Burt Park's 1956 Imperial Four-Door Sedan

(Please click on any small image to see a larger, more detailed picture of Burt's magnificent '56 sedan.)

I purchased my 1956 Imperial from a gentleman in Georgia. He had owned it since the early 80's and had done most of the restoration that you see in the pictures. It had been a good solid car in running condition when he purchased it in Texas where it had spent it's life since it was sold new. He drove and enjoyed it for a time but then stored it away with plans to
 restore some of the weaker points in the future. Time passed and in 1998 -1999 he completed the restoration you see in the pictures which included a new correct interior, engine and transmission overhaul. It still had a few items that needed attention when he decided to sell it.

I located it from an ad on an internet site and when we talked by phone I felt certain that it was the right car to add to my collection.

My son and I left from our home in Ohio with my son's Dodge dually pickup and car trailer and headed to Georgia to retrieve the Imp.  You always hope that the car you are going for is as good as it looks in the pictures and but know that it probably won't be. We were pleasantly surprised that it was everything I had hoped for. The only major problems were the brakes that required a lot of pedal pressure to even slow let alone come to a stop. They also pulled hard to the right and a non-operating choke that required a stationary warm-up .

The brakes have now been repaired including rebuilding of the booster. The repair of the choke was as simple as disassembly and proper reassembly.  Correcting the placement of some misaligned  exhaust components to eliminate
rattles and some other minor "tweaking".  The drivability is now very good it goes down the road  very quietly with
no rattles or squeaks and stops straight and quickly with minimum pedal pressure.

I  always admired the classic styling on the' 55 and '56 Imperials and had fond memories of a '56 New Yorker that was my every day driver many years ago, so acquiring this car all seemed to make sense.

Factory options are: Air conditioning (still needs a good 12v clutch for a Tecumseh compressor), Highway HiFi with records, and the radio works and has been converted to also receive FM.

This Imperial fills the space in my garage along with a '78 New Yorker, a '68 300, a '56 Cadillac convertible, and a '67 Cadillac limousine.