Originally posted by monochrome My grandmother sold me her 1963 Impala SS [EDIT: my brother corrected me. They didn't offer a 396, only yhe 409
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396 327/300 Convertible (Red over Black) for $50. My father arranged it. He thought in 1971 I couldn't do anything in a '63 barge with bucket seats and a console-shift Powerglide. Uhmmm, Dad . . . . there was
nothing we didn't do in that car.
I traded a 1966 VW Beetle for a 1966 Impala SS396, bucket seats, console shift Turbo 400, posi rear end, blue with a vinyl top, factory rally wheels with the trim rings and center caps. Straight across. The owner kept getting arrested for street racing, reckless and negligent driving tickets, and lost his license one too many times.
One of the best cars I ever owned.
I still regret selling that car. Today you couldn't touch one in nice condition for less than what a small house used to sell for.
Of course I also had a hard time keeping myself out of jail (for street racing), lost my license once because of my tendency to mash the loud pedal, and it was running me to the poor house keeping tires on the drive axle. That was when gasoline was still under $1.00 a gallon.