The sheer popularity of vintage Chevrolets can have a numbing effect. Most people like these cars, but they’re so ubiquitous that it can be hard to get excited about them. If your reaction to another Impala SS is “so what?” can I interest you in a rare and attractive one-year-only color — Evening Orchid — with a similarly rare final-year 409 engine?
“In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” is a song by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer, popularized by the Bing Crosby/Jane Wyman version sung in the 1951 Frank Capra film Here Comes the Groom. Although the Crosby/Wyman version won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, Sinatra’s version was released on Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River and Other Academy Award Winners in March 1964, only nine months before the Evening Orchid Impala Super Sport Sport Coupe featured here rolled off the line at the assembly plant in Janesville, Wisconsin.
Evening Orchid was a one-year-only color, an unusual and distinctive hue for an American car of this era. It was offered in each Chevrolet car line, but only in the priciest trim levels. I have no idea how many Chevrolet cars were originally painted this color, but it wasn’t many. On the other hand, it seems to be well-remembered, and people who have an original Evening Orchid car seem to grasp that they have something special.
This particular car showed up at Mecum Auctions back in 2014 and again on Bring a Trailer in 2025 (I’m mixing and matching pictures from both auctions), but it’s not the only survivor I’ve seen in this color.
The modern appreciation for Evening Orchid unfortunately doesn’t seem to deter people from fitting these cars with aesthetically appalling aftermarket wheels, which seems to be the doom of too many ’60s Chevrolets. This one at least retains its original 14-inch wheels and Super Sport wheel covers.
These aren’t the world’s most attractive wheel covers, falling prey to common novice graphic designer gaff: a major graphical element (the central ring of radial vanes) that’s too small to be clearly visible at a distance or when scaled down; if you’re more than about thirty feet away, it just looks like the faux spinner is set into a black field. Still, it’s better than yet another Impala with 22-inch rims the car and its suspension absolutely weren’t designed for.
The full-size Chevrolet line was redesigned completely for 1965, with a new perimeter frame chassis and curved side glass. Everyone’s got opinions about ’60s Chevrolets, but I think this one strikes a pretty nice balance between maturity and sportiness. The sport coupe (two-door hardtop) was the most popular version.
As with the regular Impala, the Impala Super Sport was distinguished from the rear by a third taillight on each side.
Some people still assume that any 1960s Chevrolet with “Super Sport” badges must be some kind of muscle car, but the Impala Super Sport was really just a trim series, one of the ’60s “bucket brigade” of domestic cars with front bucket seats and a center console. It also featured all-vinyl upholstery and lots of interior brightwork.
If you were ordering an Impala in 1965, white vinyl interior (with a black dashboard and carpet) was exclusive to the Super Sport line. This car’s power windows were fairly rare: Only 8.5 percent of full-size Chevrolets had them in 1965, making that option considerably less common than this car’s air conditioning (which went into almost one-fourth of production).
The dashboard of the Super Sport suffered somewhat from having to use the same basic dashboard structure as the rest of the line, with a none-too-sporty horizontal speedometer.
However, the left circular binnacle did contain a full set of secondary gauges, although they weren’t positioned very well for easy reading.
The same complaint applied to the optional tachometer, which went into the right binnacle. If you didn’t order the tachometer, there was a manifold vacuum gauge in this space instead. I guess this position was better than putting the tachometer on the center console, but it wasn’t as easy to see as one might prefer with manual transmission.
This car has the optional 4-speed manual, which was another fairly rare option, installed on only 3.8 percent of 1965 full-size Chevrolet production. On this car, it was a hefty $236.75 extra, which was a significant discouragement; Chevrolet buyers generally ordered Powerglide instead. The four dials above the shifter are for the pricey AM/FM stereo multiplex radio. I think the red switch is for the hazard flashers, another optional feature; four-way flashers weren’t yet compulsory in 1965.
Although there’s no clear shot of it in either listing, just behind the shifter is the “rally-type” electric clock, a standard Super Sport feature.
