1965 Impala SS convertible
In my earlier posting on the cars of my girlfriends I omitted the car my first girlfriend drove, a new 1965 Chevy Impala convertible. Actually it was her mother’s car, but mommy was always happy to let me have the car to squire Barbie Baby around Ft. Smith whenever I was in town. What more could a hormonal teenager want than a nubile, beautiful, willing, and ah, intelligent young woman and an Impala convertible?
Barbie’s Impala was pretty much as illustrated above (but not an SS)-Danube blue with a medium metallic blue Naugahyde interior with a white top. 250 horse 327 with a Powerslide. Even with the Powerglide the car moved effortlessly and quietly. It wasn’t a performance car, it was for stylin, boulevarding, and cruising. And with a bench front seat, a great was to travel with your honey cuddling up next to you.
1965 Impala Convertible Interior
The interior was nicely appointed with mainly soft-touch surfaces. I don’t recall any painted surfaces-maybe the bottom of the dash, but otherwise it was a cozy cocoon of vinyl and nylon. The four-speed shifter in the red interior is interesting. My guess is that not too many Impala convertibles were built this way. A friend of mine at school ordered a 1965 Impala Sport Coupe with a four-speed and a 283, no less. Burgundy with a black vinyl interior. Sweet ride.
Keep the truth from me
The dash was informative if all you were looking for was speed, elapsed miles, fuel level, and what AM station you were listening to. In Arkansas that would have been KAAY in Little Rock during the day, and WLS in Chicago at night. Oh, and there was a big badge on the glovebox door with “IMPALA” scribed on it in case you had forgotten what model of car you were driving.
Sweet dreams
If you bought a 1965 Impala you weren’t alone. Over a million other like-minded buyers did the same thing that year.
Barbie Baby at HS graduation party
My mother had one when I was little, I helped her buy it and went car shopping with her… I was 8 at the time! I’ve always loved cars!
Thanks for the article. Clearly shows how the context can be as important as the item. While details are author specific I can still relate to much. So, (in the most general terms) where is Miss Barbie now?
My very first car ever was a ’65 Impala. 4 door hardtop with a 396/TH400. It was a horrible shade of light silvery pink, with a black interior. The dash instruments had all ceased communication before I got it, the brakes were bad and the tires bald. But the radio worked, and my girlfriend and I also enjoyed the bench seat. You don’t see many ’65s on the road these days, but I always smile when I do see one.
The notorious Evening Orchid?
I think that’s what is was called, yes. It’s apparently a “rare and desireable” color with collectors now. Looked awful after a decade or so in the Okanagan sun.
Another American beauty!Just been watching a pale yellow one in Within Temptation’s Angels video.
Gosh I’m torn…I really like the menacing face and clean lines of the smooth and quiet ’65 Ford, but this Imp sure is sexy. Most have been even more so when it came out, following the comparatively restrained ’64 iteration.
The first car I used to fantasize about was a 65 Impala Hardtop coupe. Silver blue, with a matching interior with bucket seats and a console automatic. Some sort of v-8, of course, not like the six banger my Dad had in his 64 Biscayne. In 1968, when I turned 16, this car was so far out of reach financially. I doubt whether a three year old nice version would have exceeded $ 1,000.
By the way, the 65 dash, with the 2 round pods, resembles the 66 Deville dash I had. The left pod had the headlights and twilight sentinel, and the right had the clock.
Never had a girlfriend with a nice car.
You’ve just described dad’s company-issued car for ’65. Silver blue SS two-door hardtop, 327 two-barrel and Powerglide. The first car I ever soloed in – one Saturday afternoon while the folks were away and I was home alone. I was 15 at the time.
Also that dash was used for Pontiac models exported to overseas markets like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. Here a dash of a 1966 Pontiac Parisienne sold Down Under and converted to right-hand drive(RHD). http://oldcarbrochures.org/index.php/Australia-and-New-Zealand/1966-Holden-Pontiac-Parisienne-Brochure/1966-GMH-Pontiac-Parisienne-03
1965-66 dash continued for 1967-68 Chevrolet cars made from CKD kits and RHD areas like this 1967 Caprice from South Africa http://www.flickr.com/photos/45904802@N08/8294956307/
Kevin, nice remembrance of a great car. It seemed that a lot of folks in my hometown had these cars when bought new and they just looked RIGHT! I especially liked the round tail lamps on the 65 model, more so then the 66. Round tail lights and Chevy’s go hand in hand. I believe the new GM is making a drastic mistake in ditching those traditional round lamps in the C7 Corvette, something a lot of folks are going to be in distress about!
I like the nod towards AM radio stations. Although I was just a youngster in the heyday of these 60’s cars, I remember those stations out of Philadelphia coming out of that rear monaural speaker; legendary stations like WFIL and WIBG with equally legendary Disc Jockey’s. AM radio, ’60’s cars and super rock ‘n roll groups of the day; I feel sorry for the kids growing up today. They’ll never know the thrill of hearing something like the Beach Boys singing “I Get Around” or The Byrds “Mr Tambourine Man” being played and listened to for that first time!
Very cute girl, btw!
