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Posts Tagged: Chevrolet Impala

Classic gold muscle car with black vinyl roof in a showroom.

Chevrolet Impala 1968 images

by Ross Mills

Chevrolet’s factory SS 427 package turned a handful of full-size Impalas into genuine muscle cars between 1967 and 1969, with roughly 6,350 built across all three years combined (1,778 of those in 1968 alone), rated at either 385 or 425 horsepower. The sleeper pictured here takes that idea further, pairing period-correct Impala sheet metal with a fuel-injected 496-cubic-inch big-block and a modern 4L80E automatic overdrive transmission. The result looks like a family car and drives like anything but, continuing a sleeper reputation the factory only hinted at fifty years ago.

Chevrolet Impala 1965-1970 Fourth Generation

by Ross Mills

In 1965, Chevrolet sold more than one million Impalas in a single year — an all-time industry record that has never been broken. Over the next five years the car would get outshined by its own spinoff, borrow styling cues from the Corvette, and quietly absorb a wave of new federal safety mandates. Read on to find out how a record-setting best-seller ended up playing second fiddle to the model it created.

Classic muscle car driving on a road surrounded by greenery.

Chevrolet Impala 1969 Custom 396 Survivor

by Kiril

Chevrolet sold 777,000 Impalas in 1969, making it America’s best-selling car that year, and this Custom Coupe survivor carries an oddball spec: a 265-horsepower 396 that was somehow rated lower than the 350 in the same lineup, yet cost more to order. Riding on its original 1969 Texas plates with a stout 12-bolt rear end, this full-size cruiser has a stranger story than its badge suggests. Read on to find out why GM built an engine that looks like a mistake on paper.

A classic red and black vintage car parked outdoors.

Chevrolet Impala 1962

by Kiril

Calling a 1962 Chevrolet Impala two-door hardtop sweet barely scratches what that model year actually meant for Chevrolet. A $53.80 trim option that had existed for barely a year was about to become one of the most influential ideas in the company’s history, and at the top of the engine range sat a 409 that made buyers give up their automatic transmission to get it. Read on to find out how the Super Sport took over and how close this hardtop came to the fastest option on the lot.

Classic white 1960s Chevrolet Impala with chrome details in a showroom.

Chevrolet Impala 1964 images

by Ross Mills

The 409 had already become a cultural icon by 1964, but that same year marked the beginning of its decline, with just 8,684 installed across Chevy’s entire full-size lineup that year, Impala SS included. Behind that restyled body with its signature triple taillights sat one of Detroit’s most serious engines. Here is what made the dual-quad 409/425 combo a genuine handful in the best way.

Classic black vintage car with shiny chrome wheels on display indoors.

Chevrolet Impala 1962 SS 409 “Black Diamond”

by Kiril

The 409 might be the only engine in American history sold as much by a pop song as by a marketing department. Chevrolet moved 142 of them in 1961 and more than fifteen thousand the following year, and a Beach Boys B-side released that same summer had a great deal to do with the difference. This black 1962 Impala SS wears the nickname Black Diamond and a 409 under the hood. Read on to find out which version of that engine actually mattered.

Chevy Built Fewer Than 60 Aluminum-Nosed 427 Impalas in 1963 – Then Walked Away From Racing Weeks Later

by Jack Harmon

RPO Z11 gave roughly fifty 1963 Impalas an aluminum front end and a 430-horsepower 427 that never appeared in a single Chevrolet brochure. The very first one built went to Dave Strickler, tuned by Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins. Here is what the option actually included, why its 427 has nothing to do with the famous Mystery Motor, and how the whole program died in a matter of weeks.

Classic black vintage car parked indoors.

Chevrolet Impala 1962 images

by Ross Mills

‘She’s real fine, my 409’ turned a Chevy engine option into one of the most quoted lyrics in hot rod history — and this 1962 Impala carries the exact engine the Beach Boys were singing about. The real surprise is how fast that combination actually was on the street, not just on the radio.

Street racing event at Union County on March 11th.

Win Prize Money at Drag Shootout Union County Drag

by Pat C

A flyer promising prize money at a March drag shootout doesn’t tell you much on its own — but the track behind it, an NHRA-affiliated eighth-mile strip built for grudge racing and small-tire shootouts, has plenty of story to it. Door-crasher format, cash on the line, and a community that shows up test-and-tune after test-and-tune. Here’s what actually happens when the tree drops and real money’s riding on it.

Classic blue muscle car parked outdoors on a sunny day.

Chevrolet Impala 1967 SS

by Kiril

Finished with only three days to spare before Cruisin the Coast, this 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS is a near-stock restoration that skips the flashy paint and stretched stance in favor of getting every factory detail right. Read on to find out why 1967 marked the Impala SS’s last real high point before the package faded away.

Sleek black vintage car with modern rims parked outdoors.

Chevrolet Impala 1963 Street Cruiser

by Kiril

This bagged, stock-interior 1963 Chevrolet Impala turned up at Cruisin’ The Coast without a single show trophy to its name – just a clean stance, real wheels, and the honest wear of a car that’s actually been driven. Its SS badge was still an option package that year – the Impala SS wouldn’t become its own series until 1964 – backed by an optional 409 big-block that inspired a Beach Boys song. Read on to find out why a driver like this one outshines the trailer queens parked next to it.

Classic black 1960s Chevrolet Impala parked on gravel.

Chevrolet Impala 1964 – 327 4 Speed

by Kiril

This black-on-black 1964 Impala SS pairs Chevrolet’s balanced 327 small-block with a factory four-speed manual, a combination enthusiasts still single out as the sweet spot of that model year’s engine lineup. Straight, unrestored survivors wearing their original color combination this cleanly are getting harder to find every year. Read on to find out what made the 327 4-speed the one to chase.

Classic black convertible car parked outdoors on a sunny day.

Chevrolet Impala 1961 SS 572 Convertible

by Kiril

This 1961 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible carries a badge that traces back to a genuinely rare factory combination, only 142 original Impalas got both the SS package and the new 409 V8 before a production issue shut it down. This particular car skips all of that history entirely, running a modern 572 cubic-inch big block that dwarfs anything Chevrolet’s engineers could have offered in 1961. Read on to find out just how rare the real thing actually was.

Classic red convertible car with black soft top parked outdoors.

Chevrolet Impala 1962 images

by Ross Mills

1962 was the quiet final year of the Turbo-Fire 283 as Chevy’s headline small-block, right before the 327 took over the spotlight in 1963. This Impala pairs that 283 with a two-speed Powerglide — the exact combo that built the nameplate’s reputation years before the SS badge ever existed. Here’s why a base-engine Impala deserves more credit than it usually gets.

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