1963 Imperial Custom - 64,000 Miles - Owned 21 Years - Rust Free Arizona Car

1963 Chrysler Imperial Additional Info:

I have decided to sell my 1963 Imperial Custom... representing the last vestige of the great designer Virgil Exner. This car is pretty rare by most standards. There were 3264 Imperial Custom 4 door hardtops made... less than half of the number of it's counterpart in the Crown line.

I bought the car 21 years ago during the summer of 2003. It spent most of it's life in rust free Arizona (up until I purchased it). It currently has 63700 miles on it and, judging by all the evidence, I believe it to be the correct original mileage. I would guess that I have put less than 4000 miles on the car in the last 21 years. The original 413 V8 engine runs great and the car drives well. No major engine or transmission leaks. Engine does not use more than a normal amount of oil between changes. There have been no engine problems during the 21 years that I've owned the car. It had a tune up and a carburetor rebuild 2 years ago and it runs great. I did a complete brake system overhaul 2 years ago and the brakes work excellent. The brake overhaul included new master cylinder, new wheel cylinders, all new hoses, new brake shoes and I flushed all the old fluid out of the lines. I dropped the fuel tank that same summer and installed a new float on the fuel sending unit. The tank was surprisingly very clean inside but I did flush it out. I also had 4 new Nexen tires installed at that time and they have less than 50 miles on them. The steel wheels were stripped and painted then. I think the car would appreciate 4 new shock absorbers. They are not that bad but are old. I believe the suspension is also all original. The exhaust from the front Y pipe back was replaced by the previous owned and is still in great condition.
EVERYTHING WORKS on this car. The dealer installed AC works. All power windows and all of the window switches work well. All of the electroluminescent instrument lighting works. All of the gauges work properly. The speedometer, odometer and trip odometer work properly. The clock works well (it does run about 15 minutes a week fast). The radio works good and the Town and Country radio foot switch tuning also works good. Power antenna works properly. The windshield wipers and the washer pump work good. Trunk light works properly. License plate light works properly. Ashtray light works properly. The glovebox light works properly. Map light and switch work good. The dome light switch up by the headliner works properly. Headlamps, both high and low beams, work properly. The parking lamps and all turn signal lamps work properly. The light switch and dimmer work good. The brake lights work properly. Backup lights work properly. The keys and all of the locks work good.
I think the best thing about this car is the body. It spent most of it's life in Arizona so the body is as solid and rust free as anyone could hope for (thank you to the Arizona desert). It has never seen any road salt since I have owned it and I have driven it only during the summer months. The paint is a "30 footer"... dull and ugly up close... amateur quality... the upper and lower parts were done separately at different times so they are slightly different in color. It was this way when I bought the car. The original color is Mayan Gold. I see no signs whatsoever that this car was ever in an accident. I went over the body with a magnet and the only place that appears to have any filler is a very small area (only a few square inches) below the left rear tail light. The door sill plates are very good and just need some cleaning. Almost all of the chrome on this car is in excellent condition and will not need to be redone. I'm sure it's all original. Only two pieces are slightly sub par... the outside passenger mirror and the hood ornament show some crazing. All of the stainless beltline moldings are excellent with no dings or dents. There are two very small dings in the right front wheel arch molding. One small ding in the left front wheel arch molding. One small ding in the right rear wheel arch molding. There is one 2 or 3 inch dent in the right rocker stainless steel molding. The left rocker molding is dent free. All other moldings are free of dings or dents. The wheel covers are very presentable but do have some minor dings. All of the other moldings, whether chrome plated or stainless, are excellent. There is some masking line/overspray from the repaint on some of the trim though. The interior carpeting is original and is still very good.
The trunk carpeting is original and is good but dirty in places. The original front seat upholstery was great until about 2 years ago when it started to fray on the driver side bottom (Thank you Arizona to the sun... and maybe my fat ass). SMS has the correct upholstery fabric. The headliner is excellent. The vinyl dash has shrunk some and is a little deformed around the heater pod and there is a gap at one side of the vent grill. It is not cracked though. The door windlace on the driver side is frayed. The rubber door weatherstipping and the hardtop rubber weatherstripping is all in excellent condition. The interior chrome is in good condition but some of it needs to be cleaned. That's about all I can think of mentioning. This car has A LOT going for it. It could use a nice high quality paint job, some seat covers and not much more to be breathtaking again. Please come and inspect/test drive this car or ask questions if you have any and I'll do my best to answer them. I have clear clean title in hand. I accept Escrow or cash payment at time of pickup. Hopefully I will find someone to love this car as much as I have.