1961 Chevy 409 Biscayne Hello, Out of all of our teenage cars, this red Chevy Biscayne did not show up in Bixby Knolls until our senior year of high school. My 58 Impala with a 280 hp motor was the last new car for a couple of years and in our last year of high school, our friend decided to buy a 409. He wanted a 2 door hardtop Impala, but that was a 6 months or longer wait at all of the local Chevy dealers at the time. Besides, we all knew he could not drive a stick shift 4 speed, so there was that obstacle. But, he stood by his choice. So, we found a simple, red 409 Biscayne two door model. 4 speed + 4.11 Positraction rear gears. Wow, it stood out in the dealer’s lot like a huge fire drawing us to the flame. After starting the 409 in the lot, our friend purchased it on the spot. He had been saving for several years and he wanted a powerful car. Powerful, was an understatement. A real sleeper was more like it. No one we knew had a 409 and our friend had no intentions of racing it at Lion’s Dragstrip. He just wanted a fast car. (zero to fastest in one purchase... ) Jnaki Both the owner of the 57 Bel Air Hardtop and I drove with our 409 friend for weeks to teach him how to start and shift through the gears. Starting normally was the most difficult, but after a few bucking bronco moves and all of us laughing at the time, our friend gradually got the hang of the clutch and shifting. Not fast shifting, that came later. We cruised all over our area from Seal Beach, Belmont Shore, Downtown Long Beach, Signal Hill (another story) and Lakewood. And, yes, the Bixby Knolls Cherry Avenue Drags location as he got better in shifting through the gears. The cool thing was, everyone took an instant notice when he pulled into the local drive-in restaurant parking lots during the weekends. How could one not hear the motor and see the Red Biscayne come into the lot, rumbling??? It was a lot of envy and proud of our help for our friend’s situation. Note: Driving the red 409 Biscayne was one of the most fun things we did. As part of our teaching him the ins and outs of the 409, he allowed us to drive around with him in the car, so he could watch and see how we both had our own quirks. The instant power was tremendous. It would have been fun to race the car at Lion’s Dragstrip in the SS class. But, for our friend, it was his high school car and he only wanted to have a nice one to cruise around. It was a nice one at that. After he began driving the 4 speed better and was more comfortable in the Biscayne, we decided to race it against the now modified 58 Impala with the C&O stick hydro. It was only the three of us late one night on Cherry Avenue. I knew that I had no chance to win, although I knew I could get off of the starting line first and take a big lead. The race was as planned. Get out in front and take as big of a lead as possible. It was a storybook start. He was amazed I was out in front at the start so quickly and had a 1.5 car length lead up to the 1/8th mile mark. I could see him coming up in the mirror and pushed on my brakes, flashing the 6 red taillights on my Impala to tell him the race was over. Laughing all the way back to pick up our friend who started the race and we all laughed as close friends for the rest of the evening. Friends laughing at our late Friday night escapades as teenagers was a moment that lasts forever. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
