Imperial Parade Phaeton
by Paul F. Heinzman
(originally printed in the
"Imperial Eagle") If you were watching a major parade anywhere in this
country in the 1950's, chances are you saw the dignitaries riding in a
majestic Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton. Three of these cars were built
in 1952 and facelifted in 1955 with the 1956 design. They remain today the
handsomest and most unusual vehicles of Chrysler’s Exner Era. For more information, Special-Interest
Autos (SIA) #38 has a great article with photos of the Phaetons before
and after their facelifts.##
Editor’s note: According to more
recent information, as of 12/14/2001, all three Phaetons still exist as
follows: SCIO member John Lloyd
in the Los Angeles
Parade Phaeton at the SCIO Annual Meeting, December 5, 1999, Los Angeles
Maritime Museum (Photo courtesy of Denis Lardner) The "Detroit" Parade Phaeton at the Petersen
Automotive Museum, December 10, 2001. (Photos courtesy of Dick Benjamin;
click those below for larger image) The New York Parade Phaeton. Date and occasion
unknown!
Chrysler entered the parade car business in 1939 with a 6 wheeled, Derham-bodied
Custom Imperial Touring Car. Originally built for Grover Whalen’s use as
the official greeting car for the New York World’s Fair, this car was
followed by a 1940 Crown Imperial Phaeton (Derham Body) also for use at
the World’s Fair. The 1940 blue and grey Imperial phaeton carried
numerous luminaries in countless ticker-tape parades in New York before
being retired in 1960. Both the 1939 & 1940 cars are on display at the
Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI.
In 1951, Chrysler Chairman K. T. Keller made the decision to augment the
1940 phaeton with three entirely new parade cars, to be stationed in
various sections of the country - New York City (Black with light grey
interior), Detroit (Metallic Green with natural pigskin interior) and Los
Angeles (Cream with rose interior).
The 1952 phaetons were built on a Crown Imperial Limousine chassis that
was stretched 2 inches to 147.5 inches. A stock 1951 Imperial grille and
front & rear bumpers, to assure Chrysler identity, were about the only
stock body parts used on these cars. All steel metal was completely
unique. The clean body side had a simple ridge running 3/4 the length of
the body, ending in a hop-up rear fender bulge. (Imperial, Chrysler and
DeSoto adopted precisely those shapes for 1955, influenced greatly by the
Parade Phaetons.) The only ornamentation on the cars, except for the
Chrysler nameplates, was an Imperial hood ornament. This eagle, similar to
the 1953 production design, was destined to replace the winged V and crown
as the Imperial symbol and continued in various forms until the Imperial’s
demise for the third time in the nineties.
Of course, the most unusual aspect of these phaetons was their dual
passenger compartments. Front and rear cockpits were completely separate,
divided by a second steel cowl behind the front seat. The height of the
car from ground to cowl was a mere 45 inches. Mounted on each cowl were
dual, one piece curved windshields. Both compartments had clocks. In one
publicity photo, the clocks showed different times. However, it is not
true that the phaetons were so long that front & rear passengers rode
in different time zones!
Mechanically the cars had the usual features touted by Chrysler in the
1950's - 180 bhp, 331.1-cid Firepower hemi V-8 (with modified air cleaner
to fit under the lower hood); full time Hydraguide power steering,
self-energizing Ausco-Lambert disc brakes, Oriflow shock absorbers and
Fluid-Torque transmission in which a torque converter replaced the usual
Fluid Drive coupling.
The Los Angeles Phaeton’s official debut came at the Tournament of Roses
parade in Pasadena in Jan. 1953, where the cream and rose phaeton carried
Grand Marshal and Vice President-elect Richard M. Nixon and his family. In
a ceremony at the Rose Bowl, the car was presented to William H. Nicholas,
Pres. of the Tournament of Roses Assn., for use in the festivities.
Chrysler’s presenter was none other than Airflow inventor Carl Breer.
After the parade, the car was assigned to the West Coast from San Diego to
Seattle. The car’s ownership, garaging and maintenance remained in
Chrysler’s hands.
Even a partial list of the great and near-great who rode in these phaetons
reads like Who’s Who of the World - Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson,
Nixon, Winston Churchill, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, King Paul and
Queen Frederika of Greece, Nikita Khrushchev, Gov. Adlai Stevenson, Gen.
James Van Fleet, Col. John Glenn, and countless others - senators,
governors, mayors, ambassadors, astronauts and assorted movie stars and
festival queens.
After nearly three years of service, the phaetons were brought back to the
Chrysler factory in mid-1955 for a styling facelift. Exner’s Forward
Look had debuted that year and was to be followed by Flight Sweep fins for
1956. Chrysler decided the parade phaetons should reflect the new look.
They were upgraded with four-barrel carburetors and other changes to
increase the horsepower to 235 or 285. There is a difference of opinion
here! Powerflite transmissions were installed, but the phaetons never
received the famed Chrysler pushbuttons. The cars were repainted - Off
White with a Red interior for New York, Desert Sand with a Red interior
for Detroit and Metallic Silver-Blue with an Off White interior for Los
Angeles.
The New York car was restored by the city in the early 80's, painted black
(its original color before the facelift) and the red interior was
restored. It ended up in private hands (Bruce Thomas of the Chrysler
Corporation Historical Collection) and now is part of the Imperial Palace
Collection in Las Vegas, Nevada (it has been repainted white and the
interior has been redone). The Detroit car was reported to have been
vandalized and scraped. The Los Angeles car still belongs to the City and
was on display at the Petersen Auto Museum, when the photos for this
article were taken.