It was a beautiful day yesterday here in the Middle West, and the CCs were out in force. I caught this very nicely restored Impala SS convertible as we were headed back home. The gently burbling exhaust as the car cruised past was an auditory delight…
It is so easy for forget how big the steering wheels were on cars from this time period. The driver here appears to barely see over it!
Great catch!
The wheel was big, but the seating position was all screwed up in these things. The column was mounted very high and the seat was very low. I will bet $5 that that driver is at least 6 ft. tall. I remember laughing at the sight of little old ladies driving these, peering out under the top of the steering wheel.
Beautiful cars to look at, dreadful cars to drive (Zackman will slap me for this, I’m sure 🙂 ).
I remember that at the time…little old ladies peering over the high dashboards, through the steering wheels. It’s a wonder we put up with it…
Closest I ever came to this CC was that my old man had one for a few months as a company car. He’d gotten transferred from the NYC area to Northeast Ohio (his request; his roots were there) and he was due a company car. They gave him a year-old one that belonged to someone departed, until his came through the pipeline.
So…he brought it to the apartment-motel we were staying at for two months, once. He wasn’t home every night; and I doubt he was hurrying back to that hovel. He had to do house-shopping in his off hours, too.
But I remember the rear-quarters…also the painted-metal dash. His new company car was a 1964; same dash but padded; but I thought the rear end was a loser. (This when I was five years old.)
The little old ladies looking through the steering wheel also usually stopped about 10 feet short of a stop line. If you were following them,they would drive at 20 mph, go through a green light just as it was changing and make you catch the red light.
I’m next in line behind Zackman. They’re actually very nice drivers. Driving position could probably be better, but after 15 years and 80,000+ miles in my ’64 Impala, I’m used to it.
My problem was that the one I drove (college roommate’s 62 Bel Air) was right after I had spent a couple of years in a 59 Fury. I was used to a great seating position, power steering with only 4 turns lock to lock (not 6), a 3 speed Torqueflite (not a 2 speed Powerglide) and a suspension system that would keep the car from heeling over like an Americas Cup racer.
Not so dreadful to drive as these were everywhere in my budding youth. Stopping . . . . small cast iron drums . . . now that wasn’t so nice. You predicted your intended stop and braked accordingly. Slam on the brakes? Be prepared to steer in the opposite directiion of the ass-end that was going to slide around.
I like that back panel and round tail lights,I could see myself cruising in this with some jazz on the radio
Did you let him know his right brake light is out? I always try to tell someone when I see a brake light out… especially when its all brake lights (Left, right and center!), I’ll follow people till they stop or at a light jump out of the car to tell them that! And tell them it is usually the brake light switch or fuse… Just a Motoring Public Service, and the way I’d like the world to be.
I don’t know if that’s such a good idea in this day and age, at least in certain neighborhoods.
They had their turn signal on and I caught it in the act of blinking…
To turn across a solid white line?
Two left turn lanes…
Thanks, My bad. As Maxwell Smart might say: The old both lanes turn left trick. I see now the left turn signals on both cars in front of the Impala. Memo to self: engage brain before posting. 🙂
Ah yes! THAT brings back pleasant memories!
My 1964 was an excellent car. A friend had a 1964 Impala SS hardtop. Lots of these cars around when I was in the service, but that was 40+ years ago, so of course.
I would love to own one now if only I could afford one.
I meant to say my friend had a 1963 Impala. Must be hooked on the ’64! The ’64 was better-looking, IMHO…
One of the seniors in my high school in Mexico City went back to Texas and bought a brand new ’63 Super Sport convertible, white on red on red with a 409. Damn, had the guy not been a total looser, I would have been impressed. I still lusted after the car. Gas in Mexico at that time was probably about ten cents a gallon. Drive it like you stole it! Don’t cost nothin!
That pic could be me in my ’72 Delta or ’65 Skylark convert, IF I ever get either of them running 🙁 .
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the 63 Impala. Fall 62, junior high softball practice. A well-to-do retired couple lived across the street from the school field. During our game they left in their 58 turquoise and white Ford Skyliner and returned from the local Chevy dealer with a new all beige 63 Impala hardtop coupe – the one with the bowed hardtop made to look like a convertible top. It was the first 63 to hit our small town and I loved the lines, trim, everything about that car. 60’s was a great decade for the Impala, year after year.
Gorgeous! hard to believe there was a time when cars like this were as common as toyotas are today. Wish I could’ve been around to see these cars when they were new…
She’s mighty fine AND a great antidote to Brougham-o-Fever!
I too remember well when these were common on the streets. I spent a lot of my young years drawing the ’63 Chevy.
I had one similar to the pictured car in 1974. Mine was not a SS, and was black with a red interior. It ran OK, but the body was on the rough side. Nobody wanted convertibles at that time, so you could buy them pretty cheap. I think I paid $200 for it. I drove it for a month or two and sold it. I was in the used car business at the time, so I did not keep anything very long. Ah, simpler days…
I’m with” Zackman” on this one, the 64 was a lot nicer looking. I owned a 63 Biscayne 4 dr, and two 64’s. Of course this was around the late sixties, early seventies. Here In the heart of GM country,used ones were under $500. Ten years of salt would cause the frame to rot, just above the rear wheels.
The smart buyer would reach up into the wheel well,with a ball peen hammer. A few taps would quickly indentify frame rot.
I learned that little trick, the hard way.
The ’64 was not “a lot nicer looking”. ’64s were dogs.
I prefer a ’63 over a ’64. These were everywhere in my youth, in all body styles. The ones that have survived are certainly not too stock. Personally, as I get older, I like (prefer now) the four door hardtops.
My neighbor across the street has a 68 Impala convertible, black with a white top and black interior. It’s got a 327 (factory) with a Turbo 350 swapped in to replace the Powerglide (he replaced it after driving the car with the Powerglide for a month, he hated the Powerglide that much). He started it up Sunday morning to take it out for a spin. It was nice to listen to while I was eating breakfast.
My dad’s ’63 Belair was a 230 six with a three on the tree. Even with just a six, it would lay rubber for miles, even with Atlas Bucrons.
One sunny afternoon I decided to do some Top Fuel burnouts, but the bitch wouldn’t lay rubber! What’s up with that? I finally realized that I was trying to perform this exercise starting out in second gear! Nearly lifted the front wheels off the ground. Did my dad experience mechanical issues with this car? Are you shitting me?
To fellow CCer C, this is what we call sowing one’s wild oats. Yes, I was the boy that your mother warned you about (was that fun or what!), but some things have to be dealt with first-hand. For what it’s worth, I’ve been married once for 37 years. But I still have fun looking at the fauna at the gym every day. Fantasy is better than reality.