Great writeup. I am in your age bracket – from Pine Bluff. Whatever happened to Barbie?
The 65 is the best looking Impala of the 60’s IMO. The 66 is nice too, but I much prefer the three round taillights and rounder nose and tail of the 65 to the squared off 66.
My 66 Biscayne is still presently languishing in my buddy’s back yard while I attend to life’s other matters. Maybe one day…
Nice write up. I really like the red interior picture, & Barbie is cute, too. When I was in high school, class of ’63, a friends father was a district manager (?) for Chevrolet in Louisville. He would get a car every 3 months (an impala convertible in the spring, a wagon for vacation in the summer, 4 door hardtop in the fall and a 4 door sedan in the winter. My favorite might have been the ’61 or ’62 ragtops (I was just starting to drive and as you say, the hormones were flowing).
Thanks,
A good-looking girlfriend and a good-looking car. Life must have been sweet back then.
At that age, I had enough trouble just getting a date.
I had lots of experience with ’65 Chevy’s back in the day. We had some family friends that traded their ’58 Impala convertible for a new light yellow ’65 Impala coupe. I had an uncle who bought a new Orchid Mist 4 door hardtop. It served him well until he tangled with a garbage truck on the ice in the early seventies. Also in the early seventies I was in the used car business I saw many of these pass through the car lot. Two I remember the most were a white with turquoise top Biscayne sedan with a 427 and a TurboHydramatic, and as gold SS coupe with a 327/300 horse, powerglide and factory air. In the eighties I had a friend who had a red SS convertible, and I used to see a light yellow Caprice with a 396 that I drooled over. I owned a ’64 Bel-Air wagon and a ’66 Impala sedan, but never a ’65.
I did not care for Chevrolet’s back then. I felt about them as I feel about Toyotas today. I will echo many of the comments in the previous article, drop dead reliable, good resale value, very popular, but boring. I prefer something different. Of course, now that they are nearing 50 years old, that in itself makes them different.
I always enjoy these articles. They stir up many memories for us old car guys.
Brings back memories of a beautiful 65 Impala 4 door hardtop owned by a friends mother in the late 1960’s. The car was white with a vibrant red interior.
I thought that Impala was beautiful.
Another person I knew at the time had a 66 Impala Hardtop with 283/powerglide combo. Though it was a low miles car ,it was for lack of a better term a POS.
For those of you who asked about Barbie Baby, I would imagine that she is enjoying her grandchildren and still looking beautiful. The ’65 Impala probably went to the crusher long ago.
Ahhh…KAAY, The Mighty Ten-Ninety (AM 1090). I still remember starting my ’68 el Camino and unhappily discovering that they had suddenly changed their format to religious programming. (wth is this?? and thinking I had messed up the preset button) I ended up buying a FM converter so I could get the FM rock stations in Little Rock when I lived in Hot Springs. It was a damage free install, I velcroed the mounting tabs to the ashtray, bent them to stick out of the gap between the underside of the dash and the ashtray, and used the cigarette lighter as a power source.
Magic 105 is gone, too. Damn you, Clear Channel.
I still remember having to pass on a 65 or 66 Impala 396 SS that was at a lower tier used car lot for $800 around that same time in the middle 80s. Beautiful car with a bit of quarter panel rust over the wheel arches but I wonder what else was wrong with it for the price be so low.
I hope Barbie wears her years as lightly as the design of the 1965 Impala does!
When I was growing up, my dad drove a white ’65 Impala 4-door hardtop with light blue interior and a 283/glide. I loved it, especially the handsome front end. When I was around five or so, he put me on his lap & let me steer it around the block two different times. Those are the two greatest memories I’ve ever had with my father. The ’65 Impala will always be special to me. I hope to own any flavor ’65 Impala one day, preferably not a SuperSport.
The ’67 Chevrolet is almost as special…as my dad drove two light blue beater sedans to O’hare (work). One was a Biscayne: the other a Bel Air.
That is a funny story because when I was a little tyke, my dad had a 1965 BelAir with 283 and Powerglide. It was red, four door post. He always said he hated it. Anyway, when I was about five, he’d put me on his knee and let me steer.
By the time I was 12, I was driving all over the countryside. He always said it was just a small fine if we got stopped!
We never did.
Kevin, you’ve lived a life full of interesting cars and pretty girls – what’s your secret?
Although it was likely a rarely chosen option (and not particularly well placed on the dash), it was possible to get a full set of gauges on a ’65 Impala
My ex and I owned a 1965 Chevy Impala convertible. It was red on the outside with a red interior, bench seat, four in the floor, and a white convertible top. Like idiots, we traded it later on for a piece of junk new car and realized in 4 weeks time what a mistake we had made. We went to buy the car back and it was long gone! What a beauty it was! We called it “The Red Devil”. I am still sick to this day on losing that one!! This was back in 1967!
My first car was a 1965 Impala SS. It was dark green with tan buckets, 327/300 and a three speed column shift. With column shift and console it had the one used on automatic cars with an ashtray where the auto shifter was. It got me thru college and then I traded for a 1968 Olds Cutlass 442 with W30, so I didn’t miss it too much.