1964 Chevrolet Impala SS 409

The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship car introduced in 1958.  It was one of the better selling American made cars and production lasted until 2020 with a few breaks throughout the years.  The king of Impalas was the rare SS equipped with the 409ci (425hp) made popular by the Beach Boys.  This cool 1964 is the "real deal" factory correct 409ci (425hp) SS but what makes it even cooler is it is a true survivor in every sense of the word.  This car was located in 2007 in a Lien lot in Ontario, CA after being in storage since 1980. Talk about "Storage Wars" and a "Barn Find" all in one!  The current owner heard about this car from a friend that was on the hunt for a 1966 Riviera.  After extensive research on the car he decided to make the purchase and brought the car back into the US to its current home in California.  Later nicknamed "Brutus" the car is truly a time capsule.  The car was found with 57,000 original miles on the odometer and still wearing its factory Harvest Gold paint.  The owner cleaned the car, fixed it up and replaced a few components but took great care to keep it very original.  The front/rear bumpers were rechromed along with the window trim.  The car was found with ET mags but now sits on the correct painted to match steel wheels with dog dish hubcaps.     

If it being an original car with a 409 wasn't enough to peak your interest just wait until you discover that this was the top optioned 425hp dual quad version.  That's right!  This survivor is one of the estimated 1,600-1,997 cars with this motor.  It is very clean under the hood and is fitted with a year correct QB block, correct matching 690 heads, aluminum dual quad intake, correct carburetors, distributor, valve covers and air cleaner.  At some point in the past the inner fenders had been cut away to make room for custom headers.  The short block was all rebuilt with new pistons, a reground crank, resized rods, new cam, rod and crank bearings, all new gaskets, rebuilt dual 4 barrel carbs and was balanced.  It runs and drives great.  Behind the motor is the numbers matching 4 speed transmission and matching posi rear end.  It had 4:11 gears originally but to make it more road friendly it now has 3:08 gears.  It does however come with the factory 4:11 gears should you want to get it back to original.  Another repair that it required was getting the radiator recored.

When the car was discovered it had decorative woodgrain applied to the original dash, steering wheel, doors, and the 6,000 rpm redline tachometer.  In hindsight the woodgrain accents might have contributed to preserving the car as the current owner just needed to remove the material and clean up the original pieces underneath.  The interior is all original and in excellent condition considering its age.  The black upholstery is all in great shape.  It has dual bucket seats with lap belts which sit to each side of the factory SS center console with floor shifter.  The dash is all in good shape as well including the dash pad and all of the original gauges and controls.

This is such a neat piece of automobile history and has a great story behind it.  It was even found with a period correct alarm that included a key switch on the fender (like some C3 Corvettes), a button on the radiator support and a 8 inch diameter bell in the driver side fender.  So not only is it a survivor but also a snapshot of how cars were accessorized back in the day.  It was a labor of love for the owner to rescue the car to enjoy for the past 19 years but it is now time to find it a new place to call home.