In 1992, Lee Iacocca practically had to be dragged out of his office at Chrysler. Presumably he got shoved into his Imperial, and told never to come back, although he tried once or twice. He had folded, spindled and mutilated the K-car platform that he inherited upon his arrival in 1979 into every possibly permutation, and this Imperial was the last one, a cynical and desperate last-ditch attempt to rekindle the old Iaccoca-mobile magic as well as that storied name. It was the end of two eras, both for the Imperial and Iacocca. And not a very pretty one for either of them.
In 1926, Walter Chrysler proudly announced his new Chrysler Imperial 80, designed to take on Cadillac, Lincoln, and other luxury cars of the time. The “80” stood for the speed it would comfortably and quietly attain; quite the accomplishment for a car in its price class at the time.
The very first Chrysler, a brilliant all-new car had only just appeared in 1924, and was the most successful launch of a new automobile brand. Now two years later, the Imperial was the crowning achievement of Walter Chrysler and his new company. The Chrysler Imperial was off to an auspicious start.
We’re not going to recap the Imperial’s whole long, rough ride through the decades here. But from 1955 (above) though 1975, Imperial was elevated to a brand of its own, but it just couldn’t compete against Cadillac and Lincoln, never mind the import luxury brands. The name was put to rest, presumably forever.
But not once Lee Iacocca showed up in 1979. In 1981, he staged his first Imperial comeback, which turned out to be an embarrassing dud on many levels, most of all because of its electronic fuel injection.
Lee had pushed the Imperial hard, and when it blew up in his face, he was embarrassed and angry. And he killed it pronto. Later, Lee even had the gall to claim that he wasn’t responsible, even though one of the Chrysler execs has quoted him as saying: “where the hell is our Cadillac/Lincoln entry?” right after he arrived, and ordering up the Imperial. Anyway the ’81 Imperial has all Iacocca-mobile hallmarks. JPC’s full ’81 Imperial story here.
You’d think he’d had enough egg on his face from that debacle. But Lee was utterly addicted to his perpetual formula for success: the classic “Ford-Iacocca face” that first appeared on the 1968 Lincoln Continental Mark II, with a faux-classic grille flanked by hidden headlights, half-roof padded vinyl tops, chintzy wire wheel covers, opera windows and carriage lights, and of course, bordello interiors. It had worked so well at Ford in the seventies, right? Ummm, yes, until it eventually took Ford to the brink of bankruptcy. Oh never mind that…Lee was lucky to get fired by HFII just before all that shit hit the fan.
Chrysler was a perfect fit for Lee: finally he was now the real boss, and quickly burnished his image as the One True Savior of the company. And just as soon as Lee got the government loan guarantees to see Chrysler through its near-death in 1979, thanks to showing the key members of Congress pictures of the K-Cars, he set himself to creating a steady stream of K-based genuine Iacocca-mobiles.
It’s come to be known as the Kreation story, and goes like this.
In the beginning was the letter K, and that letter K was with Chrysler’s engineers. And then the great Savior Lee arrived, just in time to take credit for it. And the letter K was made steel, and drove amongst us, even if rather modestly. And Lee said: “It is good, but it reminds me way too much of the 1960 Falcon. I must do something about that”.
So on the first day (1982), Lee said “let there be the LeBaron”, something that I need not be so embarrassed about”. But it was just a start, and looks almost demure compared to what was to come. Of course it was bestowed the ubiquitous Iacocca “cap” and of course the other trappings of Iaccoca-mobiles.
On the second day (1984), Lee said “that’s just not ambitious enough”, so he kreated the New Yorker. Still mostly the same basic K-Car body, but now with a 2.7″ wheelbase stretch for a bit of rear seat legroom, a more flamboyant “cap” along with a crappy little carriage light on it, and fake louvers on the front fenders. Lee had gone on a shopping spree at Pep Boys, and lavished the New Yorker with every cheap little trick in his holy book.
