Launched in 1958, the Impala was a model whose sales skyrocketed overnight, so it didn’t take long before it became Chevy’s new superstar.
Promoted to a stand-alone series in 1959, the Impala was getting ready for a very successful decade, with sales peaking at over 1 million units in 1965.
It goes without saying all the previous model years had a major contribution to this achievement, as they helped expand the customer base and build a constantly increasing audience with a special appetite for everything Impala.
The model year 1964 was one of these releases.
As the second most expensive Chevrolet, the 1964 Impala was based on the same recipe as most of its predecessors. As a result, it came with both six-cylinders and V8s, as the GM brand wanted to appeal to as many customers as possible.
The base unit was the same six-cylinder as before, once again developing 140 horsepower for an experience that was entirely focused on fuel economy. When it comes to V8s, the Impala could be ordered with the 283 (4.7-liter) Turbo-Fire, the 327 (5.3-liter) small-block, and the almighty 409 (6.7-liter) big-block with 340, 400, and 425 horsepower.
This 1964 Chevrolet Impala SS that eBay seller calichevy69 has recently posted online is one of the examples that helped build the solid userbase push ing the nameplate to the sales record it reached in 1965. It comes with rust in the typical places, including on the floors and in the trunk, but other than that, it’s still fairly solid.
While we don’t know if the engine is still running or not, what we’re going to find under the hood is the 327 small-block with a 4-barrel carburetor. Chevy offered two versions of the 327 in 1964 (with 250 and 300 horsepower), but both used 4-barrel carburetors, so it’s hard to tell what version is powering this Impala.
The engine is still the original unit that came with the Impala 58 years ago, and it is paired with a 4-speed manual transmission (it’s still the original unit, it seems).
The seller claims the odometer indicates just a little over 11,000 miles (that’s close to 18,000 km), but there’s no chance this is accurate, as such a mileage would make the Impala SS a super-rare gem. Without a doubt, this is something that interested buyers should further look into, especially as the low mileage could add to the resale value after a full restoration.
The bidding for this Impala SS starts at $11,500, and a reserve is also in place. However, given the auction started only a couple of hours ago, nobody has entered the race to buy the car, so it remains to be seen how high the price ends up going.