The Flamboyant Ride: A Cadillac Man’s 1961 Imperial Custom

“If you are going to beat a drum, it may as well be as loudly as possible,” said Rick Smith, owner of the 1961 Imperial Custom two-door hardtop shown on these pages. Smith was making a point regarding the tasteful modifications he has made to the featured car, one he has owned for roughly 35 years. He was also alluding to the flamboyant nature of the 1961 Imperial itself. “I am not aware of any other car made at the time, in this country, that was as flamboyant as the Imperial,” he said. “If it were a drum, it would be the loudest. It’s a head turner and people ask, ‘What is it?’”

Some readers may recognize Smith’s name. He was a long-time dealer in vintage Cadillac parts until he finally retired from that business several years ago. Another possible reason for any recognition was that his 1953 Buick Skylark was also featured in the Jan. 1, 2026, issue of Old Cars. Smith’s taste in old cars generally leans toward the visually spectacular examples of the 1950s, such as his pink 1959 Cadillac convertible and his rose 1956 Imperial. Additionally, he also owns a 1948 MG and a 1963 Rolls-Royce. “When a car catches your eye before it gets to you… that’s what I want,” explained Smith. 

This Imperial certainly catches the eye, especially in red.

“There are more than 10 things on this car that most people didn’t ever see — so many radical things, like the swiveling front seats, drum speedometer, the fake spare tire on the trunk lid, not to mention the free-standing headlights and massive fins. In 1961, they [the auto manufacturers] were starting to tone down things, but Chrysler, for whatever reason, hung on to the flashy styling.”

Chrysler’s Imperial dates back to 1926 and served as the company’s flagship model. Starting with 1954, the Imperial became a standalone series. Then for 1955 and into the early 1960s, it became especially distinctive by becoming a standalone make, thus separating it from the other Chrysler Corp. cars.

The styling of the 1961 model was explained in the dealer brochure: “Imperial’s long-admired classic look has never been more briskly interpreted. The basic concept, simplicity, dignity, totally integrated design, is still much in evidence for 1961, but a number of arresting new accents set the car brilliantly apart from its predecessors. The clean, youthful line is still the hallmark, but an imaginative grille and headlight treatment give it fresh elegance.” 

Period perspective of the Imperial

Not much was said in regard to Imperial styling by the writers for Car Life, Motor Trend and CARS in their reviews of the car. The latter magazine judged the freestanding headlamps as “regal.” In its July 1961 issue, Motor Life said, “styling has now taken on the look and feel of a true classic car,” an allusion to the freestanding headlamps and likewise 1930s-style grille. Motor Trend, in its April 1961 issue, provided a comparison of the Imperial with the luxury car’s competitors, Cadillac and Lincoln, both of which were newly redesigned. The Continental was especially fresh looking, with new conservative, fin-free styling and slab sides, while the Cadillac continued with wild fins and fuselage flanks. Motor Trend’s article, titled “Imperial – The Last Disciple of Big, Bold Luxury,” stated in the opening paragraph that “Imperial is the least changed of the luxury three this year. It also holds the distinction of being the biggest Detroit production car of 1961. This may put the Imperial at some disadvantage, since the general trend in this class seems to be toward shorter length and narrower cars. On the other hand, there are many persons who automatically associate luxury and prestige with opulence. No other American-made car can quite equal the Imperial in either plushness or size.”

As for size, the overall length and width measurements of the Imperial were, respectively, 227.3 and 81.7 inches. In most states, that width was past the legal limit of 80 inches, unless marker lamps were installed. (The ’60 Imperial was also over the limit, too, but only by 0.1 inch.) Ford, Mercury, Chevrolet and Oldsmobile had to deal with the matter when their 1960 full-size cars were over-width (with FoMoCo being the larger offender at 81.5 inches.). General Motors and Ford Motor Co. promised to reduce the width to no more than 80 inches the following model year, and the law looked the other way. However, Chrysler Corp. got away with the offense from 1960 through 1963. Not until the 1964 model year was the Imperial at the legal width, and just barely at exactly 80 inches. The taillamp design of the 1960-’63 Imperials may have satisfied the law since the car’s taillamps could be seen by other drivers in profile view, as well as in some frontal angles.

