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Production Numbers
Specifications 1962 IMPERIAL |
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INTRODUCTION DATE: September 26, 1961
TOTAL PRODUCTION: 14,337 (Body Code, Price and Production listed below) |
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THE IMPERIAL CUSTOM TWO-DOOR SOUTHAMPTON (912)
$4,920 Production: 826 (Shown below in Moonlight Blue)  |
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THE IMPERIAL CUSTOM FOUR-DOOR SOUTHAMPTON (914)
$5,106 Production: 3,587 (Shown below in Oyster White)  |
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THE IMPERIAL CROWN TWO-DOOR SOUTHAMPTON (922)
$5,400 Production: 1,010 (Shown below in Sage Green)  |
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THE IMPERIAL CROWN CONVERTIBLE (925)
$5,770 Production: 554 (Shown below in Festival Red)  |
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THE IMPERIAL CROWN FOUR-DOOR SOUTHAMPTON (924)
$5,644 Production: 6,911 (Shown below in Formal Black)  THE IMPERIAL LEBARON FOUR-DOOR SOUTHAMPTON (934)
$6,422 Production: 1,449 (Shown below in Formal Black)  |
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CROWN IMPERIAL LIMOUSINE
1962 Production: 0 |
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ENGINE
ENGINE CODE/DESCRIPTION S-41 413 CID 4V V-8 Bore & stroke: 4.18 x 3.75 in. Comp. ratio: 10.1:1 Horsepower: 340 at 4600 RPM Carburetor: Carter AFB-3215S |
TRANSMISSION
TRANSMISSION CODE/DESCRIPTION 3-Speed TorqueFlight Automatic Torque Converter Ratio: 2.2:1 |
WHEELBASE 129"
OVERALL LENGTH 227.1" WIDTH 81.7" HEIGHT 56.8" (loaded) WEIGHT 4,540 (Custom Two-Door) 4,620 (Custom Four-Door) 4,650 (Crown Two-Door) 4,680 (Crown Four-Door) 4,725 (LeBaron) |
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Advertising for the 1962 Imperials must have been effective, since sales
increased considerably over 1961. In fact, they were higher than any year
since watershed 1957, when Imperial sent its competition scrambling back
to the design studios with its "suddenly it's 1960!" styling.
The panic at the competition was short lived, though. 1958 was a bad sales
year for the automobile industry in general, and an awful year for Imperial.
Too bad for the Imperial, generally it was preferred over its competition
for handling ability, maneuverability, and always scored high marks in
the "fun to drive" category by the automotive journalists of
the time.
Imperial's advertising campaign for 1962 was directed at the top professionals in America. It invited them to accept the offer to have a new Imperial delivered to them for a test drive. The black and white ads generally ran in National Geographic and other appropriate magazines. Some of the ads were directed specifically to Doctors or Attorneys, and admonished that if somehow your invitation missed you, just write to the General Manager of the Imperial Division (on your letterhead). It's curious that Imperial's advertising consisted of mostly black and
white photography during this time. Even lesser cars were using color photography,
and virtually all of Imperial's competition used color. Cadillac utilized
beautifully illustrated ads with very little copy. Prominent in Cadillac
ads were beautifully jeweled Cadillac "V"'s and crests. Always
designed by one of the top jewelers, such as Harry Winston or Van Cleef
and Arpels. Lincoln was riding the wave of success brought in by its 1961
models, certainly one of the great automotive designs of all time. The
lines of this car were very clean and uncluttered, due largely to designer
Elwood Engel. Engel was about to play a big part in the Imperial's design,
but not for 1962.
For 1962, Imperial finally shed the finned look it had helped start with the 1957 models. By 1961, most other makes had abandoned the huge fins of previous years, promoting a less flashy look for the sixties. Cadillac is generally considered to have propelled the fins to their biggest heights with its 1959 models, a burden that Imperial (thankfully) didn't have to bear. But by the time 1961 rolled around, the finned look had run its course, leaving Imperial alone in the fine car field with its appendages. Cadillac still had fins, but they had retreated into the rear quarter panel considerably at this point. Lincoln had a semblance of fins from the rear, but not from the side view. The 1962 Imperial had an athletic look, the new lower rear quarters made the car seem somehow more balanced, a bit longer (it wasn't). A contemporary test drive report indicated that the Imperial seemed to attract attention, which did not happen when other luxury makes were being tested. Was it Imperial's stately appearance? Was it the fact that this car was capable of accelerating at a rate faster than expected? Perhaps. But maybe the looks were just because it was an Imperial. There's a scene in the movie It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1962) where Ethel Merman has the privilege of being a passenger in a Dawn Blue 1962 Imperial Convertible. During this scene, the Imperial is among a group of lesser vehicles racing to the same destination. At one point Miss Merman commented, "We're the ones with the Imperial and we're running LAST?!?!" Perhaps Ethel Merman understood the Imperial: the car which responds, performs, and excites as a great car is supposed to. |
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Below: 1962 Imperial Crown instrument panel in Cocoa |
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IMPERIAL
AMERICA'S MOST CAREFULLY BUILT CAR |
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