The latest issue of Collectible Auto is returning to top form after a few years of lower quality, partly caused by the “virus”. The mag is based in Chicago, which was hard hit by the main symptoms of the “virus”, lockdowns and panic and riots.
This month includes a satisfyingly detailed article on the ’39 Chrysler, answering one puzzle and adding more detail to a well-known car.
The puzzle is the strange misplacement of the Imperial series. The usual listings show that Imperial was next to the bottom, with Saratoga and New Yorker above the Imperial. The Crown Imperial was always the topmost limo. I attributed this misplacement to Chrysler’s usual semi-competent marketing, but it’s not quite so simple. In ’39 the six was the Royal with suffixes, and all eights were Imperials with suffixes. The base eight was just plain Imperial, followed by Imperial Saratoga and Imperial New Yorker, then Crown Imperial. The usual listings simplified the names so the plain Imperial showed up below the plain Saratoga and plain New Yorker. Still semi-competent marketing.
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Another peculiar Chrysler offering in ’39 was a sharp-lined hardtopish club coupe made by Hayes Body. They ordered exactly 1000 of these bodies and distributed them among Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler. The exterior is familiar. In fact many books show this coupe as the main pic for ’39 Chryslers.
I’ve never seen the interior before. It was halfway between a club coupe and a business coupe.
The seatcushion folded up behind the seatback to become a business coupe, and the armrests had neat little cabinets. Reminds me of the asymmetrical coupe that was briefly popular around 1910.
Chrysler always paid close attention to interior comfort and interior details, which didn’t make a splash but kept its own customers happy. GM put more money into external drama and variety.
Polistra's Mill 