The swoopy, close-coupled Impala sport coupe looked good on the outside, but its styling did come at a cost in rear seat room, which was not impressive for a car this size. Judging by the popularity of these cars, buyers were completely unconcerned. Chevrolet factory production figures for this period aren’t broken out by body style, but the Impala was by far the bestselling car in the U.S., and Chevrolet officials confirmed to Tom McCahill in 1965 that the two-door hardtop was the most popular body style. It wasn’t surprising — Americans actually bought more two-door hardtops than four-door sedans in the mid- to late ’60s.
1965 was the first year for the 396 cid Chevrolet big-block V-8, but it didn’t arrive until early in the 1965 calendar year. Until then, the full-size Chevrolet was still offered with the Turbo-Fire 409, in either 340 hp L33 or 400 hp L31 form. The L31, which was offered only with the 4-speed and couldn’t be ordered with air conditioning, was very rare, but even the L33 wasn’t common, perhaps because the small block V-8s were perfectly adequate and a lot cheaper. Ordering the L33 cost $242.10, the L31 $320.65. Total 409 production totaled only 2,828 cars before production switched over to the 396.
With a gross torque output of 420 lb-ft and dual exhausts, the Impala SS 409 had brisk performance. Car and Driver, testing an SS 409 with Powerglide, managed 0 to 60 in 8 seconds and the quarter mile in 16.4 seconds at 91 mph, and this Evening Orchid car’s 4-speed and Positraction would probably knock about a second off those times. That was enough to put a lot of sport in your Super Sport, but it was no longer competitive with midsize muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO, which would soon lead to the decline of full-size sporty models like the Impala Super Sport. By the early ’70s, the Impala SS would be gone, and you’d have to scour the fine print of the options list to find anything very sporty in the full-size Chevrolet line.
The tide had already turned by 1965, but the Impala sport coupe was still America’s car. Chevrolet built more than a million Impalas this year, of which about 243,100 were Super Sports and about 216,000 of those were Super Sport sport coupes. So, a lot of people obviously liked the styling, the plush ride, and the air of relaxed sportiness. Most people took the 283 or 327 and Powerglide, and with a less lavish options list — with the big engine, the 4-speed, air conditioning, the fancy stereo, and other extras, this car’s original sticker price was over $1,000 more than the average Impala — but this was a popular formula.
“In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” isn’t a love song, and Sinatra’s truncated version omits the only lyric that has anything to do with cars (“If there’s gas in my hack / and my laundry is back”), but it envisions the kind of nostalgic scene that’s come to be associated with ’60s cars like this: heading out to a bake or a barbecue after the sun has gone down and the heat has broken enough to give the air conditioner a rest and roll down the windows. (“In the cool, cool, cool of the evening, better save a chair / Oh, when the party’s a-getting a glow on, and singing fills the air / In the shank of the night when the doing’s all right / You can tell ’em I’ll be there.”) Even if that’s not your scene, you can take satisfaction in spotting a most uncommon version of this very popular car.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1965 Chevrolet Biscayne – Voluptuous Hips For Cheapskates (by Paul N)
Vintage Reviews: 1965 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe – Three Ways To Powerglide (by GN)
Racetrack Capsule: 1965 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport – Jukebox Hero? (by Aaron65)
In the small midwestern town I went to school in (1-12) with a population of around 200, there was a 4 door sedan Impala in this shade and a station wagon as well. Both had black vinyl interiors. The wagon is still owned by a family member of the original owner and has been restored. It is shown at local car shows and has quite the interesting story with it having been used through the years as a farm/field car and family “truckster”. Both were bought new. The 4 door sedan was traded on a new ’68 – 4door sedan in two tone olive green and never seen again.
There was also a red with white interior SS 409 – 4 speed and a dark navy blue convertible with white top and interior owned by 2 local farm families. It was also a Super Sport but a console shift auto. None but the wagon in this orchid survive today.
There were other SS cars around here as well: a ’66 in bronze metallic, bronze interior/ console automatic car. A ’69 Chevelle 396 / 4 speed in yellow and a ’68 blue with blue interior convertible. Only the Chevelle was bought new and special ordered in a hew of yellow only seen on the Corvette of that year….. the guy waited a long time for it to arrive and it did not survive long in his care. As I look back it amazes me so many unique cars lived around my area of such a small population. The local Chevy dealership was 30 miles away and many came to this area from that city or the neighboring city across the border/river of that one. My brother has a ’67 Camaro RS from that smaller dealer, and owns it yet today.
