Personal luxury car

Personal luxury car is a North American car classification describing somewhat sporty, sophisticated mass-market coupés that emphasized comfort over performance. The North American manufacturers most often combined engineering, design, and marketing to develop upscale, distinctive "platform sharing" models that became highly profitable. Although luxury coupes had been produced in North America for several decades previously, the beginning of the "personal luxury car" genre is generally considered to have started in 1958, due to the success of the Ford Thunderbird (second generation) when it was redesigned from a two-seat car to a four-seat car. These changes shifted the Thunderbird's emphasis from sporting to comfort and luxury, and sales increased by 50 percent. The Thunderbird was sold for eleven generations up until the 2005 model year. The longest-running nameplate of the personal luxury car was the 50-year production of the Cadillac Eldorado, which started in the 1953 model year, originally designating ultra-premium, low-volume versions of lower-priced Cadillac models, including the hand-built four-door 1957 Eldorado Brougham. According to Hemmings Motor News, Cadillac first entered the "personal luxury car" market in 1967, with a smaller high-volume model. Before the late 1970s, personal luxury cars were usually large, rear-wheel drive vehicles powered by large V8 engines. As a result of the downsizing trend in the American automotive industry during the late 1970s, many personal luxury cars have been produced as mid-size cars with six-cylinder engines and front-wheel drive. By the 21st century, the personal luxury market had largely disappeared as consumers migrated to other market segments. Personal luxury cars are mass-market vehicles that have a combination of sports car and luxury car characteristics, typically two-door coupés or convertibles, typically with a small rear seat not intended for regular use by adults. Personal luxury car designs emphasize comfort and convenience, often highly equipped with interior features that were either optional or not available on other models.

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Personal luxury car

Chrysler 300 letter series

The Chrysler 300 "letter series" are high-performance personal luxury cars that were built by Chrysler in the U.S. from 1955 to 1965 and were a sub-model from the Chrysler New Yorker. After the initial year, which was named C-300 for its standard FirePower V8, the 1956 cars were designated 300B. Successive model years were given the next letter of the alphabet as a suffix (skipping "i"), reaching the 300L by 1965, after which the model sequence was discontinued while the "300" remained.

Imperial (automobile)

Imperial was the Chrysler Corporation's luxury automobile brand from 1955 to 1975, and again from 1981 to 1983. The Imperial name had been used since 1926, as a Chrysler luxury model, the Chrysler Imperial. However, in 1955, the company spun off Imperial into its own make and division to better compete with its North American rivals, Lincoln and Cadillac. Imperial would see new or modified body styles introduced every two to three years, all with V8 engines and automatic transmissions, as well as technologies that would filter down to Chrysler Corporation's other models.