Sometimes the mind boggles at how much stuff you can get – junk or not – for $900. Originally listed at $5653 for the pillared sedan, or about $38,000 in 2014 dollars, this was a car designed to compete with Cadillac for the billing of top American luxury car. And if you weren’t busy doing stupid hippie things in 1968 like protesting against wars, for freedom, or for efficiency, you could seal yourself off from all the racket in a 5000-ish pound cocoon gliding along courtesy of Chrysler’s 350hp 440 V8, which gave a monstrous 480 lb.-ft. of torque. Check out this 1968 Imperial Crown for sale for $900 in Centralia, WA.
Consort Blue metallic is a more unusual color that still suits the car very well. And the paint, while showing its age, might still be usable for a driver. In fact, the entire body appears to be in pretty good shape, and the car does not look as sun-baked (or rusted out) as one might expect. Not surprisingly, the car is said to have power everything, and it does run and drive. Even the vinyl top is more-or-less intact.
Fortunately, parts for this car are available at any local parts place, so you can do the needed tuneup and purchase the battery it’s said to require. After that, you’ll want to head over to the local exhaust shop and have them prune that exhaust tip, perhaps even installing a downward-pointed tip while they’re at it. The car does look to be missing a couple of hubcaps, but with a fairly active club it shouldn’t be hard to source replacements. No doubt some of those power options have failed, but with a bit of effort invested in going through all the grounds with contact cleaner and a wire brush, you should see a fairly immediate improvement for short money. So what do you look for in a 3-figure car? The spartan appeal of yesterday’s Fiesta, or the pampering luxury of today’s Imperial?
Rusty But Trusty 
July 22, 2014 at 5:18 pm |
Wow-what a barge! I had a 1965 Imperial Crown as my very first car. Coolest ride ever, gas was just under $1/gal and it consumed copious amounts. These are stocked to the hilt with period luxury. Fun find!
July 23, 2014 at 9:53 am |
If you buy it and it turns out to be junk, hey, it’s still about $500 in scrap. I’ve blown far more the $400 vig on a night of carousing.