1990 Chrysler Imperial is a forgettable American luxury sedan

[cawimmer430]

1990 Chrysler Imperial is a forgettable American luxury sedan

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gcutO1T-54

MotorWeek's Retro Review series often lets us be nostalgic about vehicles from the '80s and '90s, but this time the show looks back on the 1990 Chrysler Imperial. With atrocious styling and middling performance, it might be better that we collectively forget about this luxury sedan.

When this Imperial hit the scene, the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class were entrenched in the luxury sedan segment. Japanese automakers like Lexus and Infiniti were also making waves. The Chrysler just seems old fashioned compared to the rest, and its landau roof didn''t fit the competition's modern styling. MotorWeek also complains of poor craftsmanship and bad visibility out of the back. A 3.3-liter V6 with 147 horsepower doesn't provide much acceleration, either.

Chrysler understood the demands of its aging customers for the Imperial. The sedan didn't offer anything class-leading, but there were a comfy seats and a floaty suspension to get drivers around town. In the modern world of luxury vehicles, which bristle with active safety tech and advanced infotainment system, the Imperial seems like a dinosaur. Watch Motorweek's clip to get a better understanding why there's not much nostalgia for this American sedan.

Link: http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/16/1990-chrysler-imperial-motorweek/

[93JC]

Lee Iacocca at his worst. This car was everything that was wrong with Chrysler by 1990: old-fashioned cheesy styling, ponderous handling, column shift, brand new pushrod V6. The complete opposite direction of where the market was going.

[cawimmer430]

Lee Iacocca at his worst. This car was everything that was wrong with Chrysler by 1990: old-fashioned cheesy styling, ponderous handling, column shift, brand new pushrod V6. The complete opposite direction of where the market was going.

Yeah, the car looks truly awful, except for the front - I kind of dig that part.

[280Z Turbo]

Lee Iacocca at his worst. This car was everything that was wrong with Chrysler by 1990: old-fashioned cheesy styling, ponderous handling, column shift, brand new pushrod V6. The complete opposite direction of where the market was going.

That car vs the Lexus LS400. LOL

Embarrassing, really

[93JC]

The Lexus LS400 comparison is a shitty one, people weren't cross-shopping the two. (The LS400 base MSRP was 40% more...) The only direct competition it ever really had was the Lincoln Continental: both front-drive, V6-powered and meant to be 'plush'.

It wasn't desirable at all, even then, except to old fogeys who still believed 1970s holdover styling (hidden headlamps, Landau roof, etc.) was 'classy' and believed in the mantra "the more sheet metal, the better". Of course to everyone else it was hopelessly tacky, pretty much anyone under the age of 55 found it revolting.

It didn't help that not only did it look like a tarted-up Dodge Dynasty it WAS a tarted-up Dodge Dynasty. There were some distinguishing mechanical features, particularly the five extra inches of wheelbase, rear air suspension and in '91 and '92 an exclusive engine (the punched-out 3.8 L V6, introduced to match the Continental's engine) but otherwise the car was almost entirely the same as the Dynasty. And the problem with that was that the Dynasty itself was a lame-duck car from when it launched in '87. The Dynasty was the car meant to compete with the Taurus and GM's looming W-car sedans, believe it or not. Even then, without the benefit of hindsight, people were like "Are you fucking kidding me?"

[280Z Turbo]

Well, your knowledge of Iaccoca Chryslers is way better than mine, so I'll take your word for it. No need to get upset.



Although, Chrysler themselves wanted to compare their car to the big boys.

[93JC]

Well, your knowledge of Iaccoca Chryslers is way better than mine, so I'll take your word for it. No need to get upset.

I'm not upset. Remember, I used to drive a Spirit. I used to fix a Spirit, so I ended up amassing a lot of knowledge about them.

(And in my opinion the Spirit was a far better car than the Dynasty.)

<pic>

Although, Chrysler themselves wanted to compare their car to the big boys.

Eh, that's like saying Volvo wanted you to cross-shop their wagon with a Lamborghini. Nobody in their right mind would cross-shop a $300,000 Rolls-Royce with a $25,000 Chrysler Imperial...

