It was no accident that Chrysler, flagship of Walter Chrysler’s automotive empire, was the last make in the company to adopt a straight-eight engine, in July 1930 for the 1931 model year. It is significant, moreover, that the flagship eight was best of the three, being larger than those of the 1930 DeSoto or Dodge. In fact, there were four Chrysler eights. The smallest, a 240-cu. in. unit, was shared with Dodge. There was a new 261-cu. in. powerplant, an intermediate 282-cu. in. unit, and the Imperial had a massive 385-cu. in., 125-bhp engine derived from the earlier Imperial six. With the six-cylinder cars, Chrysler had seven series with five different engines in 1931.

For 1932, there were just three eights, the 282-cu. in. powerplant in carryover Series CD cars, a new 299 unit in Series CP, called simply “Eight,” and the big 385 CG, CH, and CL Imperials. Built on a 125-in. wheelbase, an inch longer than the 1931 New Eight and Deluxe Eight, the CP Eight comprised five body styles but just 5,065 cars in total, plus 48 bare chassis. This car, the five-passenger coupe, is one of only 502 built. At $3,810, it competed with the Series 60 Buick.

The car is nicely restored in dark green with black moldings and top. Accented with a gold pin stripe, it has a cloth interior and features window shades in the rear. The green wire spoke wheels sport wide whitewall tires, another pair of which appear as dual side-mount spares.