There were four levels in the 1961 Imperial lineup: the Custom Southampton in two- and four-door hardtop body styles; the Crown Southampton, also in two- and four-door hardtop variants plus a convertible; the LeBaron Southampton four-door hardtop; and the ultra-rare Crown Imperial limousine, of which only nine were built.

Standard equipment for the base Custom series included a padded dash, outside rearview mirror, luggage lamp, emergency brake set reminder lamp, power brakes, power steering, variable-speed windshield wipers, rear seat center armrest, vanity mirror, TorqueFlite automatic transmission and safety-rim wheels. The Crown added such standard equipment as the six-way power seat, license plate frame and a center front armrest (on four-doors). The LeBaron netted all of these features plus power windows, power vent windows, landau roof with stainless-steel insert, wheel opening moldings, sill moldings, stone shields and white sidewall tires. The LeBaron also had a distinguishing “town car” rear window that was smaller than those of the lower-series Imperials.

About half of the ’61 Imperials built were fitted with optional air conditioning. In fact, more were ordered with it than in the prior model year.

Although the 1961 Imperial had few differences from the 1960 model, the differences were notable, such as replacing the generator with an alternator. The exterior differences were more conspicuous. In front were the new free-standing headlamps in paired, chrome-plated shells, a throwback to 1930s-and-earlier styling. A freshly styled grille was also evident. Free-standing taillamps were in back, once again, as they had been in 1955 and 1956, but in more sharply pointed tailfins. Inside was a newly designed dash with an instrument panel said to be a “masterpiece of clarity,” in the dealer brochure. Motor Trend, however, reported the Imperial’s new drum speedometer was “difficult to read quickly and accurately,” and CARS magazine was critical of the new instrumental panel, saying it was “a little on the busy side.” The speedometer and other gauges sat between thin, angled elliptical columns. On the left side were the pushbuttons for the gear selections while the pushbuttons for the heater and the optional air conditioning were on the right. At the top of each was the left and right turn signal indicators. 

In nighttime or low-level lighting driving conditions, the instrument panel was lit with “panelescent lighting.” Rather than using conventional light bulbs, the lighting was provided via an electric current which caused the phosphor coating sandwiched between two conductors to glow. The basic system was composed of a transparent conducting front electrode, a thin layer of phosphor material, an opaque conducting rear electrode and a high-frequency power supply. It was developed through the joint effort of Chrysler Corp. and Sylvania Electric Products with research starting in 1958. It first went into production for the 1960 model year, and was standard equipment for the Imperial and top-level Chrysler models.

The Imperial’s interior was one of the main topics of contemporary road test reports. The July 1961 issue of Car Life magazine stated, “The interior of the Imperial is fitted out in fabrics obviously costing many $$$ per yard, along with quantities of leather and/or leatherette, with a smattering of chrome to set it off. This, along with the external styling differences, is what sets the ‘Big I’ apart from the rest of the Chrysler line.” The Car Life writer was correct in his assessment of the interior fabrics. According to the dealer brochure, “Leather is stored in high-humidity rooms to keep it supple. All cutting and fitting is done by hand, a piece at a time. And hides are closely inspected to insure (sic) perfect color match in each car. Nylon fabrics have a higher nylon content to achieve a softer feel and greater resistance to wear….” Such careful attention to details and processes obviously contributed to the car’s base price of $4,715, in the case of our featured Custom Southampton, which was the lowest of all in the lineup. 

