Genuine Z24: 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS 427
While it was considered part of the 1967 Impala range, the SS427 carried no badges to signify this. It was also a car that was relatively rare when new. Changing tastes had seen performance enthusiasts begin to turn their backs on the Impala SS, and it isn’t clear how many examples of the SS427 exist today. This one will need to be restored, but the buyer will be starting with a solid car that is largely complete. Located in San Diego, California, you will find the SS listed for sale here on eBay. The auction has been set to open at $15,000, but there have been no bids. Eighty-seven people are watching the listing, so you have to wonder whether one of them might choose to hit the BIN button at $30,000.
When you dig below the surface of this Emine White SS, what you find is a classic with a lot of positive attributes. The vehicle has spent its entire life in California, and what hides below the ruined paint is a rust-free car. The owner provides plenty of photos, but the quality isn’t that great. However, they do show floors and a frame that are spotlessly clean and panels that are free from any form of the dreaded tin worm. The panels are surprisingly straight, with very few minor dings for the buyer to address before a repaint is performed. Most of the distinctive exterior features that differentiated the SS427 from lesser mortals are present. This includes the correct badges and the hood with the non-functional chrome intake grille. The Rally wheels aren’t original, so if a faithful restoration is to be performed, the buyer will need to source the correct wheels and hubcaps. I performed a bit of a search and had no trouble finding pristine hubcaps for under $300 per set, so they are out there. All of the tinted glass is present, and it appears to be in good condition.
The buyer will be getting a bit of a headstart with this classic’s interior. The dash looks nice, with only some minor touchups required to have it presented at its best. The dash pad looks excellent, while the door and rear trims appear to be spotless. The owner has treated it to new seat foam and covers, along with a new carpet set. The only items that are missing are the console and the radio. The radio isn’t going to be expensive, but replacing the console will hurt the wallet. This will cost somewhere around $700, which puts it in the “ouch” category. Otherwise, the SS still features the correct gauges and factory tach, and most of the hardware for the air conditioning.
Apart from a missing carburetor and air cleaner, the numbers-matching L36 version of the mighty 427ci big-block is present. The original Hydramatic transmission and 3.08 rear end are also there. The L36 pumped out 385hp, which was enough to send the SS through the ¼ mile in 15.3 seconds. While that figure might not seem startling, it rates well in a car that tipped the scales at 4,114lbs. Technically, the L36 wasn’t the most powerful engine in the SS427 range. The L72 version that produced 425hp was available if a buyer asked the right questions. Chevrolet’s records show that no-one asked the question, but one such car has surfaced in recent years. It is the only known example, and that makes it the rarest of an already rare model. This 427 has been dismantled, so a rebuild will be required. It does appear that everything is in good order, so breathing new life into it should not be a problem.
While nobody knew it at the time, the writing was on the wall for the Impala SS by 1967. The mighty hadn’t fallen, but it was being fast overtaken by the new kids on the block. While the SS427 could still mix it with the best, other offerings within the brand’s own range were undermining its sales. The Chevelle SS396 offered similar seating capacity and performance, but it cost 10% less than the Impala. The story only worsened when buyers began to assess the pony cars that had hit the market like an earthquake. If the buyer walked into their Chevrolet dealership and bypassed the Impala and Chevelle in favor of the Camaro SS, they found themselves with a car that could still accommodate the average family. It offered a significant leap forward in performance, but once again, at a far lower price than the Impala. That didn’t make the Impala SS427 a bad car, but it was reaching the end of its evolutionary life. This was reflected in the sales figures. While the Chevelle and Camaro were selling up a storm, only 2,124 buyers handed over their cash to park an SS427 in their driveway. Today, they can’t quite match the Camaro or Chevelle in the classic market, but good examples can still sell for more than $55,000. While this one is not a cheap project car, its BIN price leaves room to move on a restoration, and if it is as rust-free as the listing seems to indicate, it could be worth the effort to return this giant to its former glory. If you seek something different from a Chevelle or a Camaro, maybe this deserves a closer look.
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Comments
One of the coolest Impalas ever made.I love the
hood vents also.
Yes I have a 1968 SS 427/425 L72 4 Speed 4:11 gears.I’m the second owner,70,000 miles all orginal
A friend of mine had the exact same car as you, in dark blue metallic. I had a chance to buy it with 6666 on the odometer but being a teenager in the late 70’s couldn’t come up with the $3500 friend discount. Still think about that car to this day…
Yea right!
