Submitted for your consideration on this Friday the 13th – one derelict Impala coupe that really deserved better. Here it sits, rotting into the ground, long since forsaken by anyone who might have been able to intervene. Yet, try as we might, such things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone Junkyard Outtake.
I had planned another virtual field trip to the Back Forty for today. But with other things filling every free minute of my time this week, I had no choice but to round up this small handful of pictures and let the commentariat draw its own conclusions. So, have at it!
Picked over. (Such short captions! Is this phoning it in, or what?)
This car has a rare distinction – in this yard, it’s the only package car of its era that I’ve found still wearing its signature badges.
I feel equally as bad for that 1967 Impala convertible located to this right of this one.
Well, if this was one of the Lambrecht Chevrolet auction cars, it probably would have sold for too much money! Last night I was watching the auction coverage (think it was on Speed TV or History Channel) that I had recorded on the DVR but never watched. Wowee did people have a bad case of auction fever. Looks like this car, despite some rust, could be saved.
After reading the report in HMN on this auction, I agree with you on the auction fever.
I could use those bumpers for my own ’66 Biscayne.
I grew up with a baby blue ’66 Biscayne 4-door post as the family car. Too much power steering for that 2 foot steering wheel and drum brakes all around. I earned my driver’s licence driving it. There’s a pic of me washing it ca. ’81 (decked out in Adidas wear of course.) If I can find that pic I’ll scan it and share it here.
I always loved the GM flowing script on their 60’s and 70’s cars, especially the Super Sport scripts used on the 66 and 67 Chevelles and Impala’s. The 65 Corvair had that same script format; very nice in chrome. But my favorites were always the Corvette script, 1963 style but especially the more vertical Corvette script found on the 66?/67 StingRay’s on the left hood corner and right rear bumble-back. Such a classy look for such a beast!
I love these junkyard cars, they stir up the possibilities in the mind, bringing it back to life. Then reality sets in after that reverie. But it would be a shame to know this car will never travel on the road again. I hope someone sees it and has that same spark of an idea go off in their mind; and act on it.
Absolutely correct…My ’65 Corvair and ’65 Skylark have the same flowing script that is miles ahead of the block script on my Mustang and Dart wagon.
My favorite was the Impala script used from 1969-76:
My favorite style is the ’68.
I looked for months to find an unbroken one of those for my ’69… never succeeded. Ended up selling it with one missing.
Darn! I still have the scripts off the ’69 I used to have. They are kind of pitted though.
I suspect that for this car to still be sitting there it is yet another 283/Glide car that nobody cared enough to bring back to life. An SS with the 283/Glide has become almost like a unicorn, despite the fact that this is probably the way most of them were built. I was at a car show late last summer and saw a beautiful 66 SS convertible with that once-common powertrain. It was remarkable to me for that reason alone.
That said, the 66 is my favorite Chevy from the second half of the 60s (the 63 gets my vote for the first half).
Coming of driving age in the middle of the 70’s, my best buddy had the 66 Impala with this powertrain of 283 and powerglide. Not a lick of trouble at all. The greatest engine ever built in the world, the small block Chevrolet, it’s fair to say it’ll never be equaled again.
Hard to argue with the 66, JP. I kind of like the 65 with the traditional round tail lamps. Take a close look at the 2014 Camaro….the rear tail lamp design is brand new for 2014. It took me right back to my buddy’s 66 Impala tail lamps. I think this design cue on the Camaro was done with that car in mind. Not sure if it plays as well on the 2014 Camaro as it did for the 66 Impala and Caprice!
I think the taillights on the 2014 Camaro most closely resemble those on the ’69 Camaro:
It’s sooooo easy to imagine this car new, they were seemingly everywhere. I agree it must have been a 283/Powerglide by the brake pedal and outline of the crossed flags emblem. Whitewalls and the hubcaps with the 3 ribs. I wish someone could rescue this car and restore it, but the odds are kind of slim at this point.
A sad sight indeed. The ’60’s Impalas have always been a favorite of mine, and I hate to see a ’66 rusting away like that. If it can’t be brought back to life, hopefully some of its parts helped keep another one going. I have some photos of a ’68 Pontiac convertible with a tree growing through the back seat, and it’s kind of depressing. If it can’t (or won’t) get restored then it’s better to strip off any useful parts to keep another one alive and then recycle it. I hate to see a great old car rusting away on someone’s back forty.
