Curbside Capsule: 1968 Chevrolet Impala Custom Sedan

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A little while back, I was driving along a main road getting on with things. As has become a habit, I was taking the occasional glance into the side streets to see if any CC might present themselves to me. I’m usually looking for the glint of a chrome bumper, it’s the quickest way to spot an oldie.

This one time, I thought I had just seen a colonnade wagon.

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Yes, I know what you’re thinking. The 73 Chevelle wagons only had four lights set in the rear bumper. But give me a break, over the last year I’ve managed to capture four different colonnades – more than any other US classic for some bizarre reason. So it seemed entirely possible that what I had barely glimpsed, clean one-piece tailgate and bumper-set rear lights, was yet another.

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I took the next side street and made my way around to the car I’d just seen. Wait on…

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A 1968 Chevrolet Impala wagon! One of my favourite US shapes. I was both thrilled and confused.

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As any self-respecting lover of the 1968 B-body Chevrolet would know, the rear lights weren’t set into the bumper on the wagon. They took their place on the tailgate and rear edge of the fenders.

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It was the four-doors and two-doors that had the bumper-set lights; four for the Biscayne and Bel Air, and six for the Impala and Caprice. So what was I looking at?

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Someone had gone to a lot of effort to fabricate a wagon rear on a pillared sedan body.

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This 68 had clearly been modified to accommodate hearse duties. Which is a bit weird. The 68 B-bodies were brought into Australia in small numbers including (I believe) some wagons. I think what we’re looking at here is a car that might have already been owned by funeral house for widow duties, that was subsequently morphed into a casket carrier. Just guessing, feel free to contribute your own theories.

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As you can see, these variants differed from the b-pillar back. The wagon had fuller rear quarter panels aft of the rear wheel, and the c-pillar was cornered where the sedan’s was curved.

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Engine callout is 327. Minor trim additions in the spooky theme. Massive fan of both longroofs and 68 CheBs here, but I really don’t know how I feel about this one.

Further Reading

67 Caprice Estate by JPCavanaugh

68 Caprice Pillarless Sedan by Ed Stembridge

68 Impala Convertible by Jim Grey

68 Chevmobile Fastback by Paul Niedermeyer