The Petersen Automotive Museum of the United States has published a new video dedicated to a particularly exotic American car called the Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton.
Seven decades ago, Chrysler produced only three such vehicles based on a stretched Imperial Crown chassis. One of them was later retrofitted for use by the President of the United States. It was over six meters (around 20 feet) long with a touch under 4 meters (13 feet) of wheelbase. Popular automobile designer Virgil Exner came up with the exterior, and Chrysler adopted the same design in its other models launched from 1955 onwards.
The entire bodywork was designed specifically for the Phaeton. The interior has four seats, but there is a solid partition wall with a secondary windshield separating the front from the rear. Two compact paratrooper seats can be found behind the two passenger’s seats.
There is no side glass or roof, only a light top above the rear end. The doors swing open against the traffic and only from the inside (handles are missing on the outside). Power comes from a 5.4-liter V8 originally rated at 180 PS (178 hp / 132 kW).
Chrysler produced a trio of Phaetons seven decades ago, and all three have survived to this day kept in Detroit, Los Angeles and New York. Multiple U.S. Presidents, high-ranking government officials and celebrities – for example, the Apollo 11 crew – have used them throughout the years. All three were formally owner by the car manufacturer, rather than the government, and were provided on rental basis.
The example in the video resides in Detroit now. A number of private individuals and museums had owned it since 1970 until it ultimately entered the Peterson collection in 2001. As for the other two vehicles, Chrysler eventually decided to transfer the ownership of those to Los Angeles and New York governments.