[shp4man]

The '69 was the best year Imperial.

[Madman]

It wasn't desirable at all, even then, except to old fogeys who still believed 1970s holdover styling (hidden headlamps, Landau roof, etc.) was 'classy' and believed in the mantra "the more sheet metal, the better". Of course to everyone else it was hopelessly tacky, pretty much anyone under the age of 55 found it revolting.

The Old Fogeys (like my dad) wouldn't like this car due to its front-wheel drive and lack of a V8.

In 1990, they would have bought a Lincoln Town Car or a Cadillac Brougham.

[Payman]

I still see these, Fifth Avenues, LeBarons, and Dynastys on the road around here sometimes. Like 93JC calls 'em... cockroaches.

[Payman]

Lol, adjusted for inflation, their test car would cost $53,627.24 today.

[93JC]

'80s front-drive Chryslers and Ford Tempos/Mercury Topazes, man... Cock-a-roaches!

[Madman]

I still see these, Fifth Avenues, LeBarons, and Dynastys on the road around here sometimes. Like 93JC calls 'em... cockroaches.

'80s front-drive Chryslers and Ford Tempos/Mercury Topazes, man... Cock-a-roaches!

Must be a Canadian thing because I haven't seen any these heaps blighting the landscape in significant numbers down here since early 2000s.

Come to think of it, nearly anything more than a decade old is pretty much a unicorn these days.  I can only assume that a booming Nashville-area economy and easy finance terms are primarily responsible for banishing all the old clunkers off the roads and into the scrapyards?  Sure seems like it, anyway.

[Laconian]

C4C probably culled the roaches to some degree.

[ifcar]

Lol, adjusted for inflation, their test car would cost $53,627.24 today.

Today's equivalent would be something like the Lincoln MKS -- a wannabe-luxury version of a mediocre mainstream car, also priced into the $50,000s.

[Madman]

C4C probably culled the roaches to some degree.

C4C lasted from July 1 to August 24, 2009.  Surely it didn't make that big of an impact, considering it lasted less than two months?

[ifcar]

Must be a Canadian thing because I haven't seen any these heaps blighting the landscape in significant numbers down here since early 2000s.

Come to think of it, nearly anything more than a decade old is pretty much a unicorn these days.  I can only assume that a booming Nashville-area economy and easy finance terms are primarily responsible for banishing all the old clunkers off the roads and into the scrapyards?  Sure seems like it, anyway.

I think you might be just facing subconscious resistance to the idea that a 2006 car is now 10 years old or more. I know it's hard for me to think of them as that old. But check your own recent "spotted today" and "bad parking" pictures -- they've all got plenty of late '90s/early 2000s cars in them.

Any of these? More than 10 years old.


Any of these:


Any of these:


Any of these:


Etc.

[Raza]

My car is a 2006.

[cawimmer430]

Well, your knowledge of Iaccoca Chryslers is way better than mine, so I'll take your word for it. No need to get upset.



Although, Chrysler themselves wanted to compare their car to the big boys.

That is a cool and creative advert!

[Morris Minor]

Me driving away in a Dodge Dynasty... & my father-in-law taking the piss...
http://youtu.be/dh5R_7W0cNA

[Payman]

Me driving away in a Dodge Dynasty... & my father-in-law taking the piss...
http://youtu.be/dh5R_7W0cNA

Lol. Dinnasty?

[93JC]

That's how it's pronounced in an English accent. His father-in-law was making fun of him.

[Byteme]

The '69 was the best year Imperial.

A friend of mine when I was in the Navy, about 1971 bought a one owner (little old lady) 1964 Imperial, maroon with white leather.  It had issues which he fixed and he spent hours cleaning the white leather and detailing the exterior.  That was a gorgeous car that ran like the wind and rode like a magic carpet.  Thirsty as hell too. 