If that Impala were here in Southern California, someone from the lowrider / donk crowd would snatch it up in a nanosecond, even in the condition that it’s now in. Impalas of that vintage enjoy HUGE aftermarket support. If you have the time, the patience, and deep pockets, you could rebuild virtually the entire car using all brand new parts.
A good buddy of mine had a ’66 Impala SS back in the early ’80s. 396/TH400 car, more of a relaxed highway cruiser than a dragster but it was a smooth, quiet ride. He eventually swapped out the 2.73 rear for a 3.31 posi, made a few tweaks to the 396 and had himself quite a sleeper. But most of these cars were indeed 283 powerglides which was enough for 98% of the people who bought them, particularly given the limited handling and braking abilities of these cars.
At the bottom of their price curves these “65-’67 cars, even in SS trim, were worth maybe $500.00 in drivable condition and were a staple in high school parking lots everywhere. We used and abused them, harvested the usable parts and left them to rot, just like this one. They were so common no one ever thought they’d be worth anything. Mea Culpa, but we did have fun with them…..
My Biscayne project started out as a 250 / Powerglide car that the previous owner swapped a generic late model 350 into while retaining the Powerglide. The dolt then turned it into a lowrider, causing considerable damage to the frame- hogging out the shock mounting holes to make room for the hydraulic rams, as well as several stress cracks. He even broke one of the tie rod ends and split the oil pan open- which he halfheartedly repaired with JB Weld.
My friend and I pulled the body off the frame, repaired all the damage, cleaned and painted the frame, and started installing the suspension. It’s then when I discovered another one of GM’s cost-cutting moves. It turns out that on the 65-66 B-bodies, the wagons and big block cars got two rear upper trailing arms, while the sixer and small block cars only got the passenger side. I plan on replacing that 10-bolt rear end with a 12-bolt WITH both upper trailing arm mounts, of course.
When that car gets back on the road, it’ll be with a Turbo 400 or 700R4 trans, power steering, power disc brakes, and a period-correct 396 big block ( I already have a line one one ).
That’s a terrible end for a once really fine car. A hardtop at that… the horror!
Dad’s 1966 Impala sports sedan was a car I miss to this day.
You know my non-car friends (which have dwindled to very few) and even some of my car friends don’t understand my fascination with wandering around junkyards just to look and not necessarily looking for parts.
I look at this derelict car and squint my eyes and I can almost see it shiny and new, gleaming in the 1960’s sunlight. Someone drove it over to his or her friend’s house saying “Look at my new car!” and everyone ooh and ahhed. The owner drove it with a smile of accomplishment for having purchased it. It took the owner to work, out on the town, on vacations, memories were made, important conversations were had while on the road in that car and now it sits, a sad shell of it’s former self, all forgotten.
Maybe I just get too emotionally attached to cars, haha.
Adam, I thought I was the only one who could walk through a junkyard or abandoned housing and “see” the imagined past as you describe.
I learned to drive in our family’s white 1966 Impala four door hardtop with the two-barrel 283/Powerglide Drivetrain but due to improper timing settings the valves burned out before I could legally drive it and we traded it in on a 1971 Sport Fury. I’ve always thought the two best designs of the decade were the ’66 and ’70 Impalas.
If CC had a COTW, I’d vote for this.
I wouldn’t grieve for this car. The fact that it appears nearly all the trim, insturmentation and glass has been stripped, it’s probably given it’s last gasp so others may live.
The rear license plate is from the late 1980s and the fact the car lasted that long in Minnesota is amazing, maybe it was garaged at one point. The car still looks somewhat nice, but it is beyond saving since it would fall apart if you moved it.
Heartbreaking to see such desirable models in the condition where they’re beyond saving.
I’ll always have a soft spot for Chevies of this era and it’s not terribly difficult to bring a solid 1965-70 Impala/Caprice to nice-driver condition. Proper size wheels/tires and sway bars do wonders and yes I’ll transplant a Gen III/IV with 6L80E while I’m at it.
Then drive and enjoy.
Went into my job agency on Friday and theres a mint SuperSport Impala parked there all original and mint a far cry from this one, Floorshifted and 396 call outs.