and at one time flew out to California to help him with one of his jobs. He and his wife had some connections with celebrities on the east coast, and one of the custom cars he built was a miniature car for Don Kirshner’s daughter. I have no idea why the Playboy Bunny is posing with the mini custom car. It’s the one question I forgot to ask the seller.
The seller was into cars and met a lot of people in the car scene while the two brothers were at their peak with their customization business. She missed her husband who was 20 years her senior, and it was apparent how she spoke of the Imperial and how she felt about losing another part of him during the transaction on the Imperial.
We agreed on a price on the Imperial a week ago, and made plans to have it shipped once the deal was sealed via wire transfer. I got worried when the seller wasn’t responding the morning of the wire transfer, and it turned out she had been admitted to the hospital for some ongoing health related issues she was dealing with. I hadn’t heard anything from her after making several attempts to reach her. Finally, when beginning to leave another message on her answering machine, she picked up the phone and told me about her hospitalization, and more. We spoke for an hour or more about her days associated with the car. During that conversation, I told her I was going to cancel the transportation company, and drive to CT to pick the car up in person.
Last Friday, my good friend Wyatt joined me for the ride to Connecticut to get the Imperial. After getting the truck and trailer rented and getting some breakfast, we hit the around 10am. As you guys saw on this thread, after exiting Illinois we took the 80 Turnpike through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, then through New Jersey where we hopped on 95 and continued on through New York, crossing the George Washington bridge to Connecticut around 2am to our destination in Milford.
I have never seen so many high-rise apartment buildings as we drove through New York. I couldn’t imagine living there, let alone trying to find a place to park a car.
The next morning, I called the seller to let her know we were in town and can come over after we had some breakfast. Wyatt and I only got about 4 hours shut eye before beginning the next phase of this road trip. When we get to the seller’s house around 10am, she had her garage door open revealing the first glimpse of the Imperial.
Our first examination of the car showed the car to be in very good condition, and as I was checking under the car for rust issues, Wyatt had the hood opened and noted there was a new fuel pump, new belts and the master cylinder had been replaced. All 4 tires were almost completely flat, but the owner had a small portable air compressor in the garage that I used to inflate the tires, which took about 10/15 minutes for each tire.
Once the tires were inflated, we pushed the car back about 10 feet to see if we could get it started. After putting in a battery I had brought with me, I turned the key quickly, and found the engine wasn’t seized up. We tried to turn the engine by the crank bolt, but we didn’t have the right socket extension to make it work. Next, we put about 3 gallons of gas in the tank to mix with the 2-year-old gas, and put some brake fluid in the master cylinder. The brakes came back to life once we got the car fired up. When it first fired up, everyone in the garage was happy to hear it running. The owner was especially happy to hear her baby running.
Not long after the purchase was made, the seller watched as Wyatt and I loaded the Imperial onto the trailer, and waved good-bye as we drove away around 12:30pm
We decided to not drive through Manhattan on our return trip, and opted to take 287 West to 80 West for the return trip. It added a little more milage, but we didn’t want to drive back the way we came with the possible congestion during the middle of the afternoon. Along the way, we met up with Ripinator, who patiently waited for our arrival in Danville, PA. I had called Rip before leaving Illinois to find out if he still wanted the road wheels, letting him know the woman who bought the Medallion didn’t want the RW’s. As he confirmed he was “indeed” still interested, I told him I’d load them in the truck for him. In his own fashion, he replied, “Mighty Fine”. After meeting him in the parking lot and giving him the brief history I knew about the car, Rip graciously bought Wyatt and me lunch at the fast food restaurant before we continued on our trip back to Illinois.
Logging the hours we drove, neither of us slept while the other was behind the wheel, and we talked and joked about the seriousness we face during our lifetime, and how these old cars play a roll in our life’s journey. I’m sure glad I wasn’t driving there and back alone. It would’ve been so freaking boring. I’m glad to have a friend like Wyatt.
Our return trip was one way, only stopping for food or gas along the way just as we did on the trip out to the east coast, and we finally make it back to the shop around 3am to unload the Imperial to it’s new home. Later after dropping off the trailer, and then driving to Rockford to pick-up my car and drop of the rental truck, I drove Wyatt home, and then made it home myself around 7am.
I couldn’t sleep, so I get up around 10:30 and head to the shop for further inspection of the Imperial, and to clean it up some. After washing the car, the deep luster of the paint really came out.
