Im looking into getting a sixties 2d hardtop, -and a 65 Impala is high on my list over cool cars from this era. So Im wondering what the strong points / weak point of these are? How much do you guys think I need to pay for one of these in the states? The ones over here are either ****ty 4d cars or expensive restos (often convertibles). Im not looking for some collectors item, matching-numbers SS, but a solid, straight, rustfree car with the 2d ht-bodystyle that can be driven everyday (in the saltfree months that is). Any input is of interest really.
They came with 1) 6 cylinder 2) 283 3) 327 4) 396 5) and a few with 409 The 409 would be real cool....IMHO Had a few friends who had them.........back in the day....they were big and heavy. Rode good but the brakes were not good enough for spirited "teenage" driving (drum brakes). I was at a swap meet/flea market yesterday in Charlotte North Carolina and saw a pretty nice red 65 Super Sport coupe, 327 and a 4 speed ...for 10 grand. I looked at it a little........( a friend had one just like it in the late 60's ) .....but not real close. It was mostly original with around 100,000 miles on it. It looked like a good 5 or 6 year old car....... .
be prepare to spend a LOT! all the rust free '65s are gonna be in states where the weather is hot and dry.that's also where all the latinos live,so they get snapped up as prime lowrider material.i haven't seen a cheap impala of ANY sort since 1986,when my brother picked up a '64 SS 2 dr.HT for $1200.i had a '65 impala ss 2dr HT right before i joined the army in 1983,sold it for $550 right after i'd given it a fresh coat of black primer-george
i had a 65 4 door sedan..i think it was originally a 327 car..the engine in it when i got it was blown..had to sell it before i got to do anything with it.i miss it.im a big fan of 4 doors,then you add in the pillarless doors,i love that look
In 1997 I´ve bought my 62 Impala from a guy near Stuttgart who had imported it from Arizona in the early nineties. It had 18000 original miles on it and was rust free. I paid him 3500 Euros/7000 Marks back then which was about 3000 US $ at that time. He needed to sell the Impala as quickly as possible because he was kinda broke. He offered me the car at his own cost so I guess he paid around 1000 US$ . Ok, that was back in the early 1990´s so I´m not sure if that could be of any help for you. Here are some pics. I wish you luck finding a good 65! They are great looking cars. Chris
There was a guy around here with an all original 65 SS 396 car for $2500. It was very weathered and didn't run, like a barnyard car. It needed everything but did have a basicly sound looking body. He had it at a couple local swap meets and took it home.
theres a 65-66 ht with no motor or trans for 200. up the street from me. body don't look that bad, light rust around the lower fenders.
heres a heads up , IF you do find a "rust free southern car" ,Have someone you trust check it out b4 buying, I have seen low milage otherwise clean 59-70 chevy's w bad frames, most have been fixed , they go out where the rear axle upper track arm bolts to the frame, very thin high stress area , even on HP dual track arm models, seen 12000 mile clean cars where this was bad. there are other areas that go out ,like behind the front wheels, but that is the most common.On northern 59-70's up here by me, its a definate given that its been fixed , a rare one will pop up now and again thats ok , but RARE.
Sailor, my father had a 65 rag...black with a red interior....327 and a glide...it was a nice car....many ,many years ago....I have pmed you
I think the 65's are one of the best looking Impalas. They make great looking rides (from street machine, to lowrider)
here's my 65 SS i had back about 6 or 7 years ago..sold it to my dad cuz i thought he was gonna keep it and that id be able to buy it back,,then he turned around and sold it a year later
I own a 66 Impala 2door, which is really similar to the 65. It was my daily driver in an inner city area for years. I pulled it from the daily driver rotation because I became worried that someone would hit it.It is the best car I've ever owned. A breeze to drive, easy to get parts for, and with the right engine trans combo, not as bad as you would think on gas milage. The car is now bagged, and is still a pleasure to drive. There's one near me for sale for 1,600 that needs some work, but it's not a bad starting point. Get one.
In my opinion, the '65 Hardtop Impalas are one of the best-looking 60's cars of any make. I love them! They are 40 years old now, so it's getting tough to find one with a decent body and interior at a good price. Good Luck, Sailor.
