Chevrolet offered the Impala in six different models in 1963 but none of them were as unusual as this 1963 Chevrolet Impala Shorty. And by unusual, I mean.. uh.. um.. This odd rod is listed on eBay with a $1,400 buy it now price or you can make an offer. It’s located in Morgan City, Louisiana and you won’t be driving it home no matter how short your drive is. This car went 1/8 mile at a time.
Some shorty vehicles work quite well but I’m not so sure about this one. I’m a huge fan of going off on a crazy tangent, design-wise, but this one may just be crazy. The scale doesn’t seem quite right here like it does on some other shorties that we have seen here.
There is never a question of the amount of work involved in a custom creation like this one but sometimes they don’t quite work out. Of course this is just my personal taste which some would say I have very little of. The seller says that it was a “4 door that has been sectioned into a 2 door Shorty vehicle.” So those of you who lament the fact that some cars have two-too-many-doors, here ya go.
A little deep-cleaning of that carpet and.. cough.. wheeze.. The seller bought it in nicer-looking condition than the project seen here. Here’s a photo of how it looked when they got it. They started restoring it and ran out of time and/or interest. That’s not to say that they don’t know a shorty when they see one, here’s their great looking ’55 Chevy shorty wagon!
This engine is.. er.. well, it’s missing from the engine compartment but the seller has it. They have it listed as a 305 V8 backed by a 350 turbo automatic transmission. “When I bought the car 12 years ago, the guy I got it from would drag race it on the 1/8 mile strip in his home town. It was not real fast, but he had fun with it. I bought it and drove it around for a week or two and then we pulled out the engine and trans in our shop, we removed the front bumper, misc trim and I started to sand it down.” Have any of you owned or made a shorty? What are your thoughts on this one?
First of all I think it’s a lost cause but if you were crazy enough to take it on you’d have a lot of rework to do to make this look right. First I’d cut about 10-12″ out of the body between the wheel well and the back bumper. Than I’d cut that roof off and move the c pillar back about12-14″ and rebuild the roof between the windshield an the c pillar. You’d have to shrink the trunk opening too. Of course it’s easy to say it not so easy to do it. The way it sits it just looks stupid I can’t image there will be to many people wanting this turd.
“Turd”!?!? I think you’re being kind.
And as they say, “You can roll a turd in sprinkles and powdered sugar, but it’s still a turd”.
Well said gentlemen well said
1st, 1/8th mile drag racing is kind of lame, just like 1000 feet for fuel cars is lame. I suppose it would be foolhardy to race this at 1/4 mile speeds, “shorty’s are highly unstable( perhaps the builder found that out) We can only speculate what the builder was going after here, but I guess the most important part, was he had fun with it.
Hmmmm. Move the rear axle back about two feet, cut what’s left of the top off, chop the windshield 3 or 4 inches and you’ve got a neat little sports roadster,
Oh forget it, I wonder what it would scrap out at after you sold the front and rear clips to make a BBQ grill and a couch.
“If it were any shorter,you could watch yourself leaving”…lol
I agree with Dirk..,it would make a cool roadster.,but is it worthy
of that much work….?It just looks awkward,the 55 wagon on the
other hand looks great as a shorty..! Make a plan, and draw it out..,
OR just grab a case of Bud….a Sawzall/torch…and end up with this…..Lol..
“…grab a case of Bud……”
Funny, perhaps it was really done in a “here, hold my beer” moment.
I’m impressed by the workmanship, especially the carpet installation.
Looks like a waste of a perfectly good 1963 Impala.
This car would be a great example for a anti drug commercial.
Looks like it’s down to a manageable size now.
Yuk. This thing should be brought to a crusher under a tarp so no one accidentally sees it.
These cars, like vertical video; need to stop getting attention on the internet. Rewarding bad behavior only encourages it to continue.
The triangle window is just awful looking. I know someone but a lot of time into this, but I think they should of got a piece of paper and a pencil first. Then they could of stood back and said.. ya no, something doesn’t look quite right.
This just looks weird. Turned a decent car into a joke.
Center of gravity kind of sucks now!
Poor Impala…
Looks funny!
What a waste of a 63 parts only
front clip/parts donor scrap.
Back in the 70s I remember a similar shorty. But it was a 63 Impala with about 20 inches removed from the trunk. So it looked like an Impala with a Chevelle trunk on it. Not sure what the purpose was because the rest of the car was stock
looks like somebody drug it a 1/8th a mile
Seems that this thing is only good enough for shotgun target practice.
Sometimes you don’t even need a torch and sawzall to do stupid stuff. Too much camper and too much rust and have a negative effect also!
Thank you for sharing. This is a perfect example of too much alcohol.
I appreciate you guys bringing out the crazy stuff you find. And I appreciate the responses of your loyal readers. Make me LOL.
Total and complete waste of time.
Dude, that ith totally methed up! Dude, have you theen my teef?
(Name that place)
Dat hafta b duh Lane moter moozeeum in 10 uh C
A Shorty, short on a lot of things, style, taste , etc. there is a longer list but I want to follow the guidelines. The only racing advantage I see is weight savings.
Moron find
LOL In aviation terms that Impala reminds me of Boeing’s 747-SP variant!
AAACCCKKKK!!! I think I just threw up in my mouth……..
Ye Gods