After the "Hundred-Million-Dollar Look" of 1955, a pause in styling was understandable. The Imperial, like other Chrysler cars, strove to keep the best of the ’55 models and remedy their few deficiencies. As such the 1956 models can be claimed as true classics, while the 1961 Imperial was to be the most extravagant of the line. For 1956 Exner did little to change the general body styling, but lengthened it somewhat (3 in. longer wheelbase, 6.7 in. overall, outdoing Cadillac and Lincoln), and raised the profile of the rear fenders - the beginning of the tailfin era, which was to draw Detroit into its worst excesses. Except for hooded headlights, the front of the car remained unchanged. The sides are accented with a strip running all the way back to a bumper integrated with the fenders. Under the hood, the FirePower grows to 354 cu. in., and gains 30 hp in doing so. There is a new gearshift control - four or five pushbuttons and a cable take the place of the peculiar 1955 shift lever. This device lasted until 1963. I write "4 or 5" not to designate an option but because in spring 1956 a new automatic transmission was introduced, the three-speed Torqueflite, which supplanted the Powerflite on all high-end Chrysler cars. Torqueflite is regarded as the best transmission available into the 1970s. It was simple and reliable, with exceptional performance; it and the Firepower engine made up a well-matched and formidable package. Ever-increasing demands on the car’s electrical system brought a transition to 12 volts in 1956.

The rather narrow range of body styles in 1955 was widened with the offering of a sedan without door posts (5 years later than GM) called the Southampton. The coupé without doorposts, generally called a hardtop, dropped its Newport name and became another Southampton. That name continued in succeeding years to designate an Imperial without doorposts.

The eight-passenger bodies, sedan and limousine, retained their C-70 or Crown Imperial designation and preserved their 1955 styling, except for the front-to-back strip along the flanks, now expressed by five small vertical bands on the back fenders. C70 production remained quite low (< 230) and price unchanged. After 1956 Chrysler stopped building these cars in its own factory and subcontracted the ’57 models to Ghia.

We can’t pass over in silence the new "Highway Hi-Fi" option built for Chrysler by Columbia - a 16 2/3 rpm turntable playing, through the car radio, special ultra-microgroove discs. Each 7-in. disc carried 40 minutes of music, the sound quality being at least debatable. From the "To Know More" link below you can find a list of the records that Columbia pressed for these Highway Hi-Fi’s in 1955. A few French performers, such as M. Legrand, were on the roster. Today a surviving Highway Hi-Fi will cost you about $1000, discs not included!