As noted above the previous owner was a car customizer, and his specialty was paint. His wife told me he was the person who invented the color Candy Apple Red, but never had it patented, as I was told by his wife. He loved this car, and only drove it on special occasions or to certain car shows. I was also told he applied his trade to a custom paint job on the Imperial. The car was originally F9, and he hated it. (I’m glad he painted it, because I’m not too fond of a green C Bodies either)
The paint color looks black to me, but his wife said it was Forrest Green with a lot of black tint, to make it look black. To me it’s black, so I’m sticking with that.
On Sunday Xenon stopped over while I was at the shop, and agreed it’s black, however Wyatt told me it’s got green in it. I’m colorblind, so as long as it looks black and not green, I’m ok with it. I just sold 2 green cars.
After further inspection, Xenon noted the A/C had been converted to R134, and while the engine was running, we checked the AutoTemp, and low and behold the H53 is functioning. At this point I threw Xenon the keys and we took a quick lap around the building. And yes, Xenon proved the tires will chirp.
There are a couple fixes needed right away, the hood release cable and the telescoping antenna, which goes up, but not down. A non-retracting telescopic antenna will be a problem if I wanted to park the Imperial under the hoist in my shop because there won’t be enough clearance to drive under the hoist with the antenna all the way up, where it is now.
Below is the fender tag reading, but since My Mopar is now charging $50 to decode a fender tag, this is the best I can do without using them & what resources I have:
L31: Hood/Fender Mounted Turn Signals
L35: Cornering Lights
B41: Front Disc Brakes w/Standard 10” RR Drum
G11: Tinted Glass
P41: Power Door Locks
P45: Power Deck Lid Release
C21: Center Front Seat Cushion
P28: Power Left/Right Front Seats
H53: AutoTemp – Single Unit
R23: Search Tune AM/FM Radio (10 watts)
R31: Rear Seat Speakers
V1X: Full Vinyl Top – Black
P31: Power Windows
F9:
F9:
MRG:
F8:
A21:
051664:
E85: 440 CID 4 Barrel V8 350hp
D32: Heavy Duty Automatic Transmission
YM23: Imperial 2 Door Hardtop
K9G:
146608:
The short list I hope to have completed by June for the 5th Annual C Body Show is to replace the carpeting and chasing out the electric bugs so everything is working properly.
The road trip to Connecticut turned out to be one worth taking, and those two days on the road will be remembered for a lifetime.
Back in the beginning of February I had asked my daughter to log into her fakebook account so that I could have a look of the 5th Annual C Body Show flyer I recently made, and that Wyatt had posted to a couple of FB C body sites for me.
While on FB, I went to their marketplace page, and did some random searches for C bodies, as I’m not signed up on FB, so I thought I’d take a look. After doing several geographic locations of locations closer to home, I widened one of my searches to NY using a 250-mile radius. That is when I saw the ad for the Imperial listed. The ad only had the following 3 pics and very little deal, but it was worth pursuing from what I saw in those 3 grainy pics.
Eventually the seller of the Imperial responded, we exchanged phone numbers and we continued to stay in touch with each other on a regular basis until this past weekend. (I have sent her some new pics though after the car had been washed, so we’re still staying in touch)
The seller turned out to be the spouse of the late owner of the Imperial who had passed away 2 years ago. Her late husband was a pioneer in the auto customizing scene, along with his brother back in the 1960’s. Their company, Bernardo Bros. Auto Body had created some wild customs, and I was told he was an artist when it came to body & paint work. One of his customized cars was named the Fantasy, which was made from a late 50’s/early 60’s Chrysler and a Studebaker of the same era. The two brothers also had a popular customized truck that they had done too. The two brothers had seven cars they had created displayed at the 11th annual AutoRama Custom Car Show in 1961.
His wife mentioned her husband knew George Barris, and at one time flew out to California to help him with one of his jobs. He and his wife had some connections with celebrities on the east coast, and one of the custom cars he built was a miniature car for Don Kirshner’s daughter. I have no idea why the Playboy Bunny is posing with the mini custom car. It’s the one question I forgot to ask the seller.
The seller was into cars and met a lot of people in the car scene while the two brothers were at their peak with their customization business. She missed her husband who was 20 years her senior, and it was apparent how she spoke of the Imperial and how she felt about losing another part of him during the transaction on the Imperial.
