Indonesian President Sukarno's Imperials

 

Imperial Home Page -> Imperials by Year -> 1959 -> Lutfi Adimulya

 

From Lutfi Adimulya:

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lutfi Adimulya. I'm Indonesian, a member of Indonesian Vintage and Classic Car Association. We currently preserved about 25 ex-Indonesian Presidential cars dated from 1946 to 1965; formerly used by our 1st president, Mr. Sukarno. Six of them are Imperials, dated from 1955 to 1964. Although most of the cars are in good shape, some of them are missing some of their parts.

 

 


The oldest one, a 1954 Crown Imperial Limousine. Currently owned by Mr. Sofyan Tamara, treasurer of Indonesian Vintage Car Association. The hubcaps are not original. Notice the tall flag pole. Except the hubcaps, all remain original (paint, interior, etc.)

 

See a page covering President Sukarno's 1954 Crown limousine, now owned by Mr. Sofyan Tamara.

 

 

The members of IVCCA bought them from state auction in 1987. except the 1955 Imperial Limousine, which is now stored in a museum. In his biography, President Sukarno mentioned that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gave him this car in 1956, when he made a state visit there.

 

 

 

President Sukarno's custom-bodied 1959 GHIA Parade Phaeton

 

The 1959 Crown Imperial Ghia Parade Phaeton is one of only 7 limos built in 1959, and it was originally converted to a convertible. Notice the hidden running boards and handles just on the side frame of the windshield and the center post, used by security services people to jump and save the president in case of emergency.

The 1959 car's fins were cut flat by his order. It has a hidden running-board for the secret service people, and a refrigerator! Currently owned by Mr. Hartawan Setyodiningrat. Here is another picture of the same car before its fins were chopped down by order of President Sukarno:


 

Here are more photos of this very unusual Parade Phaeton
courtesy of Marty Trendler and Mr. Hartawan Setyodiningrat's son.

 

       

 

       

 

       

 

       

 

       

 

Here is the Decoding of the vin tag.

A - "Accessory package" that includes vanity mirror, door guards, and a rear license plate holder.

0210 - scheduled to be built date of February 10th 1959.

M637103779 breaks down as follows:

M- 1959

6 - Imperial

3 - Crown

7 - Dearborn Michigan assembly plant, should also have gone to the Ghia assembly plant for custom work.

103779 - 3779th Crown built

635 - Crown Convertible

1 - ???

613 - Crown Convertible, cloth and leather interior

XXX - outside paint color Ivory White

PW - Powered windows

DL - Standard Trunk Deck lid

H - No Heater, no air conditioning ( you can see the post factory AC unit under the dash)

T2 - 322 White Convertible Top

M - No mirror

HO - no hood ornament

R7 - touch tuner radio w/ foot switch, pw antenna, no rear speaker (Convertible)

AP - no Auto Pilot

RM - Standard rear view mirror

HD - no Automatic Headlight Dimmer

AC - 3 horns

S3872 - Special Order #3872 (??)

15" wheels

 

 

A pair of Imperials: a 1962 LeBaron owned by Mr. Robby Joyoseputro, and a 1963 Imperial Crown Coupe owned by Mr Budiono Widodo. The 1962 cars don't have taillights above their rear fenders, because the president disliked it. They had the 1963 rear-fenders grafted on.

Both have been repainted ('63 coupe original color was turquoise), but retain their original interior.

 

A 1963 Crown Coupe wearing decorations for a wedding. Owned by Mr. Oong Setiamanah. This '63 lacks a "simulated continental kit" like the other '63 coupe, since the Flitesweep decklid was an extra-cost option.

 

 

 

June 1987, the day we found our treasures. '63 Crown Coupe in its original color. On the background you can see the '59 parade car. On the left of the '63 coupe you can see a fender of the '62 LeBaron.

 

A proud family. Mr. Robby D. and his son, and their '62 LeBaron.

 

 

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