Imperial Car Club Forum

This one was brought to my attention by one of the guys I’ve sold parts to as soon as it popped up on FB. I happen to be first to respond to an ad with a short description and no pictures. ‘67 convertible in Missouri that was completely disassembled, may or may not be complete but included parts from a doner 4 door. So I struck up a conversation with the seller and asked if it was anywhere near Cuba where a good friend lives and it turned out to be 20 minutes away from him. I had my buddy go put eyes on it for me and what he found was the culmination of no less than 5 years worth of raccoon poop with an Imperial underneath. Even the shelves loaded with parts were covered in it but I made an offer anyway and bought it. Here are the pics my buddy took.

The previous owner took what was alleged to be a pretty nice car when he got it, completely dismantled it, sanded most of the paint off of it, repainted the engine room and door jambs maroon and then the project and the house were all but abandoned and left to the raccoons. These were the other pics my buddy took.

The car was originally gold on gold with a white top but the interior must have been absolutely roached because what was left of it was very rough, in fact the original dash wasn’t even there but the complete blue one from the doner car was. No fender tag or title but the VIN tag is there. My wife and I went and picked it up this week. I figured if nothing else we could visit my friend who I didn’t get a chance to see this year because of the virus. We ended up having some fun in between driving for 24 hours in 3 days.
Here’s what that was like.

Spent yesterday cleaning it to find a surprisingly solid body and frame, definitely restorable.
More cleaning to do today before I’ll bring it inside.

Wow! Great find!! I've never seen so much racoon poop in my life. That looks to be more than 5 years worth. Racoon poop must be some type of metal preservative as that car does look much more solid than I would have expected it.

Glad you were able to turn it into a fun trip for you and your wife, and to meet a friend along the way.

If you can find a 67 coupe with decent interior, you'll be set for parts - I'd have to think it would be MUCH cheaper to go that route than tracking down each part, unless you have a nice stash of spares.

In the pictures, the car almost looks happy after it's pulled up on the tow sled... just sitting up proud that it's out of that awful garage.

Mind if I ask what price you worked out with the seller for the car and parts?

Looks like a nice adventure! Good work and Good luck

Adam I’m not going to divulge what I have into it as I know for sure my intent is to make it into as complete a project car as I can and sell it and if there’s no interest in it as a project I will part it. I have more than enough projects going right now and don’t have much room for storing things long term.
I already have a complete interior for it, mostly in blue.
Here’s the trunk.

Sluggo wrote: ↑Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:52 am Looks like a nice adventure! Good work and Good luck

Thanks Sluggo!

Here is the worst of the rust.

I do have a top frame with far less rust than the one in the car.
There are only some very small rust holes in the lower quarters but some of the metal has some heavy scale on it from sitting bare.

It's a shame whoever painted the door jams to prevent rust didn't go ahead and paint the sanded off areas. Maybe it's just an unfinished project.