From My Collection... How about a little fun?

With the arrival of the '62 Imperial models, an idea came to me about the range of these fine models I now had in my collection. So, I went about assembling them for the comparison photos. As I did that, another thought came to mind, about some comparison photos with the #1 competitor to the Imperial, Cadillac. 

So, if you're interested in a little bit of fun. Please continue, and as always, Thank-you for looking and indulging my crazy ideas.

It’s 1957 and you are in the market for a new car. You’ve decided it needs to be a luxury sedan. You are intrigued by the look and style of the new 4-door hardtop sedans that were introduced by a couple of manufacturers in 1956. After reviewing the options, Buick, Oldsmobile, Chrysler & Lincoln were all interesting, but you’ve got your sights set on a Cadillac and a couple of choices in a 4-door hardtop are available.

OK seriously, the Eldorado Brougham is interesting, but the price is insane, way out of your budget. Cadillac offers another option with the Fleetwood Sixty Special and still another with the Series 62 Sedan de Ville, both are priced over $5000, with about $500 between them. A tough choice, but for whatever reason, the Fleetwood seems a bit more pretentious to you while the Series 62 is more “down-to-earth” in a way.

A friend shows you a brochure for the new Imperial by Chrysler. It looks so much more modern than the Cadillac, lower with what appears to be a wider body, it definitely has the look of “new” that the Cadillac doesn’t. The Imperial is available in three series, Imperial, Crown & Le Baron. The base series is cheaper than the Series 62, the Crown is slightly higher, and the Le Baron is even higher than the Fleetwood. Crown Imperial has a nice sound to it, but is “new” the way to go, maybe established quality is the best choice.

What would be your choice?

Now, let’s talk about the models. I am limited to offering options that exist in my collection. For the most part, Cadillac & Imperial are the only luxury options in my collection (in resin) for the years I’m going to compare, 1957-1964 (no ’63), so to keep it simple, these are the two brands that I will feature.

The Cadillac is an older release from GLM, issued in 2014. All things considered, it’s not a bad model, except for the somewhat large headlights (which GLM greatly improves with the later released Eldorado Biarritz & Seville models. For years, I thought it was oversized, but with a little measuring and comparing, it’s really not (just those headlights).

The Imperial is an even older release, issued in 2011 and is from NEO Scale Models. I believe NEO issued the model in a few colors; I have this one in blue & a pink version. The execution of this model just comes off looking so much better than the Cadillac, but the more modern and svelte look of the Imperial could be greatly contributing to that.

For me, my choice would be the Imperial. More distinctive, more modern and contemporary than the by far, stodgier looking Cadillac.

The Models: 1957 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan de Ville Hardtop - 1957 Imperial Crown Southampton Hardtop Sedan