A guy that worked for me years ago was big into demo derbys. I remember him saying that Imperials were banned because their frames were stiffer than regular New Yorkers. He and his brother would swap the frames out hoping nobody would catch it. If they did get caught, they had a backup car to run with the regular frame. No idea to the truth, but it may explain why they are still around.
A guy that worked for me years ago was big into demo derbys. I remember him saying that Imperials were banned because their frames were stiffer than regular New Yorkers. He and his brother would swap the frames out hoping nobody would catch it. If they did get caught, they had a backup car to run with the regular frame. No idea to the truth, but it may explain why they are still around.
My dad ran 8-10 derbys a year here in Michigan from the mid-70's until the mid-90's (mostly USA Demolition Derby out of Belleville). By the early 80's they had banned Imperials because, properly set up, they were darn-near unstoppable.
way back when , ran lots of Derby's .. I used 1958-1964 Furds as weapon of choice , they are hard as Christmas Candy , best ones were 61-62 Galaxies .. won a few , it took lots of work to get them ready , I have some pics I'll see if I can find
today, these cars are big dollar builds . all special stuff I follow some pages on facebook for them
The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.Proverbs 18:6
A guy that worked for me years ago was big into demo derbys. I remember him saying that Imperials were banned because their frames were stiffer than regular New Yorkers. He and his brother would swap the frames out hoping nobody would catch it. If they did get caught, they had a backup car to run with the regular frame. No idea to the truth, but it may explain why they are still around.
1966 and older Imperials are full frame cars. The 1967-73 unibody Imperials have a similar body tub to a Chrysler but the front sub frame is very different. The engine and suspension mount in a separate cradle than the frame and are alot beefier behind the front bumper. A lot of extra metal there.
Good friend o f mine used to take an Imperial, yank the 440 out and put a 318 in its place shoving the motor and radiator as far back as possible. he was nearly unbeaten until they banned to Imp's.
The Imperials had tough frames, but then add the front sheet metal was all one welded together piece and just the sheet metal makes them pretty tough. They were Demo kings, that was why they outlawed them.
The real story is, with the exception of a very brief early 80s version, the Last Imperials in NASCAR was back in the 50s on the long tracks. Most were too heavy for smaller tracks, and the dirt track bullrings of those early NASCAR days. The thread title is misleading.
