What could be more prestigious than a comfortable and fast automobile? It could only be a car with the word ‘Imperial’ in its name. In spite of a hard struggle for every American customer, Walter Chrysler decided to reach out to the market of the best cars of the beginning of the 20th century within shortest time limits. The part of ‘the Great and the Mighty’ was assigned to Chrysler80 which was first called Imperial in 1926.
Massive coachbuilt body sitting on a firm frame base appeared to young ladies like a magic horse that should bring a prince straight into the dexterous arms of American housewives. They all believed in that smashing ad saying: “Chrysler... absolutely perfect!” And the word Imperial in its name sounded as confident and provoking as the numbers in the check books of their owners. Nothing but a dream!
The young brand was gaining success and recognition quite rapidly. It had immediately proved itself to be very safe and fairly fast. Among the customers purchasing Chrysler Imperial there were bankers, manufacturers, aristocrats, Hollywood stars and even gangsters. Lincoln, Packard, Cadillac and other “great” car manufacturers, who were reigning in the luxury sector of the American motor car market at that time, were looking charitably at the jumped-up underbred. Blinded by their sceptical evaluation of the competitor, all these companies were missing out the most important thing. The new and ready for achievements Imperial was ahead of them in all characteristics. For instance, 1926 Cadillac was producing only 80 hp though it had a 5.15-litre 8-cylinder engine. Chrysler had an in-line 6-cylinder engine with 4.7-litre capacity producing 92 hp which allowed reaching 130 km/h top speed even without the superchargers.
This “young talent” created by Walter Chrysler, the financier, was outperforming its competitors not only in this aspect. The sedan’s base price was half the cost paid by the well-to-do for a Lincoln. In spite of such low figures, the car was famous for its decent comfort level. With a magnificent gesture of windshield wipers it was winking at girls passing by and the unattainable prince inside could see their manner of walking in rear-view mirrors. Electric horn was just irreplaceable in case the owner of the car was delighted and the anti-theft system was just completing the already perfect Chrysler model.
Top-rank supercar of the beginning of the 20th century even managed to become part of motor racing history. Driven by L. Miller and J. Wieber, Imperial performed a record-setting coast to coast trip from San Francisco to New York. The car covered 10 760 km with the average speed of 68 km/h.
But the creator of Imperial did not intend to rest on his laurels. A loud advertising campaign for the renovated Chrysler Imperial was launched in 1931. The durability of the new car body construction was presented to the journalists and “specially invited” guests. And it was not just spectacular, it was tremendous! They put a 5-tonne elephant on the roof of the all-metal body. And believe it or not, the car stood out.
Imperial was the great expectation of Walter Chrysler. That is why it was fitted with all company’s technical innovations. In the early era of car manufacturing it was impossible to imagine flexibly mounted engine. However, Chrysler was the first company to apply a special rubber cushion to reduce noise and vibration level. Just think of that, the driver could enjoy the power of the engine, consider the benefits of a 4-speed gearbox and think about the perfection... of Chrysler Imperial without being distracted by the engine’s roar. That 6.3-litre 8-cylinder 135 hp engine, the first one produced by the Chrysler company, was rumbling like jazzy bass under its bonnet.
Replaceable oil filters, downdraught carburettors, coating, which reduced the wear of mating metal surfaces, created by Walter and his engineers made Chrysler Imperial perfect in use. And its exclusive detail — bent windshield — was smoothly integrated into the stately levelled shape of the car’s wings. Lightness and elegance were in its elongated headlights, tidy luggage compartment and even the leant backwards radiator. All innovations introduced by Chrysler were meant not only for utter luxury and outstanding comfort but also for reduction of drag coefficient.
30 years later the Car Life magazine conducted tests of 1931 Imperial Roadster by Le Baron and the results were stunning. The old-timer Chrysler with 3.7-metre wheelbase accelerated up to 96 km/h in 12 seconds impressing the audience with great performance. Having almost 2-tonne weight, its aerodynamic and speed parameters turned out to be at the level of its contemporary analogues!
However, by the end of the 30’s the status of Imperial in supercar rankings became shaky and uncertain. Walter Chrysler, the founder of the company, died in 1940 also taking off the stage the perfect in all senses Imperial. Of course, they were trying to bring the car back to life and even produced new versions after the 50’s but it had never become as popular again.
After the World War II in 1951 the Chrysler company introduced into car manufacturing such novelties as fully automatic transmission PowerFlite and the legendary powerful V8 engine with hemispherical combustion chambers. 20 years after producing a real masterpiece of engineering Chrysler offered a revolutionary programme of creating power units with turbines. And half a century later there appeared a mid-engine supercar Chrysler ME Four-Twelve. Zero to 100 km/h in just 2.9 seconds! It produces 850 hp and has 850 lb-ft. (1150 N-m) of torque between 2500 and 4500 rpm. In the early 2000’s this car was compared to Bugatti. The modern version of ME Four-Twelve has 400 km/h top speed and is able to cover 402-metre distance in 10.6 seconds.
Walter Chrysler, a man born in 1875 to the family of a railroad engineer, founded a company able to produce perfect motor cars. Following the historic traditions, the Daimler Chrysler company together with Mercedes Benz is still designing a great number of outstanding car models such as Chrysler 300 С, РТ Cruiser, Sebring, Crossfire and many others. It first appeared in the United States in the form of an eagle with outspread wings on Imperial’s emblem and was later revived in Pentastar logo being a symbol of success and splendour of the brand.
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