My New Year's Resolution is to blog more about cars I don't have affinity for or find little interest in. So, let's swallow that bitter pill and see what we have here with this, oh gawd, 1954 Chrysler Custom Imperial currently for sale with no reserve on Bring-A-Trailer.
Like a Hyundai Genesis was a top-of-the-line Hyundai model before it became a separate make in 2017, from 1926 through 1954, a Chrysler Imperial was the Chrysler division's top-of-the-line model before being spun off into its own division from in 1955. This 1954 Chrysler Custom Imperial, therefore, is the last of its kind and in more ways than one.
Our '54 Custom Imperial here was part of Chrysler's first post-war models introduced in 1949 and it shares it's biblically long 131.5-inch-long wheelbase with the Imperial Crown it was slotted below. All '49 Chrysler's. including the New Yorker and Windsor, which rode on a more reasonable but still ginormous 125.5-inch-long wheelbase, featured "pontoon", three-box styling. You either love it or hate it. Guess how I feel about it.
Its hood was as long and bulbous as it was to cover Chrysler's flathead inline six- and eight-cylinder engines. It became a but a styling doodad after Chrysler introduced their first "Hemi" V-8 in 1951 that was substantially shorter than even the old Chrysler six.
Hemi or no Hemi, this was not a "fast" car. For '54, the "Hemi", which Chrysler marketed as the "Firepower" V-8, was rated at 235-gross horsepower, figure 140 net, and tasked with hauling approximately 4,500-pounds, despite a 3.54 rear axle, no one was going anywhere quickly in this thing. Seller claims the engine has not been turned over since sometime in 2014.
Frankly, that the engine might not be running I think the least of the problems this car has. The doors and trunk lid don't line up meaning the frame, which is rusty, may be bent. The paint, which is not original, is it's all but falling in some places. There's "bondo" in the rear quarters and the brightwork is corroded. Odometer shows just 65,000 miles but the gauges don't work so who knows how many miles are on it for real. Seeing how cars would wear out well before 100K years ago, I doubt the actual mileage on this is that much higher.
Car has power steering and a two-speed automatic, no air conditioning, brakes are hydraulic drums, but they're not vacuum boosted so braking is by appointment only. The interior is an older restoration that is not to factory specification.
Part of me wants to take this home and give it a hug. The other part of me wants to see it crushed into metal pancake or used in a demolition derby. I have no use for most cars before 1960, there are some exceptions, pre-1955 Chrysler's are not one of them.
In addition to Imperial being spun off into its own division, all Chrysler's were new for 1955 with wonderful new designs that made these cars look like the updated pre-war relics they were. As I write this in late December 2025, the current bid for it on Bring-A-Trailer is a tell-tale $1,954. This is a parts car at best, freakishly expensive resto at worst. Parts won't be easy to come by and ones you do find will be expensive. This is no catalog car. At the least of cost of admission appears to be reasonable.
Chrysler closed their Imperial division after 1975.
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