To understand what this car is or was supposed to be, understand that 1974 was as different from 2014 as 1860 was from 1900. Or as different as 1974 was from 1934.
In 1934, the Duesenberg Model J was the largest, grandest and dare I say, most beautiful car in the world. In many ways luxury car builders over the next forty years built their cars with not only this car in mind but the aura that this car created as well. This car was so spectacular that it surpassed even Cadillac for prestige. If you wanted to impress, this is what you drove. Or were driven in.
Forty years later, "Doozies", yes, that's where the expression comes from, lived on, metaphorically, through "luxury" automobiles like the Imperial LeBaron. Auto advertising in the 1970's, particularly as it pertained to luxury cars, was evocative of what the automobile appeared to make perspective owners want to be seen as. Same is true today, to a certain degree, but back then and through the benefit of forty years of hindsight, it's painfully obvious than this car had nothing more to offer buyers than the illusion of wealth and grandeur. What is that couple supposed to be doing in this photo from a Imperial brochure anyway? Does it matter? They're rich! If I was selling these back then my push to buyers would've been simple and direct. "Drive this car and people will think you're wealthy".
That's not a come hither look; she's waiting for you to get in front and chaueffer her to the ballet or 7-11 for a pack of Marlboro Lights. She's not going to tell you anything about the optional Sure Grip rear end, torque flight transmission or 440 cubic inch engine either. Just shut up and drive and please stop for gas. Old money meant you didn't drive, you were driven. These cars were actually more comfortable to ride in than drive. They were an exhausting handful behind the wheel.
Automobiles that could do more than just be pleasant riding and looking meatloaf wouldn't come from these shores for at least another twenty years (give or take). A luxury automobile that could do more than just be pretty? Radical. Based on these photos, did people only use these cars when they were going someplace special? Was there a wedding like, everyday back then?
The new for 1974 Imperial was nothing more than a "modern" interpretation of the "classic" Duesenberg. Not that buyers expected more; it doing nothing to advance the state of the luxury car at the time. That's why Mercedes Benz was such a paradigm shifter.
What happened next? The perfect storm of pollution control and safety mandates, the gas crisis and soft sales overall for the Imperial nameplate prompted Chrysler to kill the division after the 1974 model year. That change didn't so much spur changes in the way American luxury cars were built or marketed as much as being a bell weather that things were about to change. Change big time.
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