Ted Hall You are in a very rare league of your own! Congratulations
Very rare and desireable!! Enjoy!!
I had one also. Just automatic. Found it in a farmer’s field in Alberta. One of 25 made in Canada
Cool car. I’d expect a better description and pictures from a seller with over 500 items listed on eBay. One thing is for certain, he’s very proud of everything he’s selling.
The 65 Corvette he is also selling would make for an interesting feature.
Steve R
It is on my bucket list but not at this price and condition. I am too old for a project.
I am 70 years old and I am starting on a 1969 Mercury Cougar Projest
30K (the current price of a runner in “good” conditon0 seems awfully ambitious 15K is probably all the money in its current condition and state of assembly. Hope somebody saves it
I agree!
Too much money for a project. Anyone’s guess the engine condition. Drop the price $10.000 and maybe.
Driver ‘s floor does’nt look rust free…
Here we go again , Cars just way over priced … I don’t know what they are thinking ? Really 30 G-Birds Not gonna happen . I’m thinking like $10 at best …For a 60’s Impala in this condition
Those hoods are really scarce… try finding one.
Still, $15k seems all the money and then some.
another grossly overpriced project,,wtf is a Z24
As I recall, the “Z24” was a two-bit Chevy Cavalier econobox from the 80s. And not a very good one at that!
Chevrolet RPO Z24 was the production code at the time for the SS 427 option on the Impala, which included the L36 engine. Regrettably, Chevrolet later tried to get marketing mileage out of resurrecting the Z24 label for a performance-oriented Cavalier.
Yup, that’s what I thought of. The Cavalier Z24 made from 1986-02.
You could stick the Cavalier Z24 in the trunk of the Impala like a dinghy!
General Motors still uses the Z designation on everything from vehicle options on a broadcast build sheet to financial reports for its plants. My employee ID even has two ZZs in it. I feel downright special.
Z24 is the option code for the SS427 option.
But what if the block needs to be decked?
It does need to be decked from the looks of the corrosion. A head gasket won’t seal in that condition. However, a GOOD machine shop can deck it without touching the pad. The trick is ask first.
Wrong you will lose the vin stamping on any deck job. I have built hundreds of engines and to take off that kind of rust you are going to lose the vin stamping but a lot of shops have been known to restamp them
In 1970 I bought a 1968 SS427 Impala that was a dealer demo car for the dealers son. Ash gold, black top and bucket/console interior. Loaded up with 4 speed, air conditioning, speed warning speedometer, fiber optic lamp monitoring package, basically every available option for $1600. Traded int on a Delta 88 Oldsmobile when gas was high we added a 3rd to the family. It is on my list of wish I had it back cars
I can see why there haven’t been any bids; the seller’s brain is in la-la land. The way it sits, it’s not worth anywhere near what he’s asking. If it were, we wouldn’t be reading about it because it would be sold.
Hmmmm. Guess I should have kept my 67 Impala convertible…… only had a 327, but I only paid $150.00 for it with a NYS inspection. Those were the days!!!
Bob…I do remember! That’s when $3000-4000 bought some great cars!!
How much?
I had a 86 Cavalier hatch back with a 2.8 fuel injected ,auto. Had lots of problems with the digital dash. The dealer couldn’t fix it right so, very seldom I knew how fast I was going. Car was too light and didn’t handle very well but, it was fast. Thought it was an upgraded Vega.lol Keep it two years and sold it off.
Back in ’88, my brother looked at a ’67 427/4spd/marina blue/black int with 30K miles on the car. It was not perfect having some paint issues but didn’t want to spend the $8500 for the car.
If I were looking for a big muscle car, it would be something like this.
btw… that single L72 427/425 SS427 that surfaced has no supporting documentation. Draw your own conclusions
In the neighborhood garages and sheds all around the San Diego area you can find really nice Impala’s, from every year ! This one is pretty cool.
Yes the 67 and 68 were very different with the SS427 pxg. unlike the 69 model.I liked the 68 a tad better but really would not mind this one just not at this price.