Thanks for bringing some fond memories back Sir of an era which had many good positives filled with “muscle madness” during a time of global conflict, death, drug culture, and racial unrest. Rock and roll and cool vibes of off the chart car options helped the rest of us growing up at that time, filled with awe ……
My summertime girlfriends parents owned the Chevrolet dealer in Quinter, KS and the always drove the best new Chevys. She had a 1957 BelAir but her mom had a 1968 Chevy Impala Sport Coupe. We did get to ride in it a few times..
65 IMPALA SS COOL COOL COOL OF THE EVENING WAS ONE PRETTY COOL CAR. ON MY WAY TO SCHOOL I WALKED PAST ONE DAILY (DREAMING THAT I’D OWN ONE)
NEVER HAPPENED OTHER THINGS CAME 1ST
The 65/66 always looked underfed to me compared with the 67, and the 68 looked overfed. That claim is probably a blasphemy, considering the Cadillac and Pontiac saw a peak styling year in 65 and this was the ‘purest’ version of that Chevrolet body, but what the hey. That colour is so utterly gorgeous it makes me ignore my prejudices. Nice spotting Aaron.
I rebuilt the Powerglide in one of these,SS in this color. It had a 283. An I think the W engines were Turbo-Thrust.
Only through 1961. After that, Chevrolet called them “Turbo-Fire” like the SBC. (No, it doesn’t make any sense to me either!)
Nice car. Today, I appreciate Evening Orchid. In the late ’70s when my first car was a ’65 Impala 4 door hardtop in very weathered Evening Orchid I did not. Mine had a black interior and the attraction to me was the 396 with turbo 400. Somewhere along the line it had been equipped with a 3.31 posi and had been used as a trailer tow car. I got lots of teasing about the colour, along with it’s roached condition, but it was quite quick. It would easily beat my buddy’s ’65 Sport Fury with a 383 or another buddy’s 7 Litre Galaxy, but the Impala was so rough I usually borrowed one or the other to take a girl out.
Today it would be considered worth saving but back then it was a 300 dollar beater in a colour no one liked and soon gave up it’s vital organ for various projects. I did have a lot of fun with it, being my first car. I sure wouldn’t mind having this example!
Pontiac had a similar color. Adam Wade has featured one on his You Tube channel. Unsure about other GM divisions. Did Cadillac ever have a lavender car?
Yes in ’60/61 at least. Olds in ’58
Pontiac had a similar color.
Pontiac called theirs ‘Iris Mist’
I despise putting huge wheels on vintage cars……especially when 60s GM brakes were marginal anyway. Ford in 65 went to 15in for most of their large cars and looked soooooo much better. The “elephant in ballerina shoes” look just ruined a really nice looking car.
This SS would look just fine with a set of 15in Chevy Rally wheels without making it look like if fell out of a rap video.
I’m surprised to hear Evening Orchid was only available one year. It could be special ordered in ’67 as evidenced by the Camaro obtained by the sales manager of Capital Chevrolet in Salem, OR for his son, my classmate.
Such a different time. I don’t quite understand why so many people nowadays choose a mid-sized crossover for their daily transportation, but those make a whole lot more sense to me than driving a huge land yacht that nonetheless has only two doors, a tight, hard to access 2nd row, no 3rd row of course, and a luggage area that’s roomy but still can’t fit larger items that a modern SUV can easily hold. And yet Impala Sport Coupes sold by the boatloads. Today, cars like this are long extinct.
I don’t recall ever seeing a car in this color. I love that Corvair shot with the nicely color-coordinated trees (cherry blossoms?) behind it.
To me, 1965 and ‘66 are peak Chevy styling for that decade, and I like the color, though I’m never a fan of white interiors. But I never knew the 409 was available in 1965 so thanks for teaching me something new Aaron!
In 1965 I’d have considered this color embarrassing but not now =8-) .
Amazingly well optioned car here, also that it survived .
I’d rather have the vacuum gauge than the tachometer, that’s what your ears are for .