There were two roof styles on '66 2drs. One was the kind of fastback style shown in the picture above. There was also a "Sport Roof" style that had a more vertical rear window. The style MAY have been available in '65. The fastback style is somewhat more prone to rust out around the rear window as did most of Chevy's cars of that period. The more vertical roof seemed to shed the water more easily. The Sport Roof was an extra cost option so cars with that roof tended to be more "loaded". The '65s had round tailights while the '66 had some tasteful bar style lights which wrapped around the side of the car. The '66 lenses varied by model/trim level: Biscayne, BelAir, Impala, Caprice and I think even SS. It can be a pain to get replacement lenses because there were so many styles.
Here in northern california for a decent runner.Complete with ok interior and ok paint you could find one for around $3000. $1500 for one that needs alot of work. These are just ball park figures. Back when only us lowriders liked impalas they were cheap. I bought my first one for 500 bucks, and it was nice. After all the camaros and chevelles got too expensive I guess the impalas where next.
Model A vette is right on the roof style's..the carpice had the more squared off style, where the impala was the 'fastback'.. I had a 66 SS about 8 years ago..bought it off the original owner, the car only had 59 thousang mile's on it, and had never seen a winter so it was in very nice shape.. Just had some wear and tear from use. I sold it, and wished i never did.. When i did sell it, i think i got 4500 bux for it in '97.. I've wanted that car back bad, and still do. I started watching prices..they have gone way up since then. Most solid, complete SS cars i've seen run anywhere from 7500 up depending on how complete they are..with the majority around 10 grand.. And the non ss car's are not too far behind..if at all in some cases. If you find a '65 with a 396, expect to pay a for it, and if you by chance find an early 65 with the 409..dig very deep because there not at all cheep.. same thing for 66's..although there was no 409 in 66, the 427 was avalible, and to buy a 427 car will not be cheep at all.. I've seen 427 SS impala coupe's start in the high 20's and go from there..forget ragtops..there crazy. Don't get me wrong, you can still find a decent deal on them if you keep looking, and maybe spread the word to people that you want one... i still find a few in the local cl***ified's in the 4000 range..but they all need work to be right.. I went and looked at a 66 SS hardtop car about 2 months ago thats right around the corner from me. It was an original 396 (the motor was gone though), 4 speed , 12 bolt car..but is in very rought shape. tottaly dissasembled, with a lot of metal work needed. The guy wanted 1500 bux for it and was firm..to me with the amount of tin work needed it wasn't worth it..but i'm sure somebody will buy it.. 66's are my fav's, but the '65's are damn close, and just as sweet in my oppinion.. good luck with your search. Tony
'58-'64 had the "X" frame and two piece driveshaft. '65 was an all new design from the frame up. I like the '65 mostly but prefer the '66 tail lights, they look more "finished". Watch for rust out around the back window and bubbling under a vinyl top means a rusted out top. Hell a vinyl top means a rusted out roof, so be wary of them. I never liked the Caprice roof as much as the fast back Impala roof. In '67 they bettered the design of the back window as far as rust pockets go. I always thought the '65 would be prime lowrider material when it came out but La Raza Lowriders seem to like the '64 more. (Maybe the bigger squarer panels make for Mo-betta murals of naked Azteca warrior princesses?) For that reason, the '65 might be slightly cheaper than a same condition '64
My first car was a '65 Impala SS. As the others have said, it rode good and looked good, but it was heavy and did not stop well with the Drum Brakes. I had a pretty healthy Small Block in mine and because of the Brakes I had some close calls. I will have another one one of these days, but it will get Disc Brakes, traditional or not...
[ QUOTE ] Watch for rust out around the back window and bubbling under a vinyl top means a rusted out top. Hell a vinyl top means a rusted out roof, so be wary of them. [/ QUOTE ] Very good point. The 66 that i said i went to look at had a vinal top at one point..and the roof was a mess! Around the back window, and the panel between the trunk and window were gone.. Also, the windshield must have been a leaker for some time, cause not only was the top of the dash shot from one side to the other, i'm talking rotted so bad the dash was about an inch away from the cowl, but the inside of the kick panel area was trashed.. Although these car's had a really nice look to them, they also seem to be prone to some bad rot in bad area's.. Whatever you buy, make sure it's checked over very good by someone who's somewhat familier with them before you buy it, have it shipped only to find it's not what you thought..
