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Topic starter
11/02/2026 10:05 pm
In 1955, the Chrysler Corporation launched the Imperial line. For 1955 & 1956 they were essentially gussied up Chryslers with minor distinctions from the top-of-the-line New Yorkers. In 1957, that all changed, now the Chrysler parentage was still apparent, but one could clearly see that these were cars that were just coming into their own. They had class and were very distinctive. This distinction, to this avid fan's eyes, continued for the entire run of the Imperial line through 1975.
With that, Tom Dirnberger has finally commissioned the 1957 version. GLMs craftmanship is excellent as with each year previously released in their cooperative efforts.
Remember I said "avid fan" well I'm an obsessive collector too. All of those Imperial models are a special segment of my total collection, and I have pretty much had to have them all. So, with that, this post shows the 1st of Tom's four special editions and the 1st of nine 1957 Imperial models I added to my "special segment"
1957 Imperial Crown Convertible, LE #57 of 70 in Indian Turquoise (I believe only 18 were issued in the closed version)
John Merritt
South Lyon, Michigan - USA
11/02/2026 10:23 pm
Impressive..... congrats (again ) John!
11/02/2026 11:49 pm
Great looking car and pictures. Also, thanks for the historical information.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
12/02/2026 12:20 am
Imperials were beautiful automobiles and this turquoise edition is a stunner and undoubtedly a real star on display in your collection. Nice !
12/02/2026 6:30 am
Big beautiful model - despite its diminutive scale!
12/02/2026 8:59 am
Great model. I never cared for the styling of the Imperial after 1956 until the 1962 came along.
12/02/2026 9:04 am
Gorgeous model John, it still saddens me that DM never got to their 1/24 version, the prototype looked amazing.😟
12/02/2026 9:17 am
Gorgeous model John, it still saddens me that DM never got to their 1/24 version, the prototype looked amazing.😟
12/02/2026 10:28 am
It's in Rick Hanmore's (Former DM Design Manager) personal collection. He brought it and several others to the house on one of his visits for me to photograph. If not mistaken, one of our members here has a prototype of it as well.@perrone1 Tony, thank you. It's a beautiful model. I wonder where it ended up.🤔
12/02/2026 8:59 pm
@perrone1 Good, its in safe hands. Rick showed me the '59 Bonneville ht at the Toledo show. He had it for sale but it was significantly out of my budget. I'd loved to had gotten it though. My wife would have wrung my neck.😳😲
13/02/2026 6:51 am
@perrone1 Wow, I never knew that 1/24 Imperial existed! But.... never say never! Many years ago, AFTER Precision Miniatures when out of business, the fate of their last - but not produced - prototype was a mystery. The tooling sat around for years, then ONE DAY their 1/18 1956 Chrysler St. Regis, thanks to ACME, became available.
- Never say never.
PROTOTYPE:
ACME PRODUCTION:
13/02/2026 6:58 am
13/02/2026 9:09 am
@chris Love the pictures and writeup Chris. I have the Acme in black/white/red. Great job with the Kelsey Hayes wheels. My 1/1 55 Imperial also has the Kelsey Hayes wire wheels. It seems if you bought the optional wires you only got four and the spare was a steel wheel which Acme replicated correctly. When you bought a Thunderbird Sports Roadster, you received five which included the spare which my 1/1 has.
13/02/2026 9:51 am
I have that St. Regis, Chris. Could NOT resist it in those colors!
Great pics of the 57, John. I still have mine sitting on my desk so I can look at them everyday.
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