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From 1955 to 1975, and from 1981 to 1983, the Imperial was its own marque, sold without the Chrysler name, although it never lost its association with Chrysler in the public mind. 1926-1930In 1926, Walter P. Chrysler decided to compete with Cadillac and Lincoln in the luxury car field. Chrysler offered a variety of body styles: a four-passenger roadster, a four-seat coupé on a 120 in wheelbase, five-passenger sedan, and a seven-passenger top-of-the-line limousine. The Imperial's new engine was slightly larger than the company's standard straight 6. It was a 3.3 L I6 with seven bearing blocks and pressure lubrication. The car set a transcontinental speed record in the year it was introduced, driving more than 6,500 miles in the week. The car was chosen as the pace car for the 1926 Indianapolis 500.
1931-1933The Chrysler Imperial was redesigned in 1931. The car received a new engine, a 6.3 L I8. Marketing materials for this generation of Imperial referred to the car as the "Imperial 8" in reference to the new engine. The engine would be found in many other Chrysler vehicles. The redesign also saw the introduction of new wire wheels that would became the standard wheel treatment until the 1940s. Stock car driver Harry Hartz set numerous speed records with an Imperial sedan at Daytona Beach, Florida.
1934-1936The 1934 to 1936 Chrysler Imperial ushered in the 'Airflow' design. The car was marketed with the slogan "The car of tomorrow is here today." It featured eight passenger seating and again an eight-cylinder engine. This was the first car to be designed in a wind tunnel. Initial tests indicated that the standard car of the 1920's worked best in the wind-tunnel when pointed backwards with the curved rear deck facing forward. This led to a rethinking of the fundamental deign of Chrysler's line of cars. Unfortunately, the public did not buy the car in large numbers. The relative failure of the Airflow cars led Chrysler to be overly conservative in their styling for the next 20 years. The "standard" styling on the lower-end Chrysler Corporation products outsold the Airflow.
1937-1942Innovations for 1937 included built-in defroster vents, safety type interior hardware and seat back padding, and fully insulated engine mounts. There were three Imperial models in this generation. The C-14 was the standard eight and looked much like the Chrysler Royal with a longer hood and cowl. The C-15 was the Imperial Custom and the Town Sedan Limousine, with blind rear quarter panels. This model was available by special order. The third model, C-17, was the designation for the Airflow model. They had a concealed crank for raising the windshield and the hood was hinged at the cowl and opened from the front; side hood panels were released by catches on the inside. A Custom Imperial convertible sedan was used as an official car at the Indy 500. hey hey wuts up nmh just chilline
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