1956 Imperial

This Imperial was sold on ebay at a price of US-$ 1,500.00 US-$.
If you purchased the car, please let me know!

Some picture were added to the description of C56-3480 on this website.

In the auction description a video of this car was shown:

Last Friday the container arrived late in the evening. It was about 9.00 pm and it was dark outside. The truck parked in front of a ramp. We opened the container and saw the rear end of Miss Pearl. The first wires were cut and some wooden blocks that were nailed to the ground had to go. There was not much space between the Imperial and the wall of the container. Stefan (another friend of Lars) tried to get to the front end, cut the wires, moved the wooden blocks, came back and climbed through the open driver side window. We pulled the car back a little, so I could get to the front end, where I opened the hood and connected the battery. Stefan turned the key and one and a half revolutions later Miss Pearl’s engine was running! Stefan drove it down the ramp and parked it at the side. The tank was empty (as usual) and so Lars filled in some liters of fuel.

Then we wanted to do the same with the 58 Imperial, but it didn’t start. So we pulled it out of the container and with the help of a winch into Lars’ truck. After that we drove to Lars’ garage – Stefan drove Miss Pearl, Lars and I the truck. At the garage (or hall) Miss Pearl met Lars’ other 56 Imperial and the Drag-On (62 Imperial). We pulled the 58 in the garage and tried to find out, why it won’t start. At 2.00 am (!) it was running. So we took both cars for a ride to a 24h gas station. I drove Miss Pearl, Brad (an american guy from the USAF) and Lars drove the 58. After filling them up, we drove to McDonalds. After some burgers Brad and Lars drove back to the garage and I took Miss Pearl home with me, because Lars wanted to drive to a meeting on Saturday and therefore had no time to care about Miss Pearl.

I was at home at 3.15 am, parked Miss Pearl, disconnected the battery and went to bed.

The following days were also interesting but more to tell later … so stay tuned!

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This site wasn’t available the past 2 days – the hoster seemed to have some problems with the database-server.

Nun the site runs again and I hope it will do so for a while.

Many Imperial owner know “Miss Pearl” – it’s Bob Ross’ 1956 Imperial 4-door Sedan. I liked the car from the first moment I saw it – the color combination, the story, everything. Also Bob seemed to be a sympathetic guy, although we have never met.

Unfortunately, Bob had to sell “Miss Pearl”. Therefore he offered the car some time ago, but it didn’t sell. At the end of August 2009 I saw a classified ad on Imperialclub.com, where Bob offered it again. Unfortunately I had no money to buy it. He should be in good hands and so I mailed Lars, who still owns a 56 Imperial, that “Miss Pearl” is for sale.

Then after a few mails between Bob, Lars and me, Lars bought “Miss Pearl”. Lars called a shipping company for the transport from Bob to the company in Humble, TX. Bob met the truck driver on a parking space of a mall, told the truck driver, how the Imperial works and helped him to drive it on the truck. The truck left Round Rock and should be in Humble soon.

Lars was waiting for a call of the shipping company, but “Miss Pearl” didn’t arrive there as expected. Lars got a little bit nervous. Some phone calls later he knew the reason for the delay: the truck had a breakdown. With a delay “Miss Pearl” reached the shipping company. There she and a ‘58 Imperial Lars also bought where loaded in a container. Some pictures from the shipping company:

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With a delay the container reached the ship, which is actually on his way to the Netherlands, Europe. It will arrive at September, the 17th 2009.

Meanwhile Lars let make a cool license plate (only for decoration):

To be continued after the arrival in Germany.

1956 Imperial 4-door Sedan
Serial number (VIN): unknown

Owner:
*** not confirmed ***
Michael Goebel
Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

Description:
Transmission: TorqueFlite 3-speed-automatic
Franz Wittner from Austria sold this Imperial from his collection to Michael Goebel in Germany.
The sedan was equipped with a factory air conditioning.

Pictures:

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1956 Imperial 2-door Hardtop
VIN: unknown

Owner:
unknown
If you’re the owner of this Imperial, please let me know!

Description:
Transmission: unknown
I saw this Imperial some years ago on the worldwide web, saved the pictures on my computer, but no other information of this car.

Pictures:

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1956 Imperial 2-door Hardtop
Serial number (VIN): C56-11282

Owner:
unknown
If you purchased this Imperial, please let me know!

Description:
Transmission: TorqueFlite 3-speed-automatic (I think so)
I found this Imperial on the worldwide web about 2 years ago, but I don’t know who bought it.
I hope, the VIN is correct – on the photo the “8″ looks a little bit strange.

Pictures:

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1956 Imperial 2-door Hardtop
VIN: unknown

Owner:
Jay Leno
California, USA
Website: Jay Leno’s Garage

Description:
Transmission: TorqueFlite 3-speed-automatic
Nice Southampton with prominent owner. This Imperial has every optional equipment (air conditioning, radio, Highway Hi-Fi record player, wire wheels) except steering wheel clock.
Jay Leno shows his Imperial in a video: to the video
I tried to get in contact with Jay Leno several times – never get an answer.

Pictures:

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1956 Imperial 2-door Hardtop
Serial number (VIN): C56-7779

Owner:
Tom-Egil Seljas
Vennesla, Norway, Europe
Email: tom-egil (at) seljaas.com

Description:
Transmission: TorqueFlite 3-speed-automatic
2-door Southampton in very good condition. Originally Glacier blue over turquoise, now silver over black. Turquoise eagle cloth and white leather interior. The original engine runs great. Equipped with wire wheels.

Pictures:

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Actually Dorsey’s Imperial is up for auction on ebay:

Link to the auction

Buy it now-price: US-$ 3,200.00

Good Luck Dorsey!