Eric Minoff
Vice President, Head of Department - US
LOT 106 ¤
1956 Chrysler Imperial Southampton Four-Door Hardtop Sedan Chassis no. C569336
Sold for US$15,680 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 106¤
1956 Chrysler Imperial Southampton Four-Door Hardtop Sedan
1956 Chrysler Imperial Southampton Four-Door Hardtop Sedan
Chassis no. C569336
Chassis no. C569336
354ci Overhead-Valve FirePower Hemi V8
Single Carter Carburetor
280bhp at 4,600rpm
Two-Speed PowerFlite Automatic Transmission, Pushbutton Selector
Independent Front and Semi-Elliptic Rear Suspension with Live Rear Axle
Four-Wheel Hydraulic Drum Brakes
* Owned by NAM since 2023
* Charming Glacier Blue
* Limousine length in a family sedan
THE IMPERIAL SOUTHAMPTON
Few moments in mid-century American automotive history were as galvanizing as the debut of the 1955 Imperial. Chrysler registered Imperial as a separate marque beginning in 1955, and that year all five Chrysler lines featured dramatic new styling — the so-called "$100 Million Dollar Look" — through which the company shed its stodgy image almost overnight and ascended to the peak of contemporary styling, thanks to the vision of design chief Virgil Exner. The new Imperial answered the call of Cadillac and Lincoln on their own terms, with a presence and identity entirely its own.For 1956, the second year of Imperial's existence as a standalone marque, Exner refined the design with nascent tail fins, sharper headlight housings, and a power-dome hood. The Hemi V8 was bored to 354 cubic inches, increasing output to 280 horsepower, and the PowerFlite automatic transmission gained a novel pushbutton selector on the dashboard. Most significantly for the collector, Chrysler added the four-door Southampton hardtop to the range for 1956 — a pillarless body style new to the Imperial line and a direct response to GM's four-door hardtops of the previous year. The 1956 models also rode on the longest wheelbase ever fitted to an Imperial, at 133 inches, contributing to an overall length that made them the longest non-limousine post-war American cars of their era. Production of the four-door Southampton for 1956 amounted to just 1,543 units, making it the rarest of the standard Imperial body styles that year.
THE CAR OFFERED
Chassis C569336 presents in Glacier Blue, one of the more becoming colors offered on the 1956 Imperial and well suited to the car's sweeping pillarless profile. No documented provenance accompanies the car, and it is offered as found. The condition is that of a honest driver — a car that has been used and enjoyed rather than preserved — and prospective purchasers should view it accordingly, with the understanding that cosmetic imperfections are to be expected throughout. The pushbutton PowerFlite transmission and 354 cubic inch Hemi V8 are present and accounted for. This car represents a tractable entry point into one of the most architecturally distinctive American automobiles of the decade.
Additional information
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