1956 Chrysler Imperial Wagon

I just found this link and can add some history here. This wagon started life as a 1956 NY T&C. Somewhere along the way it was purchased by Jim Weston of the San Francisco area. He did the Imperial conversion using a C300 or 300B (they were the same) front panel with grills and a C300-300B or Imperial grills (55-56 same) but retained the '56 NYer bumper. For some reason he removed the power steering.

Some years ago I met Jim at a WPC local meet in the Ventura, California area and he had the wagon with him. I was really excited and it was for sale but I didn't purchase it. At that time it was a dark metallic grey.

Jim did sell the car to a couple of fellows who lived in the Pasadena area as I recall. The next owner was John Bradley whom I'm told was the grandson of the UPS founder. Mr. Bradley had many cars and I guess money was not an issue. He was the one to have it brought to the condition in these photos.

A few years back Mr. Bradley passed away and his collection was sold off. The last I heard of this wagon it was at a consignment shop in South Orange County, California. I did see it once at Cars & Coffee in Irvine and thought it had gone down in quality some since I first saw it in this configuration.

I believe the owners prior to Mr. Bradley were also the owners of our '55 NY T&C shown in this site. Ours is Canyon Tan.

 

Still a neat car though.

 

A stunningly beautiful example of what can be done with carefully coordinated parts bin scavenging. Of course, having the eye and the skill to make it all come together as a unified whole is a special talent all by itself, and this one is a true winner!

 

The Pontiac could be a factory built example. I'm near certain a few were built but am unsure of how they were sold or got out. I recall seeing one "in the day" and my feeble recollections are of an article written somewhere many years later confirming their existence.
I dreamt of doing it using the Buick Regal clip
Scrounging now for a Phantom wagon picture I saw yesterday