GTP Cool Wall: 1981-1983 Chrysler Imperial

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1981-1983 Chrysler Imperial


  • Total voters
    36
  • Poll closed .
1,090
United States
United States
Poll 1373: 1981-1983 Chrysler Imperial nominated by @Jezza819
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Body Style:

2 door coupe
Engine: 318 cu. in. 5.2 litre LA V8
Power: 140hp
Torque: 245 lb ft
Weight: 3968 lbs.
Transmission: 3 speed A904 automatic
Drivetrain: RWD
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Uncool. Looks kinda funky (not a bad thing) but it also sounds mechanically bad and pretty slow.

It's definitely uncool. As I said in the nomination post, that first year was basically a trial run for Chrysler's fuel injection and it was a complete mess. I think we only had to convert one or two of them back to carburetors as they weren't a big seller in general. But the digital instrument clusters also gave problems not too long into the vehicle's life.

I think it's uncool but the seats look SO comfortable, I actually kinda see myself driving one for a long trip or something

Those seats were very cushiony but had no support and were not very comfortable on a long drive. I hated these cars along with that whole M body Chrysler 5th Ave, Dodge Diplomat, Plymouth Gran Fury line they made from 1982-1989. But my dad loved them and we did sell a ton of them. But he really loved this Imperial.
 
Dear god. The Imperial. Such a great name for ANOTHER boring, boxy car from the 80's.

Not even that comfy looking interior can save it. Sorry bro.
 
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Off-design and not much in appeal, even for its time. Fairly easy call for me on this one- Uncool.
 
This one's odd. The road version looks like a car that unsavoury or shady characters in the media would drive like drug lords or pimps. So I'd give it a solid SU. American road cars from this era were just trash in general regardless.

But the NASCAR version would get a solid SZ from me.
 
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Didn't Buddy Arrington drive a Mirada as well? I don't do NASCAR but I have enough of an appreciation for those J-bodies that I'm fairly confident in that connection.

Good call. Yes he did and I had forgotten about that. Buddy was a Mopar guy, pretty much the only one we had left back in those days. The Mirada was built from 1980-1983 and the Imperial was from 1981-1983. About the only thing I can think of why he would switch was maybe the Imperial was more aerodynamic? Here is his Mirada racecar.

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Good call. Yes he did and I had forgotten about that. Buddy was a Mopar guy, pretty much the only one we had left back in those days. The Mirada was built from 1980-1983 and the Imperial was from 1981-1983. About the only thing I can think of why he would switch was maybe the Imperial was more aerodynamic? Here is his Mirada racecar.

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I'd wager it would have been somebody else's call to switch. Seems likely the Dodges sold better than the Imperials.
 
I'd wager it would have been somebody else's call to switch. Seems likely the Dodges sold better than the Imperials.

I think he switched from the Dodge to the Imperial. Because I do remember he drove that Imperial for a few years after 1983 when Chrysler stopped making them.
 
I think he switched from the Dodge to the Imperial. Because I do remember he drove that Imperial for a few years after 1983 when Chrysler stopped making them.
Well, I did say I don't do NASCAR.

:lol:

I just generally think of these sorts of decisions as being made from up on high; that "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" mantra.

This did the styling much better than the Contintental or the Seville...
I disagree completely. While the Continental is my preference on the whole, I think the Cadillac bore the best bustle of the bunch. Horizontal lights best suit the form, and the Lincoln's namesake feature makes that difficult to pull off.

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Main problem with the Seville (aside from being powered by a murderer's row of garbage drivetrains, but it's not like the Imperial was any better) is that it looks like two different cars. Everything in front of the B-Pillar just looks almost identical to the original Seville, before that fussy character line plunges into the trunk area. Now that was sort of a problem with Sheer Look GM in general following the original Seville and it's not nearly as bad as when the awful subsequent generation looked nearly identical to the Grand Am; but the end result might as well be a Parisienne that someone grafted a Zimmer-esque mess on the back of it. The Imperial in comparison is a very 70s folding paper reinterpretation of the styling they were both aping, and from some angles the Imperial even looks like some sort of... bizarro American version of the Aston Lagonda. The main letdown for it stylistically is that the wheel and tire diameter are both much too small and the track too narrow when all three are about perfect on the Seville.



Cadillac didn't commit fully to the look and Chrysler did. Lincoln seemingly got cold feet when they saw the thud the other two hit the market with. I think the Seville would have worked much better if it looked like an Eldorado sedan with a bustleback.
 
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The bustleback is a lot more interesting than the usual notchback styling. The concealed front lights are a highlight too. But the overall design is quite dated for the early 80s, looking more like a mid 70s design. Added to that, you have barely enough power to pull the skin off a rice pudding and well its not even Meh. Uncool.
 
How many of you were even old enough to buy a new 1981 Imperial? So many of these comments are ignorant. Did you live through this time as an adult? These reviews are from snowflakes. This car was stunning in 1981..Period!
 
How many of you were even old enough to buy a new 1981 Imperial? So many of these comments are ignorant. Did you live through this time as an adult are are these reviews from snowflakes? This car was stunning in 1981..Period!
lol

Imagine registering for a forum to throw a bitchfit over disfavorable remarks about a J-body Chrysler which were made more than two years earlier, even absent the abject hilarity of calling commenters whose two-year-old remarks so offended you snowflakes.

I mean I actually like the RWD J-bodies, but god damn that is pathetic.
 
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I wonder if the guy who joined to bump a several year old thread just to tell us that his Viper's engine and his Lamborghini's engine are very similar to each other, actually (not at all like the V8 that the former was derived from, idiot) and the guy who joined on the same day to bump a several year old thread just to tell us how great the J-Body Imperial is (snowflakes) are like a father and his son.
 
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How many of you were even old enough to buy a new 1981 Imperial? So many of these comments are ignorant. Did you live through this time as an adult? These reviews are from snowflakes. This car was stunning in 1981..Period!
I think anyone with eyes can see that the late 70's and early to late 80's were not a high point in US car design.
 
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