We agreed on a price on the Imperial a week ago, and made plans to have it shipped once the deal was sealed via wire transfer. I got worried when the seller wasn’t responding the morning of the wire transfer, and it turned out she had been admitted to the hospital for some ongoing health related issues she was dealing with. I hadn’t heard anything from her after making several attempts to reach her. Finally, when beginning to leave another message on her answering machine, she picked up the phone and told me about her hospitalization, and more. We spoke for an hour or more about her days associated with the car. During that conversation, I told her I was going to cancel the transportation company, and drive to CT to pick the car up in person.
Last Friday, my good friend Wyatt joined me for the ride to Connecticut to get the Imperial. After getting the truck and trailer rented and getting some breakfast, we hit the around 10am. As you guys saw on this thread, after exiting Illinois we took the 80 Turnpike through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, then through New Jersey where we hopped on 95 and continued on through New York, crossing the George Washington bridge to Connecticut around 2am to our destination in Milford.
I have never seen so many high-rise apartment buildings as we drove through New York. I couldn’t imagine living there, let alone trying to find a place to park a car.
The next morning, I called the seller to let her know we were in town and can come over after we had some breakfast. Wyatt and I only got about 4 hours shut eye before beginning the next phase of this road trip. When we get to the seller’s house around 10am, she had her garage door open revealing the first glimpse of the Imperial.
Our first examination of the car showed the car to be in very good condition, and as I was checking under the car for rust issues, Wyatt had the hood opened and noted there was a new fuel pump, new belts and the master cylinder had been replaced. All 4 tires were almost completely flat, but the owner had a small portable air compressor in the garage that I used to inflate the tires, which took about 10/15 minutes for each tire.
Once the tires were inflated, we pushed the car back about 10 feet to see if we could get it started. After putting in a battery I had brought with me, I turned the key quickly, and found the engine wasn’t seized up. We tried to turn the engine by the crank bolt, but we didn’t have the right socket extension to make it work. Next, we put about 3 gallons of gas in the tank to mix with the 2-year-old gas, and put some brake fluid in the master cylinder. The brakes came back to life once we got the car fired up. When it first fired up, everyone in the garage was happy to hear it running. The owner was especially happy to hear her baby running.
Not long after the purchase was made, the seller watched as Wyatt and I loaded the Imperial onto the trailer, and waved good-bye as we drove away around 12:30pm
We decided to not drive through Manhattan on our return trip, and opted to take 287 West to 80 West for the return trip. It added a little more milage, but we didn’t want to drive back the way we came with the possible congestion during the middle of the afternoon. Along the way, we met up with Ripinator, who patiently waited for our arrival in Danville, PA. I had called Rip before leaving Illinois to find out if he still wanted the road wheels, letting him know the woman who bought the Medallion didn’t want the RW’s. As he confirmed he was “indeed” still interested, I told him I’d load them in the truck for him. In his own fashion, he replied, “Mighty Fine”. After meeting him in the parking lot and giving him the brief history I knew about the car, Rip graciously bought Wyatt and me lunch at the fast food restaurant before we continued on our trip back to Illinois.
Logging the hours we drove, neither of us slept while the other was behind the wheel, and we talked and joked about the seriousness we face during our lifetime, and how these old cars play a roll in our life’s journey. I’m sure glad I wasn’t driving there and back alone. It would’ve been so freaking boring. I’m glad to have a friend like Wyatt.
Our return trip was one way, only stopping for food or gas along the way just as we did on the trip out to the east coast, and we finally make it back to the shop around 3am to unload the Imperial to it’s new home. Later after dropping off the trailer, and then driving to Rockford to pick-up my car and drop of the rental truck, I drove Wyatt home, and then made it home myself around 7am.
I couldn’t sleep, so I get up around 10:30 and head to the shop for further inspection of the Imperial, and to clean it up some. After washing the car, the deep luster of the paint really came out.
As noted above the previous owner was a car customizer, and his specialty was paint. His wife told me he was the person who invented the color Candy Apple Red, but never had it patented, as I was told by his wife. He loved this car, and only drove it on special occasions or to certain car shows. I was also told he applied his trade to a custom paint job on the Imperial. The car was originally F9, and he hated it. (I’m glad he painted it, because I’m not too fond of a green C Bodies either)
The paint color looks black to me, but his wife said it was Forrest Green with a lot of black tint, to make it look black. To me it’s black, so I’m sticking with that.
