65 Impala SS
Here we are again… heading out on a road trip to pick up an original 1965 Chevy Impala SS with an original 327ci engine rebuilt, original interior and body, SS VIN number… oh might I add, all the original documents proving OG status, as well as, being in the same family since birth? It’s approximately 8:30pm Saturday night and we have a 8-9 hour drive ahead of us – wheeeww – lets go over our checklist:
1. Red Bull / Monster (for driver) – check
2. 5 Hour energy drink (for passenger) – check
3. Road Map / GPS – check
4. Tunes – iPods – check
5. Petro – check
alright everything’s checked and we’re on the road again! The night flew by and at 6:15 am, we reach our destination. Not much time for sleeping as we had to meet the seller by 10. I can’t lie, I probably got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep due to the fact that 1 1/2 hours was me sitting in bed thinking about this gem we were going to see.
The next morning was exhausting, we had no sleep and knew we had a long ride home ahead of us, but we weren’t going to let the small details get in the way of us buying our 65 Impala SS. It took about 30 minutes to find the sellers house and we introduce ourselves and got all the formalities out of the way…. and frankly got down to business.
“Now that’s CHERRY”
A million thoughts ran through my head – was this car going to be another dud? Was this guy truthful on the phone or did we leave out any details when asking the “right” questions? What is this ride going to look like? I hope he doesn’t say something like… oh, the Impala I described last night was sold earlier this morning, but we have this one in it’s place…. please don’t say anything like that, please.
We walked up the driveway into his garage and there it was, I felt like Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard in American Graffiti – now that’s CHERRY, I can definitely dig this ride.
Let me start by saying; you don’t find this type of SS in this shape, this original and for this price anymore – you just don’t do it. But to our amazement, this 65′ was all original and had all the parts to restore it to make this a real beauty. It had the original 327, interior, body, quarters, fenders, undercarriage, hubcaps, radio, tires, with the Protect-O-Plate and owners manual. ….and to top it off, additional treasure in the trunk; extra parts, documents, emblems, etc…, he then tells us the whole history of the car, Sharing with us, stories of he and his family taking trips in the car, laughing and having a good time. While talking, we could see in his face, he was definitely going to have a hard time letting this heirloom go. I don’t think we could have gotten this 65′ on the trailer fast enough, we wanted this car and we were going to buy it.
To make a long story even longer, we ended up negotiating, and in the end, buying a piece of classic automotive history for a great price and having some great stories to tell in the future. We made some friends along the way, and are currently in the process of restoring this classic back to its originality. What a fantastic and worthwhile 18 hour trip to Georgia to find a real piece of American treasure – thanks again seller for being so honest and upfront, I wish there were more people like you out there.
As we’re getting everything ready for the trip home, he and his daughter say to us “please send us some pictures once you complete the renovation, we would love to see it.”
Now my friends, that right there, is worth the trip alone.
So, this time, my partner and I are sitting in the truck ready to go home with a different checklist:
1. Red Bull / Monster (for driver) – check
2. 5 Hour energy drink (for passenger) – check
3. Road Map / GPS – check
4. Tunes – iPods – check
5. Petro – check
6. 1965 Chevy Impala SS, 327ci, on the trailer ready for a new home – check
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