63 Pontiac star chief. High output 389 with a 4 speed rotohydramatic. In 'drive left' it was a normal automatic. In 'drive right' you could pedal shift using the gas pedal. At 125 mph it was smooth and comfortable. At 6 inches longer than my suburban it had plenty of room for the family. Heck of a car for the period.
This:
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Saw it in Seattle last Summer, at Pike Place.?ÿ Was his Grandfathers.?ÿ Repainted, and really awesome!
I was a little more sedate in my rebuild, I put in a mildly higher-performance cam, an Edelbrock intake and a 600cfm Holley 4bbl. What really made the car fun was the Stam-Bar rear stabilizer, which took away most of the roll and understeer in turns. It became kind of dangerous in the hands of a none-too-skilled driver like me, though, as a car that oversteers can get you into trouble fast. I had a couple of close calls, but lucked out. It's probably best that I now drive a Tundra.
Being a STUPID teenager at the time, I basically took a very drivable and fun (and pretty fast) car, and turned it into a barely drivable (even under dry conditions) monster that had very little use anywhere. If I could go back and do it again, I'd go with a slightly lower compression ratio, and smaller AFBs (among other things). But then again, if I could go back in time to 1969, I'd probably do a LOT of things different, and where that could lead is anybodies guess (but I'm pretty sure I would NOT be here, wherever HERE IS).
Loyal
We owned a White 63 Corvette Stingray with red leather interior. My mother would drive it around town and when stopped at a stop light would rev the engine and challenge the high schools boys to a race. Then when they would pull out fast, she would slowly cruise away and smile.
My poor brother had to call mom and dad one night. They let him use it to take his girl to the prom. It was stolen while they were inside. He never lived that down.
A couple years later my dad replaced it with a 66 that had a 35 gallon gas tank. I learned from a local vette dealer that was called a "tanker" and now would be worth about $400,000!
I don't recall ever seeing a GTX with the steel wheels. Sweet ride, however.
JA, PLS SoCal
If you Google;
Quintessential car of the '60's?ÿ?ÿ
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The GTO gets the most hits...
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?q=50&fit=crop&w=960&h=500
A couple years later my dad replaced it with a 66 that had a 35 gallon gas tank. I learned from a local vette dealer that was called a "tanker"
I didn't understand why anyone would want a gas tank that size, so I looked it up.?ÿ It was part of the Z06 package, which meant the car was equipped for road racing from the factory.
There's a good article about this on the Hemmings site.
White 1963 Chevy Impala 4door hardtop with 327 and dual exhaust with automatic transmission.
Drove smooth and stable with enough zip to keep up with most street cars and handled with ease and power to pull a trailer full of cows to auction.
I could pack all my belongings in the trunk and backseat. It would haul my drafting table by having one end on the back shelf and the other across the front seat.
The guys in the college carpool always wanted to use my car because the six of us had our own space to sit without being squashed together.
Its kryptonite was the rear end, small spider gears that broke apart and wheel bearings that when failed would allow the axle to exit the housing and the tire would get the sidewall chewed to pieces against the inside lip of the rear fender.
Upgraded to a 12bolt positrack with a C clip that secured the axle in place with 3.73 gears and 34in tall tires and it became a beast.
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White 1963 Chevy Impala
One day my dad came home with a new '63 Impala 2-door with front bucket seats.?ÿ My mom looked at those bucket seats and declared it a "selfish car."?ÿ Dad came home the next day with a 4-door Ford (Galaxie? Fairlane??ÿ Don't remember) with bench seats.
@flga Yeah, the L78 was a nice motor. Factory rated the 425HP Vette motor at 375HP in Camaro/Chevelle. Bought a brand new 66 SS Chevelle from Rome, Georgia Chevrolet with L78 has soon as they were available. Fun car. Solid lifter hi-lift cam rocked the car at idle. Four speed Muncie, large dual inlet Holley, posi-traction, sintered metallic brakes, 11.5:1 comp,transistorized ignition, 4-bolt mains. Intakes valves large enough to drop a pack of cigarettes through. But funnest car was a stripped out 2 dr. 63 Plymouth Savoy, push-button trans with 426 wedge/dual offset 4 barrel Carters/13:1 compression. Never came up against anything on the street in 1963 that could come close. A 409/409 Chevy, 406/405 Ford killer, 389 tri-power Pontiac slayer.
With all the old dudes here hootin' and hollerin' over the nice "upholstery" I felt it appropriate to tell everybody a good 'old man' joke. Here goes:
Two old men sitting on a park bench. It had been a spell since they had spoken and felt inclined to catch-up on each other's gossip. One said to the other, "Been getting any on the side lately?"
The other fella paused for a second then replied, "Hell, it's been so long I didn't know they moved it".
carry on..
