Honest and Solid: 1968 Chevrolet Impala Station Wagon
The owner of this Impala Wagon best describes its overall condition when he says that it is “typical for a 50-year-old car that had a 90-year-old driver.” He recently purchased the car from its original 90-year-old owner but has decided that he wants to go a different way with a project car. This largely rust-free and original Impala is located in Beavercreek, Oregon, and is being sold with a clear title. You will find it listed for sale here on eBay, and it comes with a pile of documentation, including the original Protect-O-Plate.
The Impala is largely original and seems to be a solid car. The photos indicate that the hubcaps are missing, but these were only removed to check the brakes, and are now back on the car. The paint looks tired, but the owner says that the dings and missing trim on the car are the results of the elderly previous owner and that he didn’t inflict any damage. Apart from a couple of small rust spots in both lower fenders, the car looks to be rust-free.
The interior of the Impala is pretty good, but there are a couple of things that might need to be done. The driver’s armrest is missing and the carpet is in need of a clean. Address those two items, and the rest looks fine. The car is not fitted with a 3rd row of seats, but the owner has located a color matching set and all of the available hardware for sale and will be happy to pass the details on to the new owner. While the interior is not highly optioned, the car is fitted with air conditioning.
The Impala is fitted with its numbers matching 396ci V8 and TH400 automatic transmission. The owner is using the car as a daily driver, and he says that it runs and drives well. The transmission was rebuilt at some point in the 1980s, and the car is also fitted with power disc brakes. Looking at the engine bay, I’m pretty sure that a dose of degreaser and a hit with a pressure cleaner would do it the world of good.
It doesn’t seem like it was that many years ago when people weren’t interested in wagons as classic cars. That has changed quite a bit, and interesting wagons have become quite sought after. This one is by no means perfect, but it is honest, and it could be made into a nice car. The fact that there are 5 potential owners who are currently bidding on the car indicates that there are people who can see the potential in this one.
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Comments
Interest in wagons and 4drs. is is also based upon the drivetrains/body parts that can be used to restore more valuable cars. Clean examples make great donors. Then projects for whats left. Maybe.
I love wagons too, though.
They grew old together. What a story.. Unfortunately, I would bet that the car fared a bit better than the human in the knock-down drag-out with Father Time. They don’t build them like this anymore!
Ad says he’s had it for two years, and she called him to sell, three years after he showed interest.
-shrug- I think your cynicism is getting the best of you today…
Another one moaning about a flipper. No one knows what this guy paid for the car, maybe he gave her a decent price. Besides, the old lady approached this guy and was probably satisfied with what she got for it. Just about every car guy has a story about a car they “stole,” including flipper-haters. Hell, I once bought a really nice ’63 Rambler from a guy who just wanted enough for a six-pack of beer. He was as happy with getting his six-pack as I was with giving it to him.
Considering what classic cars are usually sold for these days, it’s really nice to hear about a guy who picked up a very cool vintage wagon without have to sell one of his kids.
There’s some type of saying about assumptions…? Makes an….
….Can’t quite remember how it goes..
Nice car, the BBC makes it special IMO
Hey guys I have heard the word FLIPPER on this site a fair number of times, although I haven’t bought a car since high School that I bought to sell right away, it it such a terrible thing to do this? My point is we all have the right to buy the car that’s the same across the board. So my question is what’s the problem? Please explain?
I don’t think the flipper haters begrudge someone making a buck. I think what gets them is the guy who:
1. Found the car of the reader’s dreams, lowballed the owner & didn’t turn a wrench or even take it off the trailer before snapping the requisite 3 blurred pictures & putting it on Craigslist for 15 times his purchase price;
2. Went to the owner and told them it was exactly the car they wanted, blah blah blah, got the owner’s backstory and promised it would be treated like an adopted child, paid a pittance, then promptly put the car on eBay for a Barrett Jackson price, representing the former owner’s story as his own.
So I once got an early style 63 or 64 Corvair for free , it needed only a muffler and to be moved from the previous owners place of employment, it had been plowed in due to a massive snowfall. So after shoveling 5 ft. high plowed snow I was stunned that it immediately started. After putting on an slightly used glas-pac muffler I was ready to rock & roll, before that could happen a customer of my mentors used car lot saw it & bought it. Does that make me a flipper ? I think not.
BTW: Ever hear a Corvair with a
glas-pac ? Sweet Music.
I like these cars, but I have no room. Someone jump on it if the price isn’t irrational.
At about $6000 the reserve hasn’t been met. So he’s asking most likely twice what he paid for it….easy….and it’s missing a lot of ash trays for that kind of money for me.
after 35 years of wrenching for someone else and not being able to own more than 1 Classic at a time , the flipper life looks good to me. A few friends and I have discussed it. Travel a bit, root out a few bargains and make them available to enthusiasts. Like it or not some of these cars would just rot away if not for buyers like this. Now, paying a fair price is another. Travel,shipping,basic repair and a detail (maybe) plus some sort of marketing are all costs to be considered. How many pics of the crusher claiming another have we seen ? I want to save a few.
Very nice wagon! This one would meet
all my family’s needs and then some.
Sis owned a 4-door hardtop painted this
same color and loved it! If I coild, I’d buy
this car to preserve for what it is–a great
family driver with lots of life still left in it.
Too mamy times, big block wagons like
this one were stripped of their running
gear for a Camaro, Chevelle, or Nova
project and then crushed. Sure hope
this one doesn’t meet that same end.
Only thing missing on it besides some
of the body trim is the air deflector over
the rear window and a trailer hitch.
Other than that, someone out there will
get a great bargain on a reslly great car.