The year was 1955

All of them look excellent and are exceptionally cool replicas. My family had two actual 1955 automobiles : My Dad's 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air and my Grandparent's 1955 Pontiac. 1955 was the "big year" for Detroit cars !  

Yep, nice looking models Barry. But either your Imperial & Plymouth are over-scaled, or that Chrysler convertible is under-scaled.  Which is it?

I've talked to a fair amount of big-time 1:1 collectors who agree that 1955 was a turning point in BIG 3  quality.  Robust sales of many all-new designs meant fast paced production took precedence over strict quality control.

Posted by: @chris

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Yep, nice looking models Barry. But either your Imperial & Plymouth are over-scaled, or that Chrysler convertible is under-scaled.  Which is it?

Your comment piqued my interest, Chris, so I did a little research. Overall length for 1955 Plymouth, Chrysler, and Imperial is 204, 219, and 223 inches, respectively. Here's an "aerial" photo of the 3 of them together:

 Looks pretty accurate, so I guess the camera angle is to blame for the apparent size discrepancy in the first picture I posted.

@moe-parr  Yes, that aerial view reveals much better accuracy.   As YOU are well aware, '55 Imperials & Chryslers shared alot of "structure,"  which does NOT come across in your 1st pic, heck, even those Chrysler wheels look smaller.  🙄 🙄 

Thanks for the follow up!

-C

Chris, you are correct that the Chrysler and Imperial share many body parts. The big difference in length of the two are the Imperial's bumpers. In my opinion, the Chrysler bumpers are trimmer and follow the body lines of the car much better.

Posted by: @bob-jackman

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Chris, you are correct that the Chrysler and Imperial share many body parts. The big difference in length of the two are the Imperial's bumpers. In my opinion, the Chrysler bumpers are trimmer and follow the body lines of the car much better.

I'm pretty sure Imperial is on a 130-inch wheelbase, 4 inches longer than Windsor/New Yorker/300's 126 inches.

@moe-parr Well Barry, you had me measuring the wheel base on my Imperial and it appears to be 132 inches. I never realized it was longer than the Chryslers. Where do you suppose the length is on the body? Logic would say in the front clip ?

Posted by: @bob-jackman

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@moe-parr Well Barry, you had me measuring the wheel base on my Imperial and it appears to be 132 inches. I never realized it was longer than the Chryslers. Where do you suppose the length is on the body? Logic would say in the front clip?

it appears that the additional length is in the area between the door and the rear wheel. That would also explain why the Imperial is listed as having more rear legroom.

Posted by: @moe-parr

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the additional length is in the area between the door and the rear wheel.

Correct, engineers tooled round wheel openings and move them back a few inches.

Practically everything else (trunk lid, rear bumper, etc.. ) were Chrysler carry-overs.  Moving the rear wheel opening back necessitated moving the rear bumper back. That's why there's so much "chrome cladding"  applied to the rear of Imperials bodies (to hide the gaps ).  Their Chrysler  bumpers are also heavily disguised.

Thanks Barry and Chris. I would have never guessed that the bodies were different.  Learn something new every day. So do you suppose that the DeSoto used the same body as the Chrysler?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Posted by: @bob-jackman

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So do you suppose that the DeSoto used the same body as the Chrysler?                                             

I'm sure that answer is yes!

I know this topic was about 1955s, but will also apply to 1956s, with which I am more familiar. Yes, the DeSoto and Chrysler bodies were the same. Chrysler Corporation designers did a marvelous job of hiding that fact with the use of different grilles and chrome trim. Bumpers on all three Chryslers (Imperial, NewYorker, Windsor) were the same. They have a different look because of bumper guards or in the case of the New Yorker for 56, the addition of the “cow catchers”. The additional body length on the Imperial is between the door and rear wheel opening and between the rear window and trunk. The cabin space on all three is identical. I should know after building an Imperial convertible which was never made by the factory. Here are some pictures.

Beautiful car Tom.

@bob-jackman +1