Re: Did the public think of Imperial as Packard's replacement?

Posted by Rusty O\'Toole On 2009/8/4 22:11:27

No doubt the Cadillac was an excellent car with a creamy smooth boulevard ride. But they were nervous at speeds above 70 and a handful above 80.

As an old friend and long time Chrysler owner said "with a Chrysler you never had to back off".

If I had to chose a car for high speed work in the late 50s the best available was the 57 or 58 Chrysler New Yorker or Imperial with deep breathing hemi v8, torsion bar suspension and Torqueflite transmission.

For the real travelling man Chrysler offered the 300D. This was a genuine 5 passenger luxury car with over 400HP, that would do 145 MPH and came with all luxury features like air, leather, power accessories and so forth.

Today's luxury cars don't offer much more speed and the contemporary Cadillac was a good 20MPH slower.

A 56 Packard would be a close second to the Chrysler. Their torsion bar suspension was even better than Chrysler's. I suspect for high speed work the 2 speed tranny was a drawback and I'm not sure about the engines, given what I have read here about oil pump and lifter hassles.

This is all speculation on my part. It is interesting to reflect on the range of choices a luxury car buyer had in the fifties. And how little progress we have made.