2001 Chattanooga (Chrysler) Imperial Car Show

Chattanooga Gathering, June 7-9, 2001

Imperial Home Page -> Events -> Chattanooga 2001

Robert Soule and his wife Laqueta hosted the event and had a cookout for all of us on Friday at his place and showed us some of his toys...... 65 New Yorker 4dr 65 300 convertible (I drove my first mopar convertible...WOW!) 66 300 4 door 64 Ghia Limo 68 LeBaron 64 Crown 4 door 67 Newport 67 Newport convertible AND more!

We gathered at the hotel Saturday morning...Jay Williams came over from Carrolton, MS with his wife and kids...trailered his 67 Sedan so that his wife had another mode of transportation.

Donald Taccone was driving my car in the caravan to Ron Bird's collection of Chrysler products in Cleveland, TN. We were following Elijah in his 71; Donald, myself, Larry Stegall, and Gregg Wagner were in my car. Donald noticed that the steering on my car got stiff and Elijah noticed a belt hanging down from my car. We stopped and checked it out.....my car had broken the water pump belt and slung the power steering belt. We decided to leave the LeBaron, let it cool off, and come back to fix it after we toured Ron Bird's collection. By this time Kerry circled back to check on us...so the folks that were in my car piled in with Kerry and Elijah....we got to Ron's place and someone said "Where's Gregg Wagner?" "Uh Oh, we left him at the gas station....HONEST mistake!"

We toured Ron's collection, had lunch together at a Restaurant in Cleveland, stopped and played Imperial Service Department with my car, and drove back to the hotel. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing musical cars in the hotel parking lot....it was a blast! Wendell Richardson showed up in a stunning 60 Imperial Custom 4 door Southampton that almost made me wet my pants. We all had dinner together at the Town and Country restaurant Saturday night...new york strip...I think that a good vet could have revived most of our stakes and sent them back to the farm....other than that...it was good. Pardon me if I forget anyone or get the names wrong, but these were some of the Imperials/Chryslers that attended and their owners:

54 Imperial Sedan Kerry Pinkerton , 64 Imperial Crown

62 Imperial LeBaron Jeff Carrothers

81 Imperial Brett and Joseph from Atlanta

71 Imperial Coupe Mark McDonald (glad that he finally made one of these events!)

71 Imperial Elijah Scott

67 Imperial Sedan Jay Williams

70 Chrysler 300 Gregg Wagner

78 Chrysler New Yorker Chip Hood and Christopher Conway

60 Imperial Custom Wendell Richardson

68 LeBaron Robert Soule ,65 300 Convertible, 66 300 4 Door

Thanks to Elijah Scott for the photos. Sorry if we missed anyone's car but Elijah shot what cranked his tractor most. You will notice LOTS of photos of his and Mark Macdonald's 71's.

The following is Robert Soule's collection. He bought the 300 convertible about 3 months ago and has done a tremendous amount of work. Super solid low mileage car as are most of Robert's fleet.

The red 64 was Roberts first car which he bought in high school.

Kerry Pinkerton's 54 and 64 were parked by the road and got a fair share of evening driving since they were easy to get out. The 54 was trailered in because it isn't running that well. However it was a hit, especially the working AC which is behind the rear seat and really blows.

the two guys in the previous photo are Kerry Pinkerton and Mark Harris. Pinkerton is the one with gray hair.

Even well after dark, we were still riding.

By 9am Saturday we had all gathered at the motel.

Chip Hood and Christopher Conway drove up in this stunning 78 NYB. It was ordered by a salesman with EVERY option known to man including the police interceptor package on the 440.

Mark Macdonald drove up from Panama City Florida in his 71 coupe. This car had a fantastic interior. The fabric seats were a very fine, slick, silk like fabric which was absolutely perfect.

Jay Williams brought his 78 in on a trailer from Mississippi because his wife wanted to be able to drive the kids around while we were geeking over the cars.

Jeff Carrothers was lovin' it.

On the road to Ron Byrds. Ron's shop is what happens when a hobby goes bad :) Just look at all these cars!!!! Ron has an interesting collection of 'stuff' also. We spotted several complete cases of 'Port-o-walls', fake whitewalls as well as other unusual stuff.

Brent and Joseph had a super low mileage 81. It was the first I've driven (borrowed it to go check on the breakdown and leave Gregg because my 64 was blocked. I want one. 78 NYB

More of Kerry's 64

Some of Ron's stuff out front. The guy yawning is Robert Soule who was talking to Jeff Carrothers.

60 Imperial Custom that Wendell Richardson drove in from nearby Tennessee. 60's are so cool and this one was nice.

Following are lots of shots of the two 71's side by side. Elijah was really happy to see the side by side comparison. It's kind of hard to see in the photos but we were surprised to see that the rear profile is different on the coupe. Notice the chrome end pieces on the bumpers curve in considerably more to match the change in the roof line.