CHRYSLER IMPERIAL V8 1952

1949-1954

1953 Chrysler Imperial Custom

1953 Chrysler Imperial Custom coupe Airtemp air conditioner vents

Three body styles imperial were produced in 1949. The short-wheelbase Imperial was available only as a four-door sedan for six passengers. The 4-door 8-passenger Crown Imperial was available as a sedan or as a limousine with a window division.

The new sedan is Imperial to the extent it is based on the Chrysler New Yorker . It shared the same setting, but had a canvas roof covered with leather and cloth upholstery Imperial. These features were installed by Derham , in the new postwar Chrysler sheetmetal. The early 1949 Crown Imperials were actually leftover 1948s. The new models really did not come until march 1949. His style was more elegant than the previous models, but conservative. Less bars, but more heavy, were used in the grid of cross lines. The horizontal pieces top and plants wrapped around the front fenders. Moldings panel rocker, stoneguards rear fender, integral layer on the bottom of the window, and strips chrome-plated horizontal on the rear fender and the headlights half way through the entry gates, were used to decorate the body side.

The 1950 Crosley Hot Shot is often given credit for the first production disc brakes but the Chrysler Crown Imperial actually they had for the first time as standard equipment in the beginning of the model year 1949. The disk Crosley was a Goodyear development, a type of caliper with the rotor, ventilated, designed originally for applications in aircraft. Only the Hot Shot featured it. The lack of sufficient research caused enormous reliability problems, especially in regions requiring the use of salt on roads in winter, as the adhesion and corrosion. Conversion of drum brake for Hot Shots was quite popular.

The 4 wheels disc brake system for Chrysler was more complex and expensive than Crosley's, but far more efficient and reliable. It was built by Auto Specialties Manufacturing Company (Ausco) of St. Joseph, Michigan , under patents of inventor HL Lambert, and was put to the test for the first time in a 1939 Plymouth . Unlike the disk clamp, the Ausco-Lambert used twin expanding discs that rubbed against the inner surface of a brake drum of cast iron, which doubled as the brake housing. The discs apart to create friction against the surface of the inner drum through the action of the wheel cylinders standard.

Discs Chrysler were "self energizing," in that part of the braking energy itself contributed to the braking effort in. This was accomplished by small balls set into the slotted holes that lead to the braking surface. When the disc is put into initial contact with the friction surface the balls would be forced up the holes forcing the discs further apart and augmenting the braking energy. This made for lighter braking pressure than with calipers, weakening of the brake is avoided, promotes a cooler running and provides a third surface more friction that Chrysler drums standard of twelve inches. But due to the expense, the brakes were in series only to the Crown, Chrysler Imperial through 1954 and the Town and Country Newport in 1950. They were optional, however, in other Chrysler, with a price tag of around $ 400, at a time when an entire Crosley Hot Shot for sale of $ 935. The current owners consider the Ausco-Lambert very reliable and powerful, but admit its grabbiness and sensitivity.

The 1950 Imperial was essentially a new yorker with an interior custom. I had a treatment grille to the stylish Cadillac that included signal lights in a circular enclosed in a wraparound ribbed piece chrome. Side trim was similar to the model of last year, but the strip front fender and ended up in the front doors and the trim flap rear was in the top-level of the tires and was integrated into the stone guard. Unlike the standard Imperial, Imperial Crown had a secondary treatment in which the molding of the rear fenders and the protector of stone were separated. Body moldings of the threshold were used in all the Imperials, but they were of a type less massive in the larger models of the Crown. A special version of the sedan was available. It had a leather inner sole and a top of leather-covered that he lost consciousness through the windows of the back room. Power windows were standard on the crown imperial.

In an unusual move for the 1950s, the 1951 Imperial had much less chrome than the lower-priced New Yorker that it was based. I also had a three-bar grille with horizontal parking lights between the bars and a central piece, vertical chrome. Apart from its identification plate on the front mudguard, fit of the body side is limited to the moldings below the windows, trim panel rocker, shields, stone, bright metal, and a molding horizontal heavy running by the bands of the defence. Three body styles of 2 doors have been added to the imperial model in 1951: a club coupe , a hardtop and convertible . Only 650 convertibles were sold and would the following year. 1951 was also the year that Chrysler introduced its 331 cubic inches (5.4 L) Hemihead V8 . "Hydraguide" power steering , an industry first for use in the automobile production, was available on the Imperial for an additional $ 226. Full-time power steering was standard on the Crown Imperial.

