In 1960, Chrysler and dress designer Mr. Jules Francois Crahay created a style for women that was featured at Saks Fifth Avenue - New York and Neiman -Marcus stores called "The Imperial Collection". It was an important new presentation of automotive excellence and the best of French fashion designs.
Designer Crahay who was very knowledgeable of the American woman and her preference for ease and excellence created a different kind of photo shoot for the American woman. The photographs were taken at Chrysler's Imperial factory in Dearborn, Michigan during actual working hours. The goal of course, was that you will note a pleasant analogy between the clean, un-fussy lines of Mr. Crahay's work and the understated elegance of the 1960 Imperial model designs.
The first Imperial was produced at the corporation's East Jefferson plant in Detroit with other Chrysler automobiles in 1926. In 1955, the Imperial was given a distinctively different styling treatment setting it further apart from its sister Chrysler automobiles. In 1957, Imperial parts were no longer interchangeable with Chrysler parts.
In the fall of 1958 the new Imperial facility in Dearborn, Michigan, enabled engineering, manufacturing and production teams to concentrate on the Imperial exclusively, creating the finest quality Imperial ever built.
The second year that the Imperial models were built in Dearborn, Michigan, was in 1960, where more than 700 different hand craftsman operations were employed. The 1960 Imperial designs offered a new silhouette wedge-shaped design and an elongated hood line reminiscent of classic Imperial automobiles of the 1930’s. The tail-fins were adorned with Imperial's familiar gun-sight tail lights and were a big hit among many customers. Custom designed interior fabrics were offered in 8 colors, rich woolen broad-cloths, genuine leather, and new doeskin vinyls, which gave the Imperial an impeccable look of richness. The Imperial Collection intrigued many women customers and therefore Imperial automobiles became a popular model of the sixties.
Many presidents and Kings throughout the world purchased the Imperial Le Baron model which offered a more distinctive styling design for the richness of ones taste. The 1960 Imperial automobile was "America's Most Carefully Built Car".
A special thanks to Robert Tate, Automotive Historian and Researcher, for donating the story to the MotorCities Story of the Week program. Photographs courtesy of Robert Tate's personal collection. Please do not use any photographs without the permission of MotorCities. For further information contact Robert Tate at btate@motorcities.org.
If you have a story that you would like to donate to be featured as a MotorCities Story of the Week, email Lisa Ambriez at lambriez@motorcities.org.
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