Photos by Erik Fuller, courtesy RM Sotheby’s.
As a partner in coachbuilder LeBaron, Ralph Roberts had ample experience in styling standout automobile bodies and predicting industry trends. When it came time to order a Chrysler CL Imperial as a gift for his wife, Roberts put considerable effort into accenting the CL’s already sizeable length, highlighting future styling trends in the process. Restored in 2012, the Roberts-designed 1933 Chrysler CL Imperial dual-windshield phaeton that RM Sotheby’s is calling “Chrysler’s Y-Job” heads to auction in Phoenix, Arizona, next January.
Introduced in 1926 as Chrysler’s range-topping luxury line, Imperials were meant to go head-to-head with rival brands like Cadillac, Packard and Lincoln. For the 1931 model year, Chrysler debuted the Series CG Imperial, which boasted a longer, 126-inch wheelbase, as well as 384.8-cu.in. inline eight-cylinder engine, which replaced the inline-six used in first-generation Imperials. With the Series CG, four production bodies (built by Briggs) were available, as were semi-customs and full customs from coachbuilder LeBaron.
In 1932, the Series CG Imperial evolved into the Series CH Imperial, which was also available as the Series CL Custom Imperial with a long (146-inch) wheelbase. Fifty examples were ordered by Chrysler with dual-cowl phaeton bodies, and fourteen were delivered in 1932. The remaining 36 were delivered in 1933 (with minor styling updates), and of these 36 cars, chassis 7803657, the car ordered by Roberts as a gift for his wife, is believed to be the last one completed.
As a designer, an off-the-rack automobile would simply not meet Roberts expectations. Working with the standard LeBaron dual-cowl phaeton body (which incorporated a crank-down rear windshield instead of a fixed screen), Roberts made changes to emphasize (and increase) the Series CL Imperial’s overall length, while also lowering its profile. Instead of sidemounts, Roberts’ CL Imperial carried dual spares on the trunk, which not only made the car look longer, but also increased its overall stem-to-stern dimensions.
Rear fenders were skirted, showing a design trait that would later appear on Chrysler’s Airflow and Airstream models. Custom headlamps were added, and were mounted lower than on production models to drop the car’s visual front profile. In a bold move for the day, Roberts requested that his radiator shell be painted and not chromed, which tricked the eye into believing that the already-long hood stretched to even greater lengths. Finally, disc wheel covers were added atop the wire wheels to give the car a Continental look.
It isn’t clear how long Roberts’ wife used the car, but several sources refer to the Series CL Imperial as the designer’s personal vehicle. It remained in the Roberts family until 1942, when a cross-country move from Detroit to California prompted its sale. Tires were difficult to source in wartime America, even for a man of Roberts’ connections, so selling the car in Detroit seemed more reasonable than driving it cross-country on worn-out rubber.
The car’s next owner of record was San Francisco resident Bob Harrison, and it’s a bit ironic that the Imperial landed on the West Coast without the help of its original owners. Harrison kept the car until 1960, changing its color to black and making a few other minor alterations. The next owner, Bob Burkholder, opted to remove the car’s original top, replacing it with a tonneau cover instead.
By the mid-1980s, the original fender skirts and wheel discs had gone missing, too. After passing through a few more collections (including Otis Chandler’s), the Chrysler landed with Neil Wynn, who funded the car’s first comprehensive restoration. The result was a Most Elegant Open award at Pebble Beach in the mid-1990s.
In 2012, the Ralph Roberts’ 1933 Chrysler CL Imperial dual-windshield phaeton crossed the auction block at RM Sotheby’s Milhouse Collection auction, selling for fee-inclusive price of $1.21 million. In the year’s since, the stately Imperial has earned numerous show honors, including Best of Show awards at the 2012 Concours d’Elegance of America and at the 2014 Radnor Hunt Concours d’Elegance.
Given the car’s overall history, RM Sotheby’s is predicting a selling price between $1.4 million and $1.8 million when the Imperial crosses the auction stage in Arizona next January.
The Arizona sale will take place on January 19-20, 2017, at the Arizona Biltmore. For additional details, visit RMSothebys.com.
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