I have recieved pictures of two very fine 1958 sedans. I will add these to
the 1958 page on OIC as soon as possible, but with the download crunch we
are working to fix I thought you might want a snealk preview here.
Robert Dervin sent some snaps of his car. What a beauty. The sedan
roofline is unique and I am sure rear passengers enjoy the third window on
each side.
Coincidentally, Frederick Mardon sent some pictures of his export model
Imperial at more or less the same time. He is a youthful 28. Where were
these beauties when I was in Europe? Amusingly, back then, I was a huge
Citroen 2CV fan. Frederic mentions an Imperial cost the same as ten 2CV's
back in the 50's. I wonder what the going equivalent is now?
Here is the link, and below is Frederic's text.
http://www.58imperial.com/Other58Imps
Hello Hugh,
Well, I will try to write a few words ... Hope my english
is not too bad ... Should I reply to the entire mailing-
list or to you only ? Nevertheless, here are a few words ...
Since April 13th 2002, I am the 4th owner of a 1958
Imperial LY1-L 4-door sedan export model ("basic model with
door pilars and km/h odometer"), sold new in south of
France in 1957 (1st title is dated 24.12.57). The orginal
color of the car was Raven Black, but the roof has been
painted in dark gray. The car stands in original condition,
except for the paint, which was redone at least 13 years
ago. The odometer shows 31825 km, but is stuck ... It has
yellow headlights, rear French reflectors and still on the
windshield the 1957 stick of the "faisceaux antiparasitages
ISO" (anti-interference feature, mandatory in France).
Interior trim is coded 053, which means "Diamond Glow
silver" (Jacquard cloth with metallic vinyl bolsters), and
completely original, however the carpet suspected not to be
the original one.
The car needs a few improvements, like one new muffler, one
radio (got it from yesterday), one rear windshield (the one
installed is in plastic ...), and a complete new set of
weatherstripping. The trunk is "naked", meaning that I have
no carpeting at all, and the spare tire is not attached any
more to the trunk (missing parts). One day, with enough
euros, I will fully restore it. Indeed, the car has some
rust spots (bottom of the doors), and the interior should
be entirely redone to be perfect. The chrome parts shine,
but could use some rechroming (more euros to spend ...).
The engine runs great, no smoke, and the gearbox shifts
smoothly. The hood still has the inside protection (against
noise I guess).
I intend to keep the car a very long time (I am 28). What I
most like about it is the music of the engine ! And to have
some slow rides in the countryside (french roads are not
made for cars of that size !).
In 1993, it won the 2nd place at the American Car Club de
France meeting in Poissy. It was the only Mopar among an
ocean of Cadillacs ...
Everyone stops to see the car (we don't have many of them
here ... remember, for the price of this Imperial, in 1957,
you got 10 Citro�n 2CV), and it attracts only sympathy. It
is a real pleasure to drive it, even if my wallet doesn't
like that very much (remember, 1 liter of gas costs here 1
dollar ...).
I don't know if these few words are enough ... I have made
some pictures, but don't have them with me. I should be
able to send them in one week, but can't promise (I'm
flying to Brazil in one week, for one month). I will keep
your e-mail address and give you further news in a few days.
Imperialement v�tre,
Fr�d�ric Mardon
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