On Sunday Xenon stopped over while I was at the shop, and agreed it’s black, however Wyatt told me it’s got green in it. I’m colorblind, so as long as it looks black and not green, I’m ok with it. I just sold 2 green cars.
After further inspection, Xenon noted the A/C had been converted to R134, and while the engine was running, we checked the AutoTemp, and low and behold the H53 is functioning. At this point I threw Xenon the keys and we took a quick lap around the building. And yes, Xenon proved the tires will chirp.
There are a couple fixes needed right away, the hood release cable and the telescoping antenna, which goes up, but not down. A non-retracting telescopic antenna will be a problem if I wanted to park the Imperial under the hoist in my shop because there won’t be enough clearance to drive under the hoist with the antenna all the way up, where it is now.
Below is the fender tag reading, but since My Mopar is now charging $50 to decode a fender tag, this is the best I can do without using them & what resources I have:
L31: Hood/Fender Mounted Turn Signals
L35: Cornering Lights
B41: Front Disc Brakes w/Standard 10” RR Drum
G11: Tinted Glass
P41: Power Door Locks
P45: Power Deck Lid Release
C21: Center Front Seat Cushion
P28: Power Left/Right Front Seats
H53: AutoTemp – Single Unit
R23: Search Tune AM/FM Radio (10 watts)
R31: Rear Seat Speakers
V1X: Full Vinyl Top – Black
P31: Power Windows
F9:
F9:
MRG:
F8:
A21:
051664:
E85: 440 CID 4 Barrel V8 350hp
D32: Heavy Duty Automatic Transmission
YM23: Imperial 2 Door Hardtop
K9G:
146608:
The short list I hope to have completed by June for the 5th Annual C Body Show is to replace the carpeting and chasing out the electric bugs so everything is working properly.
The road trip to Connecticut turned out to be one worth taking, and those two days on the road will be remembered for a lifetime.
sixpkrt
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I ran out of pic space on my last post, but here are the couple of pictures shared with me by the spouse of a custom car her husband had created and the mini custom car for Don Kirshner's daughter.
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I was sure it was blue until I saw the grainy dash pic and sure enough F9 so it’s dark emerald.
live4theking
Old Man with a Hat
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Sweet car.
Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
Mighty fine, Tim. Mighty fine!
@sixpkrt -- thank you for telling the story of YM23K9G146608 and congrats on a superb acquisition. Amazing that the H53 ATC works -- even if it has been refurbished, and all the more so that the car had not run in a couple of years. It would be interesting to know how long ago the repairs were made? I look forward to the interior photos of the car as well.
Here is some more information about Bernardo Auto Body in general and the Fantasy in particular. There is also a FB page about the brothers' shop, for the next time your daughter gets you online.
Here is some more information about Bernardo Auto Body in general and the Fantasy in particular. There is also a FB page about the brothers' shop, for the next time your daughter gets you online.
patrick66
Old Man with a Hat
That's one sexy '69 Imperial there! Next to the '64 - '66 Imperials, the '69 is a beautiful car. The curb lights really set the front off, and the overall look of the car is hard to beat.
Congrats on your official entry into the "You Suck!" Club!
Congrats on your official entry into the "You Suck!" Club!
Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
Interior?
sixpkrt
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The interior is still in need of a deep clean.
It's in decent shape IMO.
It's in decent shape IMO.
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Wow, beautiful!
Are you planning on using Leatherique on the seats?
sixpkrt
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I have no plan yet, but I understand that's good stuff
Sport Fury 67
Active Member
Tim - do you realize your last C-body purchases were due to your being on the web with your daughters doing one thing and just "happening" to stumble into the 70 NYer and the 69 Imp? Now you have a big decision, which car are YOU driving to the Big Show?
PH27L7
Well-Known Member
Great car, road trip, & story! Think the black with green interior actually is quite attractive. The carpet looks really nice, sure that needs replaced? Thought the Imp carpet was special with more insulation than ordinary C's, may be tough to find. Any signs of rust in the usual places?
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It’s not black unless it was repainted.
patrick66
Old Man with a Hat
Beauty! The F9 definitely indicates dark metallic green, which looks like black in the right light. What a nice car! Monster Imperial envy going on with me on this one. So glad it didn't become derby fodder in the NE!!!
patrick66
Old Man with a Hat
I'd keep those wheelcovers and simply put four Imperial appliques on them. Cover that 'bird with the Imperial crest...boom! Done!
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