The Frank Sinatra Edition Chrysler Imperial.

[David L]

I searched before posting this and couldn't find an existing topic on the Frank Sinatra Edition Chrysler Imperial from 1981-82.

Cars and the car industry are my biggest interest, and specifically I am a Chrysler fanatic. So I was wondering if anyone here owns one, or has owned one of these beauties?

Sadly the Imperials were plagued with issues and were not very successful for Chrysler overall, but the FS edition was pretty popular with 278 copies being sold. That makes them nonetheless uncommon today and I have only ever seen one in person, oddly enough cruising down the freeway in rush hour Houston traffic.

Some background on this car is at my friend Dave Zatz's website, Allpar.com:
http://www.allpar.com/cars/imperial/1981.html

I've always been curious which cassettes came with it.... would almost certainly have been some Reprise albums, maybe the Trilogy three-tape set?

[chadham]

I owned a 1981 Imperial about twenty years ago, but it was not a Frank Sinatra Edition. Mine had been modified and the Electronic Fuel Injection which caused so much trouble had been replaced with a carburetor. Thus, I never had any trouble with it. I sold it when I lived briefly in Houston, so maybe the one you saw was mine?

[David L]

I owned a 1981 Imperial about twenty years ago, but it was not a Frank Sinatra Edition. Mine had been modified and the Electronic Fuel Injection which caused so much trouble had been replaced with a carburetor. Thus, I never had any trouble with it. I sold it when I lived briefly in Houston, so maybe the one you saw was mine?

Was it light blue like the one above? If so, maybe it was yours!

[Nick_Bradley78]

I don't know about American cars, but musically speaking Frank did some commercials for Chrysler in this period, and the song "It's Time For You" is from it, here's the thread https://sinatrafamily.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22701

He did some other songs for commercials in the 80's, My Kind of Guy and Winners spring to mind but I can't remember if they're for Chrysler or not.

[David L]

Lots of great info in that thread, Nick! Thanks for posting it. The Imperial's advertising tagline was "It's Time for Imperial", so the song title makes perfect sense.

[S V PELUZIO JR]

Nice thread.
Thanks for posting the information about the car.

[chadham]

Mine was white with a light green interior. So maybe there are two Imperials still driving around in Houston.

[MMM]

I've always been curious which cassettes came with it.... would almost certainly have been some Reprise albums, maybe the Trilogy three-tape set?

http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1982/SinatraTapes.htm

[David L]

Those are some excellent choices! Thanks for the info.

I'm going to see about rewriting Allpar.com's blurb on the FS Imperial with more of this info included.

[ARIES3032]

trilogy was only in vinyl LP's. I bought the first edition. Still playes beautifully!'

[David L]

Well, according to the Imperial Club link, a Trilogy 3-tape set was included with the Imperial FS.

[MMM]

TRILOGY was available on 8 track at the time as well.

[Nancy]

Yes, I still have mine.

[David M Bond]

Looking at the design of the car, the cassette of Come Fly With Me would seem appropriate.

[David L]

Looking at the design of the car, the cassette of Come Fly With Me would seem appropriate.

The Imperial always had a cutting edge design and was one of the most powerful cars on the road, dating back to the 1950's when it was considered much more exclusive than the Cadillacs and Lincolns of the time.

The 1981-83 Imperial was the last hurrah for this great American brand; Chrysler tried to revive it some years later as a smaller, front wheel drive sedan and it bombed horribly.

[johnofphilly]

I like the '59 Imperial with the dash mounted mirror, swivel seats, pushbutton tranny, and big funny fins with the symbolic continental kit decklid. What a garish monster, looked like it was about to take flight.

[jtsjc1]

My dad had a 69 Crown 4dr. It was a beautiful car and a beast with a 440cu in V8. They were a nice a car as any produced in the US. The FS Imperial was about the last of Chryslers attempt at a luxury car for awhile.

[David L]

This photo of Frank was just posted by the owner of a Facebook page for "vintage automotive memorabilia"....

The description he provided was that this is a Chrysler press photo taken as Frank drove the first "Imperial FS" off the line at the assembly plant. I had never seen this photo before today.

[Dina]

That's a great photo, David. I remember the Imperial FS edition very well. The Chrysler Plymouth dealership here had one on display but, I don't know if anyone bought it.

[SBRMD]

David, I know of a beautiful one for sale at a reasonable price here in the Minneapolis area, silver ext w/ a red interior.......