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1981 Chrysler Imperial Frank Sinatra Edition?


MarkV

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Gorgeous.

And no dot over the odometer! :D

This is the car that is out of my region. Past GVACS Region President (Ron DeGroff) and his son (Peter) own this car. The car was bought brand new by Ron's father in-law, and shortly after the car was bought, Ron's father in-law died. The car had been in storage for the better part of 25 years, and in 2007 it went to Binghamton (without the 'P') and won its' First Junior. This car is completely original.

Just to add to the history, this car was nominated for an AACA National Award in 2010. As of Friday, Ron & Peter are waiting to find out whether or not they won it. Keep your fingers crossed for them....:):)

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Guest Silverghost

Is it true that the only songs that the car radio will play are Frank's songs ?

I would rig the car to play MY WAY every time the door was opened ! ;-)

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  • 3 months later...
One thing that seems to have been overlooked is, is it in good original condition, as compared to restored. Most collector will pay more for unrestored, pristine condition originals.

Usually 10%+ more.

I have 1983 Imperial (original owner) since new. The color is called Beige Crystal. The interior is beige and brown. Overall the car still in very good condition, I've always received a lot of compliments on it. I really love this car.

I'm looking for anther one with different color, maybe white and red or other color combination.<O:p

What to pay:<O:p

<TABLE style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt" class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">

<O:p

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">

LOW<O:p

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">

AVERAGE<O:p

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">

HIGH<O:p

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 1"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">1981 Hardtop coupe

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$2,000

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$4,500

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$7,000

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 2"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">1981 Frank Sinatra ed.

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$2,500

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$5,000

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$8,000

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 3"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">1982 Hardtop coupe

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$2,000

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$5,000

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$7,500

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 4"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">1982 Frank Sinatra ed.

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$2,500

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$5,500

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$8,000

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">1983 Hardtop coupe

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$2,000

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$4,000

</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$6,000

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

post-47157-143138490723_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 years later...

Looks like your car has the 8 track player instead of the cassette player, correct? Mine has the cassette player. Your car is gorgeous. I currently have one that I'm restoring and I hope one day it'll look like yours! Mine already had the EFI conversion though, but other than that it's original.

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I would agree that there were probably a lot of cases where the EFI was si I used to have a 76 Seville with EFI and that was the first year of true EFI on a car available in the US and it was unique

Just a little correction the 1975 Chevrolet Cosworth Vega was the first EFI

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Looks like your car has the 8 track player instead of the cassette player, correct? Mine has the cassette player. Your car is gorgeous. I currently have one that I'm restoring and I hope one day it'll look like yours! Mine already had the EFI conversion though, but other than that it's original.

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Nope, the 58 DeSoto was not only the first US car with EFI, but the world's first.

http://www.allpar.com/cars/desoto/electrojector.html

You beat me to it! Here is some information about the 1958 DeSotos....the last line mentions the fuel injection....

post-37352-143142996871_thumb.jpg

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
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Very interesting, I remember reading something about them some time ago but I always thought that the were mechanical set-ups. The Cosworth also used the Bendix system, that I found very problematic and gave up on trying to get I to run correctly and was lucky enough to find a weber carb set-up two years ago. Those Mopar fuel pumps must be a rather difficult (and pricey) part to come by. Thanks for shareing

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The EFI in the DeSoto was indeed electronic. It had a electronic controller that ran off an extra distributor.

The link I included described its operation.

The Mercedes used a Bosch mechanical fuel injection system. It was the first production car to offer direct fuel injection. It's type of fuel injection had been around since the 1920's and was used in aircraft.

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Guest prs519

It seems I read somewhere about there being less than a couple hand-fulls of the Desoto fuel injected cars ordered. Of these, I believe only two retained the injection system, and both are accounted for. It is zero likelihood that anyone will come upon another. One of those two has an interesting history documented in a popular monthly (probably SIA).

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I heard there were a total of 16 EFI Chrysler products built and all were converted to carburetors. One of the factory techs or warranty mechanics saved the complete setup off a 58 DeSoto and put it away in his attic. A few years ago someone bought a 58 DeSoto convertible that had originally been EFI, and bought the EFI setup, restored it and put it back on the car.

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1981-83 Imperials are still overlooked and inexpensive in 2015,

just as they were when this thread was started in 2008.

You almost never see them at car shows--and we have

many, many cars shows around here!

Great looking cars, I think--though I can't own

every nice car I see, and reports of less-than-stellar

reliablility tends to scare me away from this and some other models.

I have found this thread, and people's first-hand reports, very informative.

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