Low was for gears one and two High was for gears three and four. The column shifter functioned as the range selector, and offered Low, High, and Reverse. Vacamatic had four gears, automatically shifted through by vacuum cylinders. The clutch was not used consistently in normal driving. The Vacamatic still used a clutch, but only to change the transmission’s range. Chrysler developed the technology to compete with automatic transmissions from other manufacturers. Vacamatic was the first semi-automatic transmission ever offered by a large manufacturer.
Initially, the only transmission on offer was the three-speed manual with Fluid Drive that we learned about in the prior installment of this series. There was just one engine on offer in the long-lived fourth Imperial, a 323 cubic inch (5.3L) inline-eight. Standard Sedan models of 1940 were 225 inches long, while Limousine versions were 235 inches. All cars shared the same 145.5-inch wheelbase, so all Imperials in 1940 were larger overall than any available car of the prior generation, even topping the size of the 1937 only Series CW Custom.
The fourth option held six passengers and was actually a coachbuilt car: The Parade Phaeton by Derham Body Company (1887-1956).
Those three were factory options: The six-passenger Sedan, eight-passenger Sedan, and eight-passenger Limousine. Chrysler offered a total of four body styles, only three of which were built in any number. There was but one basic Imperial layout in 1940, sold officially as the Imperial Crown Series C-27. Gone were the variety of wheelbases, the exclusive custom bodies built outside Chrysler’s domain, and Imperial-specific engines. This change in methodology was readily apparent for the new fourth-generation Imperial of 1940. In fact, very few of the established American coachbuilders of the Twenties and Thirties would make it out of the Fifties intact. American coachbuilding as an entity – a luxurious custom body applied to a mass-produced chassis – was winding down about that time. After its successful introduction in the Twenties, an Airflow-shaped misstep in the Thirties, and a return to its earlier formula in the latter part of that decade, big changes were in order for the new Imperial of the 1940s.Īround the time headlamps and fenders became an integrated feature of a car’s body instead of free-standing entities, the Imperial was integrated into the rest of the Chrysler lineup.
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