I had a red one like that SS 427 4spd. The hood got damaged and the body man (a friend of mine) repaired the hood and around the scoop painted it 3 color flame metalflake with gold leaf stripe. I had a young kid wanted so bad he traded me his 69 Caprice 2dr and gave me $500.00 to boot. A month later he rolled it flatting the roof down on the seats. Got out thru that big back glass unhurt
These are a sweet ride, if you never drove one. I was an apprentice technician at a Chevrolet dealer in 1967. I got the chance to drive a few of these when they were new. The experience stays with you.
Man, you must’ve seen and driven some really cool stuff back then. I was eight in ’67. I graduated in ’77, the cars were on the road back then….Classics now!!
I had a red one w/blk int 396 4sp!
Had a triple black 67 factory order special by the original owner with every option available at the time which included among other things, what GM called a “stereo multiplexer” that was bolted to the dash just below the radio in the days before actual stereo to imitate the sound of actual stereo. The car was a super sport with the 396/375 horse engine. Loved that car. It had only one drawback that I imagine was the incentive for the original owner to sell it to me in favor of a new 69 Z28. Off the line, it had horrible wheel hop. Any street racing I did with it was from a rolling start.
Never was there a 396/375hp engine in a big chevy from the factory. There was a 396 option engine but the 375 Hp was strictly Camaro or Chevelle.
The multiplex adapter was a real FM stereo unit, not a ‘stereo imitator’. The adapter was used to turn the FM mono radio into a stereo unit. The adapter plugs into the bottom of the radio, and then the controls are all on the adapter. That way, Chevy only had one FM radio, but the adapter allowed it to be upgraded to stereo. Other GM Division’s Delco FM stereos were a specific radio. In other words, on a Buick, for instance, the AM-FM mono radio was a different radio unit than the AM-FM stereo radio. On Chevys, the multiplex adapter did the same thing, only instead of a separate radio unit, it was an ‘upgrade’ on the mono unit. It could be easily added to the mono radio w/o changing the radio unit itselff.
Chuck, you beat me making the same comment. If you’ve ever had a car with one of these units, I really think they had better sound reproduction than the one piece Delco AM/FM Stereo radion.
Beginning almost 50 years ago I haunted junkyards and dealership back rooms looking especially for the unusual options. Found a few multiplex units including a couple NOS units. The ’67 – ’68 8 track players also provided stereo and plugged into the AM/FM radios the same way. The harder to find/salvage pieces were the factory stereo speakers and harnesses. I have a ’66 Chevelle convertible I bought in 1980 waiting for a pile of cool ’66 options, tilt, 2 spoke wood steering wheel, cruise control, AM/FM radio and multiplex and bumper guards.
In high school I worked part time for a kind of fly-by-night body shop. My last 2 pay checks bounced and the owner had disappeared. I had once helped him haul some repairable sheet metal and stacked it behind a shed by his mom’s house in a little town about 20 miles away. One piece was a ’67 Impala SS427 hood with minor hail damage. I decided the hood would be perfect payment for the checks. I had a choice ’67 Caprice coupe, 327, buckets, console, and I had put in a factory tach/gauges instrument cluster. The hood would be the perfect compliment. I went to his mom’s house and found that he must have scrapped the pile for what little money it brought, I didn’t get the hood, or any money for that matter. Sigh.
Well as much as I like this car Ted Hall is the star of the day . I think I saw one of these before , is this the one with the weird tach? Was like a big pack of double mint gum with a slider. I don’t think I’m cuckoo, but I’ve only seen 1
The hood is worth several thousand dollars. I can’t bring myself to own a full-sized car like this, though. They just don’t have the attention grabbing effect on people that an actual muscle car does. My Road Runner is ten times more fun to drive. If I’m going on a long cruise I’ll take a car that gets good gas mileage and cold air, lol.
Talking about the multiplexer, I love old cars with options, my neighbor had a 69 Bonneville w factory am/fm stereo, the far left push button said am, and the face rolled over, and the far right button said fm, and the face rolled over, it had a factory 8 track mounted to the floor, power windows seats antenna a/c and the mighty mighty 428 motor, and if I recall it was the 390 hp version, car was a terror, and he drove it like so, with its Pontiac wheels and dual exhaust and he spanked many unsuspecting muscle car, but the smoky burnouts are a vivid memory 52 yrs later, I remember he traded it in for a 73 Grand Prix SJ, w a 455, but it wasn’t like the Bonneville, I actually own the same yr Grand Prix