On the third day (also in 1984), Lee said: “What’s a proper American car company without a proper limousine?” So he waved his cigar at a Lebaron coupe, its front and rear ends parted, and a middle section appeared magically to unite them. Lee was impressed. Nobody else was.
On the fourth day (1988), Lee said “It’s been seven years of plenty, so let the top-tier K-Cars have a bit of freshening up, but not enough to ruin their basic boxy proportions. Ford’s new potato-cars, the Taurus and Sable, are destined to be a huge flop. I, and only I know what Amerikans really want.” Thus was the 1988 New Yorker and Dynasty, the K-Cars Reinkarnated.
On the fifth day (1989), Lee said: “Let there be…a Maserati of K-Cars“. And as odd as that decree seemed, it did come to pass, although not nearly as quickly as it was supposed to. Was his power slipping a bit?
On the sixth day (1990), Lee said: “That 1988 New Yorker is just not long enough; let it henceforth be stretched even further. And let it bear the storied ‘Fifth Avenue’ name. Yes, that’s better; longer always is.” The TC fiasco certainly proved that.
In the creation story in Genesis, God called it quits after six days and took a well-deserved break on the seventh. Not so Lee; he was now feeling so expansive from all of his kreations, and was now ready for the ultimate expression of his swelling powers. So on the seventh day (1991), his krowning achievement arrived: the resurrection of his second most beloved name (after Mark), the Imperial. Here was the chance to redeem himself, after having to kill it back in 1983.
In typical Iacocca-mobile fashion, the Imperial’s cost benefit equation clearly favored Lee, not the buyer. What exactly did one get for that massive 30% premium over a New Yorker Fifth Avenue? Some different plastic and plasti-chrome on the front end, obviously. Imperial badges.
To put the Imperial’s price in perspective, in inflation adjusted dollars it cost a mighty $55K. For a dolled-up K-Car. That’s actually even more than the 1981 Imperial coupe, which had completely unique styling and sheet metal, as well as interior. This Imperial’s pricing is right up there with the Cadillac Cimarron in terms of unabashed cynicism. Comparing the Imperial’s interior to the New Yorker’s, it appears that the plasti-wood on the doors was rearranged, and that elegant door pull added. Hey, that’s got to be worth a couple of thousand right there. Other than that, it looks mighty similar, inside and out. But it’s wearing that Imperial nameplate.
In gold, no less. Not surprisingly to anyone except Lee, sales were decidedly mediocre. The first year (1991), the just barely topped 10k. Then it was down to 7k for each of the subsequent years. In 1994, a very different New Yorker/LHS replaced the Imperial.
One might think that after the 1981 Imperial fiasco, Lee might have been willing to let it go. But that was just not in the nature of the man. Just like he couldn’t let the boxy neo-classical flim-flam go, and just had do it one more time, forever sullying that once-storied name, so could he not let his power at Chrysler go. The Imperial is an almost perfect analogue to Lee’s career at Chrysler. The Iakokka Era was over, thankfully. It was an ordeal at the time, and it’s becoming one again reliving it in writing. Enough.
The only question is this: did Lee see the light and drive himself home that day in 1992, or did he have to be tied up and thrown into the trunk of his Imperial?
Note: a rerun of an older post.
I think would like to be thrown in the trunk of the 2006 Imperial concept-car. 😉
https://americancarsandracing.com/2024/07/05/friday-fantasy-the-2006-chrysler-imperial-concept-could-have-been-the-king-of-the-road/
Eeek!
This car was so pointless. If it didn’t exist, most of its buyers would have bought a New Yorker Fifth Avenue, which was the same car except better looking (than the Imperial, not than most other competitors. And the Imperial interior strangely was alot plainer then the 5th Avenue. Compare the seats in the featured car to the ones in the ’88 New Yorker advert shown. I’ve gone for several rides in both the short- and long-wheelbase NYers and the interior really is lovely, full of soft-touch surfaces and elegant (if sometimes over-the-top) fittings. But the Imperial just was odd, with half a vinyl roof, even longer front and rear overhangs, and a tiny rear window. All of this stuff was out of style by 1976, much less 1990. Props for the drivetrain though, a 3.8L V6 and four-speed automatic that was finally sorted.