1952 imperials were practically identical to the models in 1951, and the most effective way of establishing the difference between them is through references to the serial numbers. The body style convertible was abandoned in 1952. Unlike in the case of Chrysler, did not change the tail-lights of the Imperial. Power steering was standard. The "new" Crown Imperial was also unchanged for 1952. Only 338 of these cars were made in the 1951-1952 model run and serial number indicate that 205 were registered as 1.952 cars. A small change, a reduction of one inch in the measurement of the tread front.

In 1953 the Imperial model, received the name of Imperial Custom. Although the Imperial Custom seemed to the New Yorker, which had a wheelbase different taillights and side trim. Clean the fins and front and upper rear fender shield of stone that distinguish it from the Chrysler "ordinary". This was also the first year for the ornament of the hood eagle stylized. Power brakes, power windows front + rear, armrest-folding central (front and rear) and a board collar were standard. Parking lights on all Imperials were positioned between the mouldings of the grids higher and central, a variation of the design used in other cars of Chrysler. A new model was the six-passenger Custom Imperial limousine which had as power windows, standard window division electric light, courtesy lights at floor level, heater in the rear compartment, footrests, folding plane, Clock back-mounted and luxurious fabric or leather interiors special. March 10, 1953, was added to the exclusive hard top Custom Newport Imperial line imperial of $ 325 on the price of the sedan for eight passengers. The 2-door coupe club is suspended. Sedans Custom Imperial now rode on a wheelbase of 2 inch (51 mm) longer than the hardtops 2-door. The ornament eagle was the only thing new on the 1953 Crown Imperial. The identification plate has been changed slightly and the limousine appeared moldings at the top of the rear fenders. Crown Imperials came with a 12 volt electric (Imperials custom still had a system of 6 volts) and the first fully Chrysler automatic transmission , called PowerFlite , became available late in model year,is being installed in a limited number of vehicles for testing and evaluation. Power steering was standard on Crown Imperials. In addition, 1953 was the first year that the Imperial had a windshield made of a single piece, instead of a two-piece one. A hyphen padded was standard.

The 1953 Chrysler Imperial was the first production car in twelve years to actually have automotive air conditioning , following experiments attempts by Packard in 1940 and Cadillac in 1941. Walter P. Chrysler had seen to the invention of Airtemp air conditioning back in the 1930s for the Chrysler building , and had ostensibly offered in the cars in 1941-1942 and again in 1951-1952, but none are known to have been sold in the latter form, until the model year 1953. In reality, the installation of air conditioning units Airtemp optional to its imperials in 1953, Chrysler surpassed Cadillac , Buick and Oldsmobile which added air conditioning as an option in model year 1953.

Airtemp was more sophisticated and efficient than the complicated devices of the air conditioning rivals that of 1953. It recirculated, rather than merely cooled the air inside the vehicle, and was also the highest drive capacity available in a car. It was also easy to operate, with a single switch on the dashboard marked with low, medium, and high positions which the driver selected as desired. The system was capable of cooling a Chrysler from 120 degrees to 85 degrees in about two minutes, and to completely eliminate moisture, dust, pollen and tobacco smoke at the same time. Since that was based on the fresh air, and drew in sixty percent more of it that any system that is contemporary, Airtemp avoided the stagnation associated with the air conditioning of the car at the time. It was quiet and unobtrusive. Instead of plastic tubes mounted on the platform of the package, as on GM and on other cars, small ducts directed cool air toward the ceiling of the car that was leaking by the passengers instead of blowing directly on them, a feature that modern cars have lost.

In 1954, the Imperial Custom was a new grill that consists of a central bar horizontal envelope heavy with five ridges on top and integrated signal lights circular. Your identification plate of the front fender was above a chrome strip, that ran along the entrance door to the front of the door opening. The rear fender protector of stone was larger than in 1953, but the trim panel under the door and fender stripe style chrome back remained the same. The back-up lights are now located directly below the taillights, rather than dividing the lights as in the previous year's model. The crown imperial shared a basic style with the Imperial Custom. However, I had the rear doors central opening and Cadillac-like rear lights in rear fender. The air-conditioning was standard on the Crown Imperial.