By Jim Brennan
Continuing on with the Hooniverse Weekend Edition, I thought I would go over to the Wagons HO! Facebook page to see what was listed there, and look… Here is probably the most highly optioned 1963 Chevrolet Impala Wagon ever. The Wagon was listed on eBay, but failed to sell. I wonder why…
According to the listing:
At 340 HP and 420 lb-ft of torque, this 1963 Chevrolet Impala station wagon was one of the most deceptively quick grocery getters of its generation. Today it is also one of the most highly optioned 409 CI V-8 powered wagons known to exist. Stored indoors for a quarter century, it combines Chevrolet’s fabled “W”-head big block engine – complete with 4-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust – with a sturdy Powerglide 2-speed automatic transmission and a Positraction rear axle for solid, reliable performance around town and on the open road. Finished in Marine Aqua with a White roof and sporting the spacious, crisply styled interior that helped make the early Sixties Impalas so popular with the motoring public, this is one very classy automobile that further benefits visually with the inclusion of full size spinner wheel covers, Whitewall tires, front grille guard and Blue tinted glass all around.
Oh yes – and those “409” crossed-flag front fender badges, too. The Impala was available with a long list of optional equipment that has been taken full advantage of in this example. Mechanical extras include power steering, power brakes and factory air conditioning, while the interior is accessorized with a padded dash, power windows and seats, a power tailgate and push-button radio. That is a lot of car, but it typifies the abundance of style and functionality embodied in the 1963 Impala, and with a believed-accurate 39,500 miles on the odometer, it still has many years of enjoyment to offer its next proud owner.
The Wheel Covers on this Impala Wagon are wrong, as the 3-blade spinners were an SS option only, otherwise, it’s just about perfect. The Buy-It-Now price was an astonishing $39,500, but maybe it is worth it. What do you think? See the listing here: [sc:ebay itemid=”290933834698″ linktext=”1963 Chevrolet Impala Wagon” ]
Jeff Glucker
Made BaT, too. Awfully nice wagon, but the price is steep.
Price is steep, but find another one in that shape with those options. If I had the money….
Enjoy trying to fix any of those options when they fail.
The whole car can be torn down with a screwdriver and a crescent wrench.
You can find 15 different vendors crawling over each other to sell you any part you want for an old Chevy.
The same power window setup was used on zillions of GM cars, and they're pretty reliable. The rest of the stuff is dead simple, from the 409 to the Powerglide to the power steering to the a/c.
That's also a really shitty ad with poor pictures/descriptions of a $40,000 50 year old car. :/
With the 2 speed powerglide transmission that car would be wound out at 70 miles per hour..
The Powerglide has the same direct drive top gear as all the 3sp automatics. They just have a huge gap between the low gear, which isn't quite as low as the 3sp, and high.
This car would have had a 3.36:1 rear axle and 8.00×14 tires from the factory (per oldcarbrochures.org).
The old 8.00×14 tire size is roughly equivalent to a 215/75R14 per planethoustonamx.com.
The Miata Tire Size Calculator says a 215/75R14 would have 755 revolutions per mile.
So, the transmission input shaft speed at 70 MPH, in 2nd (direct) gear would be 755 x 3.36 = 2540 RPM.
Engine RPM would be slightly higher… say 2800 RPM at 70, assuming a 1.1:1 converter speed ratio (but I doubt there would be that much slippage at a constant load on level ground.)
I love that you did the math. Hoons are great!
Whenever people mention oldcarbrochures.org I feel envious and redundant.
And the Powerglide whine at idle – unmistakable.
Nobody else brings your level of simultaneous affection and smarm to the game.
Nice old car. My dad had one when we was kids. I loved it and wished I had it now.
<img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5440000125_860866e187.jpg" width="600">
Ford's wagons tended to sell better. GM's styling was at its best in the '60s, but this wagon looks kind of like a hearse. Ford did a more graceful job of incorporating the wagon green house on their Country Squires.
You say "looks kind of like a hearse" like that's a bad thing!
Very true.
The early 60s Fords had much more style than the ultra-conservative GMs. (Chevies, at least)
The straight vertical C-pillar on the Chevy doesn't help.
I like the color; looks like Marine Aqua.
http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedisplay.cgi?…
Mmmmm, I dunno.
No MP3 input…seems kinda steep.
/trollololololololo
No hydraulics either…
/runs'nhides