A joke and a slap in the face to the REAL Imperials.
Many Imperials were gussied up versions of Chryslers. Some were just better respected than this car.
Surprising to me, I saw quite a few of these on the roads through the early 2000s when they started to disappear from the roadways. I would venture to say that they were more popular than the re-bodied Cordoba-based personal luxury coupe Imperial of the early ’80s. For some reason, back in the day, I always saw these being compared to the front-wheel drive Taurus-based Lincoln Continental, as well as the down-sized front-wheel drive Cadillac DeVille.
It had a lot in common with the Cimarron in terms of tackiness and made the later XTS look good. I’m surprised that Chrysler never attempted to revive the Imperial with a rebodied LHS or the later 300C. It would not have had to have been as radically different as the 2006 Imperial Concept Car.
By 1990, I was a college grad and starting a career at a regional bank. Reading the Wall Street Journal, I saw full page ads introducing this car. While I’m brougham friendly, and was a bit of an oddball that drove a 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, I couldn’t understand where Chrysler was going with this – a second refresh of a 1988 Dodge Dynasty.
Wasn’t introducing a new style in lower lines and pushing it up the wrong direction? The same issue GM had with N body style filtering up to the R body? Was the basic narrow Chrysler K body ever going to yield to something new?
I would have never purchased this car, but I did purchase an LH body in the form of a 1995 Chrysler Concorde. Chrysler had no chance of drawing me, or a lot of new buyers in without a new platform, and the LH arrived with no time to spare.
Must admit, for the 1st time, I’ve never seen one of these in the flesh.
And for that I’m eternally grateful.
Iacocca was past his use-by date, so far as cars were concerned. Rather than being slathered with so much cliched vinyl, plastic and plastichrome make-up for us overseas folk to laugh at, what the K-body needed was some proportional widening. Splice in another four inches or so. Hey, if a small company like Mitsubishi Australia could do it to the ’84 Galant to create the Magna, surely Iacocca’s Chrysler could do it?
But this looks like an elderly cheapskate’s idea of a luxury car.
Well with literally limited finances throughout Lee’s career at Chrysler, he had to make do with just variants of the K platform, it kept Chrysler afloat, and they paid Uncle Sam back ahead of time so that is an accomplishment, yes the K Imperials we’re sort of boxy ( I had a 91) they rode really nice and it served me well for 3 years until the anti-loc brake module died and I traded it in for an LHS which was a really great running car but didn’t turn any heads. Always wanted an 81 back in the day… though, but glad I did not opt for it, the electronic fuel injection turned out to be a nightmear I am told, many people opted to convert them to std carbureted 318 setups, but it was not an easy conversion, even the exhaust manifolds had to be changed.
A 1968 Imperial Crown 4-door (hardtop is redundant, no standard Crown had full- frame door glass) resides in regal splendor in bay three of my garage. She graciously acceeds two inches between the wall and garage door. With her green Illad cloth and silhouette leather she reincarnates one I bought for $300 in 1975…but sadly lost to the expense of college and marriage…with complimentary urchins. Both sport the antique green vinyl roof, both then as now in excellent condition. But the first had Aztec gold paint, the present one comes in Frost Green Metallic. Sandwiched between was a 1990 (of which model year a respectable number were sold), in clearcoat silver, the half-vinyl padded coach roof was already cracking. Oh, but the interior! Mark Cross leather, as supple as it was aromatic. While the seats coseted to an almost irreverent degree, its 27 MPG average nearly made driving barefoot while letting the toes loose themselves in boardroom-thick carpet an exercise in efficient sybarism. Until repairs were called for. We went through three different Bendix master break cylinders. There were new heads and gaskets needed, and the tranny liked to slip…until a fluid change solved that. In short, an adorable…if often unreliable conveyance. And the stainless steel spring-loaded door pulls–complete with the Imperial eagle escutcheon…the elegance of the 68s reborn.