[JWC]

When I moved to California in 1976, the family I lived with owned a 1962 Imperial. Huge car with a 413 Wedge, cruise control, auto-dimming headlamps, power seats, power locks, power window, but no A/C---didn't really need it in California though. I loved driving it. It would cruise on an interstate like an airliner. They called it The Enterprise because it had these weird nacelle-style tail lamps mounted on the rear fins.....and a rectangular steering wheel.  The father pulled the engine around 1979 or 1980 to go into his speedboat. The rest of the Imperial was sold for salvage.

[GoCougs]

The easily available well-motored land yaught is something the rest of Detroit never got quite right. Chrysler freely put its more/most powerful 4-bbl big blocks (save for the 2nd gen Hemi) into its full size cars, esp. the fuselage cars, whereas getting an equivalent motor in a full-size GM or Ford product was rare if not special order.

[GoCougs]

I should say though that GM did okay with Cadillac - the 429/472/500 motors were pretty boss in stock form (though unlike the big block Mopar, they weren't great motors).

[12,000 RPM]

I feel like all of those cars would get walked by a Civic 1.5T CVT

And yea this thing is probably peak domestic cynicism. A lot of people dump on cars like the MKS but the MKS is not that bad. It's a lot more car for the $$$ than you get from Europe or even Japan to a degree. This thing was just terrible. Pretty much any car with a straight up and down back window and an enclosed trunk is better served as Chinese plumbing. When I see this I am bewildered by the prospects of what the sentiments at Chrysler were like in the late 80s. The K-Car was pretty much dead and the Japanese were hitting their stride. You don't have to go all the way to the LS400- I think the 91 Legend went for similar money and a comparison is not even worth our time. JFC this car is amazing in how bad it was.

[ifcar]

The MKS isn't a joke in the sense that it leaks or breaks down, but it's a joke in the sense that it's not competitive in any way with a Chevy Impala or Hyundai Genesis, much less any Mercedes. Saying that big cars are automatically a good deal when they're less expensive than smaller ones, regardless of engineering or even space efficiency, is pure old-school Detroit thinking.

And the base current-model MKS also loses the 0-60 to a turbo Civic -- 7.5 seconds to 6.6 per Car and Driver.

[12,000 RPM]

Hey man, if someone wants a fancy cramped Taurus with a baleen grill, the MKS is a screaming deal.

[93JC]

I feel like all of those cars would get walked by a Civic 1.5T CVT

And yea this thing is probably peak domestic cynicism. A lot of people dump on cars like the MKS but the MKS is not that bad. It's a lot more car for the $$$ than you get from Europe or even Japan to a degree. This thing was just terrible. Pretty much any car with a straight up and down back window and an enclosed trunk is better served as Chinese plumbing. When I see this I am bewildered by the prospects of what the sentiments at Chrysler were like in the late 80s. The K-Car was pretty much dead and the Japanese were hitting their stride. You don't have to go all the way to the LS400- I think the 91 Legend went for similar money and a comparison is not even worth our time. JFC this car is amazing in how bad it was.

The sad thing is you can see they were already progressing away from boxy cars like the K-cars by the mid-'80s. A car like the Chrysler LeBaron GTS/Dodge Lancer was not a world-beater by any means, but it was a very good step in a more modern direction:




There were a few details that weren't quite up to the standards of modernity at the time (i.e. the sealed-beam headlights at a time when others were moving to plastic 'aero' headlights) but many of its contemporaries were late the party with those details too. It was a liftback, turbocharged, the interior wasn't full of fake plasticky wood crap; this was a really nice alternative to something like a Saab 900.

Compare it to this facelifted Reliant, which came out only four years before and was facelifted the same year:



The ol' Reliant looks positively ancient  by comparison.

The LeBaron GTS (and regular ol' K-car LeBaron) was replaced in 1990 by this:



It's like... fuck, man, what the hell were you guys thinking?! The underlying Acclaim/Spirit wasn't a terrible car, but tarting it up with a bunch of hackneyed 1970s cues like faux-wire wheelcovers and a landau top was just stupid. It wasn't even that the company wasn't moving on from the K-car design aesthetic that was the problem, it's that they were taking steps backward!