My name is Bjorn Gronhaug and I live in Bergen, Norway. I bought a 1969 Imperial
LeBaron and had it imported from the U.S. in the fall of 2001. It is a
real joy to drive around in this car. People just stare their eyeballs
out! They comment on how nice it is and ask a lot off questions -- everybody likes it. Just the
shear size of the car and features like the AutoTemp and "power this" and
"power that" amaze people, not to mention the engine and its power. No, this is certainly not a everyday sight for people here in Norway, although there are quite a number
of American cars here.
I scanned a
couple of pages from the original warranty booklet which shows the first owner and vehicle identification. I am not to
sure of what it says, but I know from the seller that the car came from
Washington. I think he bought it there about 3 or 4 years ago, and he has used it in the
U.S., since he travel to the US a couple times every year and looks for cars to buy.
So last autumn he brought a 1973 Cadillac Limousine and the 1969 Imperial LeBaron with him back to Norway. I got a tip about it and fell in love.
The paint was not to bad but I got it repainted anyway. The guy who did the
job for me was happy to work with the car and just loved it too -- he even wanted to buy it from me!
He took many pictures of the work, as you can see below:
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Here is the car in various stages of prep work for the paint job. This is a LOT of car to paint, so it takes a huge amount of work to get the car ready for a good paint job. | ||||
The vinyl top has a tear under the back window and the gas gauge does not work. Every thing else works fine now. There were some minor problems with the lights inside and outside, and the horns, but the more I use the car the more things starts to work again. After one month or so the transmision went bad and the car did not pull, so it seemed I had to get a new one. The seller had a transmision from a1967 Imperial which he offered me, but luckily we first tried changing the oil and filter, and voila -- it works just fine after that ( the filter was very dirty). The seller had also changed the air conditioning compressor and it works just fine.
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Here are some final shots of the car after the paint job. It turned out great! No wonder it attracts so much attention in Norway! |
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My 1969 Imperial LeBaron is the only one in Norway. I am a member of American Car Club of Norway, and in the last issue of their Amcarmagasin, they had a list of all registered American cars in Norway. The list covers 1903 to 2001. The Imperials included are:
I have enjoyed looking at the Imperial Web Site -- it is VERY GOOD, and it is a pleasure to see such
enthusiasts. Unfortunately, I have "10 thumbs," so I am not very good in fixing the car myself, so it is nice to have
the Internet with the Imperial Mailing List and people like you.
--Bjorn Gronhaug
