Vehicle Description
Hard to top the style of a Bubbletop Impala. With a very recently
completed restoration that's just plain elegant, a 350 V8 with an
overdrive automatic transmission, and those flashy 17-inch chrome
wheels, this 1961 Chevrolet Impala is a rock star everywhere it
goes. Featuring a tasteful restoration with several upgrades that
greatly improve its road manners, and if style is your primary
ambition, few cars can match this drop-dead gorgeous classic.
In my humble opinion, the perfect color for all that dramatic '61
sheetmetal is the very Roman Red that adorns this recently
completed beauty. It was born Ermine White, but the upgrade was a
good choice, instantly catapulting this car to the best looking
classic on the block. The builders were also very careful when they
put this car together; every curve is smooth and unbroken, the flat
panels are exceedingly flat, and every edge and corner is crisp and
sharp. I'm sure there's another substantial chunk of time tied up
in hanging all the sheetmetal, because gaps are precise everywhere
you look, and the body is laser straight. And then there's the
paint - expertly applied over all that straight metal with nary an
imperfection to speak of. Two-stage urethane looks so deep that you
could fall in and drown, and as a backdrop for the brilliant trim
it's absolutely ideal, letting the chrome speak for itself. More
color sanding and then some buffing brings out a great shine that
you can really see in our photos, with only 1 mile on the build
(that's not a type-o). Things like the virtually unobtainable front
and rear windshields are in great shape, all of the trim was either
re-chromed or polished, and nobody will ever mistake this Impala
for anything else on the road thanks to the iconic triple
taillights and dual antennas out back.
Even better than the Roman Red paint is the matching red
ultra-leather interior, which includes custom perforated pleats in
the seat inserts and door panels to tie it all together.
Beautifully restored by expert hands and not straying too far from
the factory recipe, it's both sporty and upscale with front buckets
split by a factory-style center console. Pure 1960s cool covers
every surface, from the bright trim on the edges of the seatbacks
to the two-tone steering wheel to the beautifully restored finned
instrument panel. All the original gauges were swapped in favor of
digital/analog units that do a much better job of monitoring the
powerful small block under the hood, and there's a Vintage Air A/C
system that utilizes the factory switches in the dash to blow ice
cold air through vents that were neatly installed underneath. That
beautiful steering wheel is mounted atop a chrome Ididit steering
column, and it's joined by a polished shifter that now manages an
upgraded 700R4 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive,
making this car a fantastic highway cruiser. The original AM radio
is still in the dash, which is remarkable in and of itself, and
although it looks awesome in the dash the next owner will have to
install a newer unit (preferably stashed away out of sight to
preserve the originality of the dash) to provide the tunes.
Unsurprisingly, the trunk is very tidy is just as tidy as the rest
of the cabin, carrying a correct mat set that finished things off
perfectly.
Under the hood is arguably America's most dependable small block,
the GM 350 V8. Beautifully dressed with lots of shiny bits like
those gorgeous finned valve covers and open air cleaner, the motor
pops out perfectly from the painted inner fenders and smoothed
firewall. Upgrades include a CPP dual reservoir master cylinder and
power brake system, a billet serpentine belt system, big Champion
aluminum radiator, and a polished power steering system that all
improve this Imp's manners on the road. Then there's the polished
Edelbrock 4-barrel carburetor atop a polished Edelbrock intake
manifold, Edelbrock aluminum heads, and long-tube headers that feed
into a Flowmaster dual exhaust system that has a wonderful mellow
sound and outlets just behind the rear wheels. You'll be delighted
to see how clean the entire undercarriage is, and with CPP power
4-wheel disc brakes with drilled and slotted rotors, this cool
Bubbletop stops as well as it goes. The suspension is rebuilt, the
shocks and springs are fresh, and it goes down the road like a much
younger car thanks to the infancy of this build. Perhaps its most
striking feature are those big Torque Thrust wheels, which wear
245/45/17 front and 275/40/17 rear Sumitomo rubber to finish off
the look perfectly.
With a great look and pleasing road manners, this stunning
Bubbletop Impala delivers in every way: looks, performance, and
style. Call today!