Motor Trend also had positive opinions regarding the interior. In its April 1961 issue, Motor Trend’s writer said, “Another place where the Imperial scores high is in passenger compartment dimensions. Overall they are generous, and some of the biggest of all passenger cars,” though the reporter found the transmission hump so large that it “practically cancels out these advantages for the middle seat passenger.” Likely aiding his assessment of the interior was the driver’s seat, which had a taller back rest that was said to “support you from neck to hips,” Chrysler Corp. stated. Motor Trend’s Imperial test car was equipped with air conditioning, and the magazine found the air outlets to be “one of the best arrangements in domestic cars.”

Chrysler advertised its Imperial as the “most carefully built car in America.” Imperials were built in only one plant (Detroit). They were claimed to be built on “the most deliberate assembly line in the automobile industry.” Windows were hand-fitted and the paint hand-rubbed to a deep shine. One in 10 assembly plant workers were inspectors. More than 600 tests and probes were regularly performed on the cars, and every one was thoroughly road-tested, re-examined and adjusted as may have been needed. Among the tests was subjecting each car to an artificial rainstorm by spraying 420 gallons of water per minute on each to prove weather tightness.

Car Life concluded, “The slogan ‘America’s Most Carefully Built Car’ was neither proved or disproved during the 1,500 miles we had the Imperial in our possession, so we’re in no position to cast any light on its validity. Our final impression of this car, after some pleasant surprises in the areas of acceleration, braking, and economy [averaging 15 mpg], was that the Imperial is for the man who believes that he should be driving a car that costs twice as much as a Chrysler, but likes the Chrysler-type of car. Personally, we’d just as soon have two Chrysler Newports ­— you know, one for summer and one for winter.”

The road testers for Car Life were impressed with the Imperial’s acceleration, saying it equaled Cadillac and exceeded the Lincoln through 80 mph, “beyond which the Cadillac takes over” while Lincoln started “falling behind.” Motor Trend essentially agreed, saying the 413 was “certainly adequate” and “lacked only one-tenth of a second of being the best performer in the luxury class,” while noting their four-door test car was the heaviest of the three. Braking was another favorite feature of the car and credited to Chrysler Corp.’s “Center-Plane” brake design.

An Imperial for a Cadillac man

Smith’s 1961 Imperial is largely factory spec. However, it has some interesting modifications. The red fabric inserts in the seats and door panels are 1956 Imperial material, which he already had on hand when the time came to do upholstery work on his ’61. To him, it fit with the “personality” of the car and looked better than the original material. Smith also added an under-dash air conditioning system, but used stock components (compressor, etc.) in the engine compartment when he added the unit. He simply did not want to perform all the tedious labor to route all the OEM pieces that go within the dash. 

As for the lower body trim, it’s actually from an Imperial Crown Southampton. Smith said the car was “as plain as a mud fence on the lower body, so I used upper-level Imperial parts on the lower body.” The wire wheels are sort of borderline in regard to being stock, since they ceased being listed as optional equipment before 1961. However, they were available until all dealer stock was expended. So, hypothetically, they could have been dealer-installed. In truth, Smith loves those wire wheels and installed them. 

“I’m a wire wheel nut, but they are a pain to keep clean,” Smith said. He also has them on his 1956 Imperial.

All the road test reports of over six decades ago were practical-minded and useful to anyone who was considering whether or not to buy a new 1961 Imperial. Today, the car is evaluated quite differently. Its over-the-top styling and special features make it attractive to collectors. For Smith, that is justification enough to drive a 1961 Imperial.

If you like stories like these and other classic car features, check out Old Cars magazine. CLICK HERE to subscribe.

Want a taste of Old Cars magazine first? Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter and get a FREE complimentary digital issue download of our print magazine.

We know you love old cars, but do you collect anything else? Ever wonder about the baseball cards in a box in the basement or Grandma’s old coins in a jar?  Do you love history or spin vinyl? Head on over to Collect.com and see what you are missing. Collect.com is the who, what, when and where of the collecting world! https://www.collect.com/

The post The Flamboyant Ride: A Cadillac man’s 1961 Imperial Custom appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.