-Nate
When I was a kid, my mother’s piano tuner had a 65 Impala in this color. I am sure I saw a handful of others, but the one Me. Carmer parked in our driveway every year or so was the only one I actually remember.
I wiew this as the tail end of 50s tastes in car colors. There was a similar shade offered by Plymouth in 1966, but that era was well and truly over by then and it was less common than these. I think almost every manufacturer offered some kind of pale metallic pink or lavender in the early 60s, but none was what I would call popular.
The ’65 Chevy’s styling was surprisingly adventurous, with the first use of the floating front bumper. This was a huge break from the traditional heavy front bumper that hung like a battering ram below the grille. And then there were the equally ground-breaking rear taillights floating above the bumper. Both were an exceptional willingness to incorporate some of the stylistic ideas from the designers into a mass-production vehicle. Kudos to Chevrolet!
And of course both were gone in the drastically dumbed-down ’66. Boo!
What is the extra pipe coming out of the back end of the mufflers? Can’t see in the image where they go, maybe it is a balance tube but usually for balance it is located not far behind the engine.
I think that’s a visual illusion, Scott. The pipe just goes up over the axle, and since it’s not in line when it comes back down again, it looks like two pipes. The driver’s side pipe is in a shadow, which makes it even harder to tell.
That dashboard stretches the limits of full instrumentation. The gauges are barely more informative than warning lights.
A well-equipped car in a distinctive color with beautiful white upholstery. Wouldn’t mind having it for my own but the infamous 409 puts it out of my range I’m sure.
1965 went down as one of the greatest Detroit years. Big bodies were new across the board, and Bill Mitchell’s creations were as exciting as it got. It stood to reason 1966 would be quieter, and the Big Chevy seemed to have been restyled to make it look more like a ’64. Only one car improved for 1966— Pontiac. 1967 was another quiet year for Chevrolet, but at least the Impala and its kin returned to the sporty image. It took 1968 to return Chevy as styling leader, with a model that was plainly influenced by the ’65.
When I was growing up a neighbor had this exact car (with a black vinyl top, 327/glide). He bought it a couple of years old and drove it until 1969 when he traded it in on a year old Charger RT.
A friend had an Impala convertible in this color. Stunning. That car had a 327 with a Powerglide, which was plenty.
About the muffler and exhaust pipes, I don’t know what’s going on with that car but the left muffler is too close to the driveshaft.
That is a well-equipped ’65 Full Size Chevrolet. The only other one that had more options is this ’65 Impala SS, also in Evening Orchid metallic that is currently in the Blackhawk Museum. It was reportedly special ordered by a Chevrolet Motor Division executive, as it has some items such as power vent windows that were not offered on Chevrolets that year. Here is a photo of it when it was on display in the (now closed) Imperial Palace Museum in Las Vegas.
And what, pray tell, IS an “evening” orchid?
I mean, could one order sunrise sticky catchfly, or mid-morning tulip? Lunchtime lavender? Afternoon pansy, perhaps? Bedtime begonia? Midnight magnolia?
No, I suppose they couldn’t have a Chev ad with Sinatra moaning on about his moonlight flamingo flower…
Even though it was a lowly 4 door, 283, Powerglide, in Cameo Beige, the used ’65 Impala that was my first car was great. I have often regretted selling it.
Beautiful car in a fantastic color!
Great car, great color, great write-up! I suspect that 4 way flasher was a dealer accessory or aftermarket accessory (rather than a factory option.) Those were very commonly added to cars before the Federal requirement that ’67s have them (along with dual-master cylinders.) I’m OK with the ’65 styles, but I never, as a kid or even now, liked the location of the taillights. They always looked tacked on to me, where the 64’s and 66’s have a much more integrated look to them. Keep up the good work!
I think it’s this, which was a catalogued Chevrolet dealer accessory in 1965.
I am surprised that there has been no mention of the song “409” by The Beach Boys. The song was how I first became aware of the 409.
“My four speed, dual-quad, positraction four-oh-nine.”
My dad had a 65 Impala SS! His was “Champagne Pink” similar to Evening Orchid. 327 2 speed glider transmission. And an all black vinyl interior. Beautiful car and an excellent year.