An Unexpected Family Reunion

"Dunnik" (dunnik) 08/07/2013 at 12:28 • Filed to: OPPOSITELOCK, IMPALA

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My new (well, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) 2002 Chevrolet Impala LS needed to have her windshield replaced: it wasn't cracked, but years of highway driving by the previous owner had sandblasted the thing. It was covered in tiny scratches, and when hit directly by light - like other headlights, rising/setting sun, the photons would be refracted all over the place, making it harder to see.

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So I took it into a national chain windshield specialist. Settled the details at the desk and went for a coffee nearby. When I came back and entered the garage, I saw my Impala sitting next to her grandmother, a 1963 hardtop coupe. "Wow, is this a customer's car?" I asked the technician. "No, it's mine", he replied. "Oh hey, I've got an Impala too!" He laughs. Maybe he remembers this commercial from around the year 2000:

I couldn't believe my eyes at how mint this car was. The paint looked great from a distance, a nice dark blue. I thought, surely this is a respray. But then I got closer, and noticed the red primer in places - of a type not used in decades - and the patina of age: tiny little cracks in the paint making a pretty series of interconnecting geometric shapes. "Holy shit," I said, "is this the original paint job?!?" I needlessly asked.

That shiny and undamaged bumper? Original. The plating is still intact, it's just been polished up. No way to know if they are original or not without - I presume - digging deeper for a part number - but I'll take the man at his word. Not all of the chrome bits are original, front and rear badges had to be replaced (replaced with a vintage OEM part, and not some knockoff) and I believe the chrome body molding was also swapped (with an OEM part, again).

The interior - which, regretfully, I did not get snaps of - looks plush, clean and has no rips or tears. The driver's seat was still well-sprung and surprisingly comfortable. All original! Impossible, but I got in and gave it a close look: it sure looked original. That or some expert forger had skillfully added a subtle patina of age. Even the blue fabric headliner, which had an elegant pattern of stars stitched into it, was intact.

Other than the badge and the pipes, everything is original in the picture above. Dumfounded by its originality, I asked him where he got it. It's had two owners. The car was purchased in Baltimore, and owned by the same man for 30-35 years. It was then sold to a Canadian, who drove it up here, but let it sit and didn't do anything with or to it. The current owner - the shop technician, told me he put in an offer to buy the car if he ever wanted to sell it, and two and a half years later he gets the call. I won't say what he paid for it, but to quote his words, "I basically stole it". His price was so good, and the car is so mint, he could easily sell it for a very healthy profit.

But he's not going to, because this is his dream car. He told me that when he was a kid, he had three die-cast car models: all of them different early 60's Impalas. I congratulated him on his achievement: how many of us drive our dream cars?

I joked that the only thing our cars had in common was the running Impala badge, but actually, there might be more to it than that. Yes, obviously a 1963 Impala is a card-carrying classic of epic proportions and my 2002 Impala isn't and probably never will be (except perhaps for the Impala SS, with its supercharged 3800), but there are, I thought, some interesting points of comparison - that some of the DNA of the famous ancestor made it into its humble descendant.

The rounded taillights and dual headlights on the '02 are, of course, a conscious design echo of the early 60's classic, but that's not all. Both were originally sold as big, comfortable family cars with excellent highway performance, lots of passenger and trunk space, and above-average creature comforts. Both have, relatively speaking, powerful motors for domestic cars of their class. Both even have automatics, and my four-speed doesn't seem so much better than his three-speed. Automatics really were automagic back then. Other than my more fuel efficient engine, power accessories, and safety features, it's almost as if it's same car.

But I'm biased, and I'm probably stretching the point too far, yes?

Jimbobway > Dunnik 08/07/2013 at 14:24

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i didn't read the whole, to be honest I'm only interested in the desk details. I need this done too. My audi a4 avant has the same problem, and I'm wondering if anyone else has had luck with insurance replacing it for this reason.

Thanks. Back to reading.

@rbalch1 > Dunnik 10/09/2013 at 08:41

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I think i prefer the Darker blue
something about the dark-side