Chrysler’s corporate shenanigans back in the early eighties is what put me into a 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis LS. I was on the road back then traveling between jobs and the ’85 Fifth Avenue I thought was going to be a great “road car” wasn’t; but the Mercury that replaced it was. It had 89,000 on the odometer and I put another 50,000 on it. Sold it because the transmission was gone and the local Ford dealer made me a deal I couldn’t refuse on a ’93 Grand Marquis LS … it’s sitting in the backyard with 98,000 “on the clock” as I write this.
I wrote a lengthy post yesterday about my ’70 Plymouth; IMHO, the Mopars of the early ’70’s were the last of the really great Chrysler products. So, in addition to my ’70 Plymouth Sport Fury GT, I’ll be working on my ’93 Grand Marquis as well. It’s not a Mopar, but it, and the ’88 Mercury I owned, and I wish I still had, were pretty close to what Chrysler/Plymouth produced in the early ’70’s. I read tonight that Stellantis could lose 2.7 billion this year … I’d venture to say Chrysler is “as good as gone.”
With that being said … gotta keep the old CC’s running.
As George Takei would say, “Ohh, myyyy…” How times change: During that time, Iacocca was heralded as a savior not only by himself but by many outside of Chrysler. I remember well. He was credited with saving Chrysler from liquidation, not only by sweet-talking the government into hand-outs, but also eventually paying them back by ramping up production (albeit, by outsourcing most Chrysler-Corp production to Mitsubishi). He also pushed some serious propaganda with the advertising strategery that focused on him when it didn’t focus on Ricardo Montalban. Now that he and his Imperial (pun intended) aspirations are long-since gone, he’s depicted with the same degree of affection Rasputin got posthumously.
Honestly, I do think he was shady. Ford did not exactly have the greatest hierarchy in industry, but if L.I. was so extreme that even Young Henry saw a need to 86 him, that had to be bad. At least Ford did manage to avoid bankruptcy as well as hand-outs, possibly by showing L.I. the door. But I did *not* know Chrysler-Corp was forced into doing just that with him as well! I guess irony can get pretty ironic sometimes…
Anyway, about the last Imp…? I always thought that it looked like a gussied-up Dodge Dynasty, even when it was new.
Editorial note: “1968 Lincoln Continental Mark II,” has a typo, should be “III”.
As for Lee at Ford, his failure were due to HF2. Lee and Hal built like 4 different incarnations of the minivan concept (they called it “garageable van”), starting with a cut down Nantucket platform Econoline, calling it Carousel, didn’t fit the FWD 2 box concept Hal had in mind. Henry dragged feet on NAAO FWD, so there was no money no platform to do a minivan.
K was a brainchild of Hal after he landed at Chrysler post-firing by HF2. (Chair John Riccardo approved it in a verbal conversation here paraphrased. Sperlich was floored “don’t I have to present this to the product planning committee?” Riccardo “I am the product planning committee.”)
K made the minivan possible. The Iacocca mafia did the minivan at Chrysler because HF2 was too stupid to invest in the new tech FoMoCo needed to not go near bankrupt and to put the goldmine minivan in production. When they landed in highland park, and then had a little cash that the K was throwing off, they did the S body minivans.
Lee at Chrysler was shamelessly derivating the hell out of K so the company could make up for all the deferred capex (while paying record union bonuses).
The K is what made the purchase of Jeep possible (AMC actually, bought a platform Grand Cherokee, and got 2 more Jeep nameplates, a few car models, and a company with a state of the art plant in Brampton, Ont) and allowed Chrysler to own the SUV market until Explorer showed up in 1990-1.
Also the new Ram & Viper (and a bitchin’ awesome Tech Center in auburn hills that replaced the dilapidated HQ campus in highland park that had belonged to Maxwell pre-Walter P) were birthed on the altar built on a K foundation.
