Dwight D. Eisenhower
1952/56 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton · Petersen collection car
Photo details
Joyride preserves and serves the 1,680 × 1,050 Commons original JPEG byte-for-byte. No crop, resize, retouching, metadata removal, registration alteration or generative change was made.
Photo details
Joyride preserves and serves the 1,663 × 2,100 Commons JPEG byte-for-byte. The current Commons file records an earlier crop and tonal-level adjustment by Hohum; Joyride made no additional crop, resize, retouching, metadata removal or generative change. This identification portrait remains separate from Rex Gray’s car photograph.
A president’s parade car without a president’s title
- Connection
- Documented presidential use · institutional parade car, not personal ownership
- When
- Eisenhower presidential use · exact date unresolved · photographed in museum custody in 2009
- Identity
- Petersen Automotive Museum collection vehicle · placard identity ‘1952/56 Imperial Parade Phaeton’ · photographed May 31, 2009
The Petersen Automotive Museum’s display placard, readable in Rex Gray’s May 31, 2009 photograph, identifies the individual vehicle as a ‘1952/56 Imperial Parade Phaeton’ and states that it was used by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The museum has repeated that Eisenhower-use association in its own collection posts. Joyride therefore records a documented institutional-use relationship, not a private-ownership story.
A 2019 Petersen event record describes the museum’s 1952 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton as having been used by Presidents Eisenhower and Richard Nixon and later by the Apollo 11 astronauts. Those later passengers belong to the same car’s broader ceremonial history, but this story keeps Eisenhower’s relationship separate from theirs and does not infer a particular parade, date, route or passenger list for his use.
The surviving car’s placard uses the combined ‘1952/56’ identity, while its photograph shows the later Imperial-style front end. The reviewed sources do not publish a chassis number, factory production file, complete rebuild record or component-by-component originality history. Joyride preserves the museum’s wording instead of converting it into an unsupported claim that the car was built new in 1956, remained untouched, or was a presidential limousine owned by Eisenhower.
Where the car went next
- 1952/56 museum identityOne ceremonial car, two year markers
The Petersen placard identifies the collection vehicle as a 1952/56 Imperial Parade Phaeton; Joyride does not collapse that wording into a new-build 1956 claim.
- Eisenhower administrationDocumented presidential use
Petersen identifies the car as used by Dwight D. Eisenhower, but the reviewed record does not establish personal title or supply an exact use date.
- Later ceremonial historyNixon and Apollo 11 associations
Petersen’s 2019 event record also associates the same car with Richard Nixon and the Apollo 11 astronauts; those uses do not alter Eisenhower’s non-ownership classification.
- May 31, 2009Exact car photographed with its placard
Rex Gray photographed the Petersen collection car at the Caruso Concours d’Elegance, preserving a readable institutional identity alongside the complete vehicle.
Sources for this story
The visible Petersen collection placard and the museum’s own public description identify this individual 1952/56 Imperial Parade Phaeton as used by Eisenhower. Rex Gray’s CC BY 2.0 image supplies a rights-cleared actual-car photograph, and the July 1956 White House image supplies a separate public-domain identification portrait. No personal ownership, chassis number, exact Eisenhower use date or parade, complete rebuild history, untouched condition, current public display, exact Joyride catalog match or compatible game representation is claimed.
- Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton used by Dwight D. EisenhowerPetersen Automotive Museum · museum collection post · reviewed 2026-10-11 · external source
Petersen custody and the museum’s direct statement that its Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton was used by Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- Hooray for Hollywood: Petersen stages a President’s Day paradePetersen Automotive Museum event record via ClassicCars.com Journal · 2019-02-22 · external source
The museum event identified its 1952 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton and associated the individual car with Eisenhower, Nixon and the Apollo 11 astronauts.
- 1956 Imperial Parade Phaeton — Dwight Eisenhower car — front-right viewWikimedia Commons · Rex Gray · photographed 2009-05-31 · reviewed 2026-10-11 · external source
Rights-cleared full-vehicle photograph, readable Petersen placard, date, creator and CC BY 2.0 license.
Reviewed
Why this is the actual car
- Photo identity evidence
Rex Gray’s file shows the complete car and a readable Petersen placard naming the 1952/56 Imperial Parade Phaeton and its Eisenhower association; Commons records CC BY 2.0.
- Photo identity evidence
The Petersen Automotive Museum describes its Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton as used by Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- Photo identity evidence
The museum event record identifies the same Petersen car as a 1952 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton and documents its broader ceremonial associations.
The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.