Kentucky, Station wagon rear springs cut to be level. Why u ask? Trunk full of moonshine. It's a runner....
IF it were me in 65...and i could afford it, it'd have either a 409, or a very warmed over 327 and a 4 speed in it in no time. Aside from that, stock steel wheels painted body color, factory dog dish caps and some cheater slicks and cut outs. Sleeper style for me all the way. Nice car btw! Tony
To be cool in '65, the wheels should be changed to "station wagon" wheels (6-inch wide with deeper offset), the wheels painted black, narrow whitewalls, and baby moons. The Powerglide should be replaced with a 4-speed or even a 3-speed converted to floorshift. Engine should at least get a 4 barrel, but it would be better changed to a 327.
heat the front springs for a little lowering - glass pack mufflers - floor shifter - wheel option would be the brand new Cragar S/S chrome 5 spoke with blackwalls
If i bought this car i would keep it just like that i would do some mods like put that third brake light and put impala molding on it and the ss hubcaps. Slightly lower it in the back especialy. And just keep that paint just like that on it. Maybe paint the rrof white but not important. I would just be happy with it personaly.
I think you could put torque thrusts on a toaster and it would look better ! What a timeless design and they made so many cars look tough. Don
SS caps and cruise. 4 barrel carb, 4 speed, headers and Cherry Bombs, station wagon wheels (no caps) or torque thrust wheels, street race and cruise. 327 or 396, cheater slicks, raise front end, and race. My uncle had 4 of them, 327, 4 speeds. Wrecked every one, drinking and driving didn't fit him well. Gene
My 64 Cayne. 2"drop spindles and short coils in the back. 15"wheels and BF Goodrich T/A tires. You don't have to do too much these 2 door post cars to make them look good.
4 speed, hopefully a T10 with a low 1st gear. Big car, 283 can use some torque multiplication! Got a set of baby moons for the rallys, PM me if interested. Nice looking car!
327, 30-30 duntov solid lifter cam, holley 4 bbl, dual exhaust with cutouts, 4 speed (or if I'm running low on money by now, a 3 speed with a Hurst floor shift), Cragar GT wheels, Atlas Bucrons on the rear, traction bars. Go street racin'.
My 283 gets me to 55mph just as fast as I need it to. I have a 348 waiting to be rebuilt but that's a someday kinda thing. If it were mine I would give her a rake, put on some glass packs and maybe slap on a tri-power. I wouldn't be melting tires with it but it would look fast parked and it would sound fast at the red light. That car is sweet by the way, looks nice and clean.
Yes...Were a few around like that in different body colors and all looked good..No big blocks though, various small blocks..Most were guys going to school, little budget..
A 4-speed would be fun. If not a TH350 would at least be an improvement. I had a '64 Impala with blacked out 8" wheels. I might do something like that, but I wouldn't do much. That car is almost perfect as-is. Might do disc brakes, power steering, and a 4-bbl kinda behind the scenes.
as i remember 'car and driver' magazine had a sweepstakes in early 1967 that would buy you any car that listed no more than $3500. a '67 vette roadster just made the cut as the cheapest vette. no options at all. base 327 and 3 speed. at that time the roadster was cheaper than the coupe. and a shelby 350 just made the cut too. but that was still in the future in 1965.
I still like the idea of a 4spd, small block, deep geared cruiser. My older cousin had one around '66 or so, maroon as the OP's. Damn I liked that car. Neighbor had a blue one. Transplanted a hot 327 in place of the 283, column shifted. He could get with the program pretty good for being a tree shift.
FWIW - what you've got looks fine to me. I wouldn't change a thing; just drive it . Traction Masters are for leaf spring cars. Another friend had a black-with-red-interior '62 Super Sport 300hp 327" 3-speed column shift and it was one of the coolest/hottest cars in the high school. As one who was there then, by '65, 283"s and 301"s weren't cool any more. Everyone poor wanted his used Chevy with a 300hp 327", dreamed about 409"s and read about the new 350hp 327" and 396" 425hp. (My best friend bought that '65 425hp 'vette and blew it three times before the dealer told him not to come back any more. The solid lifter cam and valve springs weren't yet reliable enough to warranty, so GM quickly dropped that.) Anyway, back in the day a friend ran cheater slicks on chrome wheels, hang-down headers with turn-down Cherry Bombs; looked and sounded so bad, he never had to race anybody. (FWIW, the exhaust noise inside the car would make you crazy after ten miles on the highway.) jack vines
I think a 396 hits the HAMB fantasy just right. Sure was big news, but I was only 8 years old and still knew of it. I remember in my mid/late teens, popped the hood on a 65 Super Sport and wondered why a 409 was in there. At 1st I figured the guy just liked em but then quickly learned otherwise. Back to what to do with the topic car. Hmmm, I suppose I'd like to find a 64 Chevelle and see if I could swap my super clean 63 for it. The chase for that new 396 would net even bigger returns then. Just sayin...
That is a cool old car, and about as dependable a car as you could ever buy. The back seat is big enough to play chase in and they ride good too. I like the pic of the one with the Torque Thrusts too. But, if it was really 1965, trade it in on a 65 Mustang 2+2 with the Hi Po 289 and a 4speed. Thirty years down the road you will have had a lot of fun and the car will be worth several times what the 63 is worth. Aint nobody else on the Hamb gonna tell you that.
i have always wondered, if gm started building those again, how well they would sell?.......... i'll take two.
Put shackles on the leaf springs to raise the rear end, install some air shocks and buy a set of L70-15 blackwall tires to raise the ass end even more. Install some chrome reverse wheels with baby moons all the way around and don't forget the reverb unit for the AM radio. My first car was a dark blue '65 Impala 2 door hardtop (in 1969) and that's what my buddies and I did with our cars up in the Chicago area...
Probably just drive the 63, cause it was just a regular car, and find a 32 coupe to build, would have had to pay some crazy amount for the 32 coupe in 1965, like $600. Or, search the junkyard for a wrecked chevy and get a posi rear, 4 speed, 327. Cam, intake, headers, from there.
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