Saturday, February 11, 2017

1965 Imperial Flower Car

i1
Despite being disdained by forum bashers here and here, I think this 1965 Imperial that was converted into a flower car, probably when new, has a tremendous amount of potential. It’s located in Newcastle, Oklahoma and is listed for sale here on eBay, where the buy it now is $3,000 (despite being listed previously on craigslist for $2,750), however lower offers are welcomed.

i6
Unlike a lot of flower cars, this one looks fairly well done, and I can easily see modifying the rear to fold out like a tailgate (clearing the round Imperial emblem might be the toughest part).You would then have a fairly useful pickup truck like no one else’s! The Imperial Club has this set of pictures of the same vehicle taken in 2010. You can see that it’s a little less deteriorated, especially the plastic rear window. That shouldn’t be too hard to fabricate a glass panel for instead, though.

i2
It really does look pretty nice to me; not really awkward lines at all. Of course, that’s just one person’s opinion; you may think it’s awful.

i3image: http://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/i3-630x420.jpg

It’s a shame that the interior is so trashed; I hope some of the walnut trim can be saved. Since the car/truck is a custom anyway, I think if I couldn’t easily find a factory dash, I’d put something in that was in keeping with the rest of the vehicle.

i4
Here’s how the bed was constructed…interesting to say the least.  I”m guessing a layer of wood was involved originally? The seller mentions that the floor only has one little hole in it (I’m guessing from the deterioration of the rear window since 2010) but overall it looks pretty solid.

i5
If this is the original engine as I believe it to be, it’s a 413 V8 with factory air. The seller says it does turn over, which is a good start. I’d love to start on this car/truck and make it my own; what do you think? How would you finish it?

Source: /barnfinds.com