Yes, I've seen several '65's with rusted rear window and front window gl*** supports Anybody know the best way to repair the metal on which the gl*** sits, if it's still there, but just barely, due to rust? The window rot is a very common problem, even if fairly dry states.
it's nice to see a post about 65 impalas on here, makes me feel more cinfident in the trad-ness of mine! i paid 1500 for a pair of rough cars here in the midwest. buddy of mine couldn't get rid of the pair, so i stepped up to bat and threw in an extra 500 for him to help me build it. did a 2 month thrash on em and made a pretty nice car (and learned alot, looking for parts for the 2006 rebuild....). parts on ebay are pretty cheap, don't seem to sell alot so the demand factor on pricing seems to be in our favor for everything but body parts and SS stuff. i own 3 of em now, the good one, the remnants of the other one, and a parts car. parts car i gave 100 bucks for and got that worth out of it for the EXTRA piece of trunk trim stuffed in the trunk and the VIRGIN wiring harness. it also has a wiper motor, maybe it works... i'll be parting some of it out, if you need anything there's a few nice pieces. oh, as far as midwest cars go, the nose piece, or header panel seems to like rusting out. mine was one that a previous owner found and put on, wasn't the original for the car that we got the front clip from. lo and behold there's another one in good shape inside that parts car too oh, and as far as headers go, i wouldn't get the ****** full length headers if i had it to do again, unless the car is to be left at factory ride height or higher. i cut two coils and the damned driver side collector is like 2 inches off the ground on a good day. get to learn the road surface around home REAL well like that.
oh, to continue, i am gonna put some shorty headers on it this spring to alleviate the problem. also lookin to make my car have the CORRECT number of pedals and gears if you get the angle of my dangle. mine has power brakes, so it stops pretty well for me. love this car, made 2004 the best year yet. shaved all the emblems (except the sacred impala deer emblems on the fenders) off of it and cleaned it up alot, had alot of people ask me what it was! oh yeah, that's water on the car, after the rain.
ChromedRat, Nice Impala man! I like everthing about it..the color is perfect..i even dig the black rim's and thin whites... Man i miss my old 66 so damn bad!
thanks man, the color scheme came from von franco's T, saw it a while back on here and couldn't shake it from my mind. of course wide whites don't really go on a 65, so i just contemporized the theme 5 or so years forward from his car's style. i get a kick out of it when people ask me when i'm gonna put wheels on it. it's already got wheels! it's funny, i'm a subs***ute teacher most times, and i've gotten wicked "street cred" at my old high school where i subs***ute teach most of the time. the kids dig the hell out of it.
[ QUOTE ] heres a heads up , IF you do find a "rust free southern car" ,Have someone you trust check it out b4 buying, I have seen low milage otherwise clean 59-70 chevy's w bad frames, most have been fixed , they go out where the rear axle upper track arm bolts to the frame, very thin high stress area , even on HP dual track arm models, seen 12000 mile clean cars where this was bad. there are other areas that go out ,like behind the front wheels, but that is the most common.On northern 59-70's up here by me, its a definate given that its been fixed , a rare one will pop up now and again thats ok , but RARE. [/ QUOTE ] I second Mike's views on thjis, I've owned a '65 and a '66 and both had bad frames in them and the '66 was a one owner garage stored car with 13K miles on it that my neighbors car and both of them had cracked frames on them, major problem with those old mid sixties Impalas and Belairs.
Wow! Thats a lot of good, interesting feedback. Thanks to all of you. So rust around rearwindows and cracked frames. I would not want vinyroof (the roof is prime flakecanvas), and also this is no place for a 409 both due to the money involved but also because I want a car I can use everyday in the saltfree months.. Im thinking a healthy 327 would do, -but engines can be switched so thats not important. Have anyone any experience in installing bags in a 65-66? Also Im aware of these cars popularity as lowriders (Yorgatrons comment still made me smile, though), -do anyone know more about this? I find comments like DrJs also very interesting, so if anyone know more about the why's, how's and so forth, Im all ears (no, Im not planning on Daytons and hydros, but I find the early lowrider-thing damn interesting). Thanks again guys. And thats a very nice ride, Chromed Rat!
Hey PakRat, someone in my family has a 66 impala vert for sale. 327/auto. Farmall BTW I still dig on the 65's the best. Chromerat, that car looks great.
Farmall, THAT is exactly what i wanted in the beginning. My dad have bought a 66 SS vert new..alway's wanted his old car.. I WISH i had the moeny right now, i'd be on that thing hard!! Unfortunately i'd have to seel stuff to get cash now.. I still wouldn't mind seeing pics and price though.. If ya have the time, could you e-mail me some if you have them? If not, it's cool, i understand. Tony
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