K, Minivans, JTE, Viper, and then the LH and JA, there is a through-line starting with K (some would say Omni as it was the blueprint for an upscaled K, like the Ford C platform Focus was for the C/D Fusion/Mondeo a generation later).
At the end, the savior of Chrysler distracted himself (like Jac Nassar did at Ford a decade later) trying to turn Chrysler into a holding company buying Gulfstream (the company, not the jet), and Lamborghini (the company, not the car), and took his eye off the bread and butter of the company.
He green-lighted LH and JA a bit too late, and placed the company in peril, and his pettiness resulted in him freezing out Lutz and hiring that idiot (ex GM X-car program manager) Bob Eaton who sold out Chrysler and put it in a perpetual near death cycle.
So if we recollect what a knife’s edge Lee had to walk, with so much to fix, it is little wonder he iterated K like hell (this may also have been driven by plant constraints, as it might not have been possible to stretch the platform by much without having to make big investments in the body shop, priming tanks or paint booths (I recall reading how proud Production VP Denny Pawley was in the investments they were making in new production facilities, and if you saw his office, it looked like it hadn’t had a new interior since the avocado shag carpet days).
So Lee definitely took his eye off the ball near the end, waited too long to do LH (but also recall, AMC brought Castang as Engineering VP, and with him the platform team concept, with LH coming about 5 years(?) after the AMC takeover. So they might have shaved off a year or so if Lee had moved faster there), and picked a crap successor, but while he was there, like he had to do at Ford (yes, the Versailles was a falcon underneath) he followed the #1 rule of marketing: “you can only sell what you’ve got.”
In the end, when Chrysler had lost its mojo, and one of the new owners was trying to find it (IDR who), they invited a very elderly Lee back to the tech center for an event to try to find that old spark.
Anyhow, let’s not be too hard on Lee.
Footnote on Lee the man: he was a bit like Steve Jobs, in that he convinced a lot of Ford Top tier talent to risk it all to come to a nearly dead Chrysler (at that point Ford guys didn’t realize that Ford too would soon be flirting heavily with bankruptcy and be kept alive only by profits from Ford EAO). My sister served him several times in a nice Italian restaurant in Birmingham, MI. She said he was very kind and polite, and was a very tall man, over 6 foot she (herself 5’10”) thought. Also, he was a big donor to diabetes causes (this killed his beloved Mary.)
@Tony
You have some facts wrong my friend and you are conflating HF2’s dismissal of Harry Bennett with his firing of Iacocca.
HF2 was basically fired by the board in slow motion. He got a year to do a farewell tour. But had to give up the CEO job, then Chair job. He kept his influence by remaining chair of the Finance Committee (Golden Rule Of Business: “He who has the gold makes the rules”). Then Ford went through 2 CEOs Caldwell & Poling before scoring big with Don Peterson (recently deceased) who pushed design to stretch and got the DN5 twins (but even he didn’t figure out how to do a proper minivan fast enough).
Also, if HF2 hadn’t been so stupid as to fire Sperling (in part because he was constantly pressuring HF2 to do a minivan) & Iacocca, and had done a minivan, Chrysler would have closed shop in 1979 and been no more, and a bunch of that market share would have helped ease some of Ford’s NAAO ills.
I don’t understand how you could consider him shady. That doesn’t fit the history.
Lee was a great Huckster at Ford and cobbled together many acceptable cars. However, when he went “Chrysler”, he was out on a limb. The TC Maserati was a total joke as the rest of the line!
As a Chauffer, I was hired to drive one of these POS. What a poor excuse fir a car, much less a “Limousine “, that it WASN’T!
AND THAT IMPERIAL. Oh man what a over priced piece of absolute JUNK.
Every salesman of CHEAP merchandise eventually gets seen for what they are. Too bad it took soooo long in Lee’s position.
The man had an ego that wouldn’t quit, that’s why 2 of the World’s largest auto manufacturers fired him!
From Exner excess space ships to that, how the mighty are fallen.