the new owner a Mark Cross Gift Set consisting of an umbrella, leather portfolio, leather key fob, uncut Cartier key, and a 'Sounds of Stereo' music cassette. These were exclusive Mark Cross items not available for sale in a Mark Cross showroom. NASCAR A few race teams built NASCAR spec racecars with Imperial sheetmetal and raced them on the NASCAR circuit from 1981 through the 1985 season, though mostly only on the superspeedways. They were driven by Buddy Arrington, Rick Baldwin, Cecil Gordon, Phil Goode, and Maurice Randall. The cars did not distinguish themselves to any great degree, however a Buddy Arrington owned and driven Imperial finished in sixth place in the summer 1982 race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The Imperial-based cars were used in competition as it was determined to be far more aerodynamic (and capable of higher speeds) than the Dodge Mirada at the time. The car had a drag coefficient of 0.41, which was better than contemporary Corvette (0.45), and performed well on the big high speed tracks, with Morgan Shepherd (driving Buddy Arrington's Imperial) qualifying for the 1985 Daytona 500 at a speed of 197 mph, despite the lack of suitable high-performance race engines. One of Arrington's Imperials is in the Talladega, Alabama NASCAR museum. Production figures The first 1981 Imperial rolled off the assembly line on August 11, 1980. Imperial production ended on April 29, 1983. Chrysler had originally planned to cap production at 25,000 units. *Cars manufactured in 1980 calendar year were sold as 1981 model year. Imperial limousines Imperial Crown (1955–1965) For 1955 and 1956, an Imperial Crown limousine model was also offered. With an extra and of wheelbase in 1955 and 1956 respectively, and seating eight (three in the front including the driver, three in the rear, and two on rearward-facing fold-down jump seats), these replaced the long-wheelbase offerings in all Chrysler marques. A total of 172 were built for (model year) 1955, with 226 for 1956. They were the last Chrysler-branded limousines built entirely in Detroit. Color choices were limited to dark green, dark blue, maroon or black with wire wheels being the only optional equipment offered. From 1957 through 1965, long-wheelbase Imperial Crown cars would be finished by Ghia in Italy and was formally introduced January 2, 1957. The earlier models used two-door hardtop bodies mounted on the more rigid convertible chassis; these would be shipped across the