It’s not a particularly well-optioned car, but this Impala Convertible is a real deal barn find that has been with the same family since 1964! It was parked in the barn in 1974 and that’s where it stayed until just recently. It’s a base six-cylinder car with a 3-speed that was added sometime after the second owner bought it. There’s rust issues and raccoons made a mess on it, but given how few Impalas are still around in unmodified condition, perhaps it really is worth the current high bid of $11,400! It’s out of the barn and can be found here on eBay in Columbia Station, Ohio.
Countless 1962 to 1964 Impalas have been customized, either as lowriders or as hot rods, so it’s getting harder and harder to find unmodified examples. This one definitely hasn’t been cut up to accommodate hydraulics or a big block V8, but given how much rust there is, there going to be plenty of cutting to be done to fix it back up. And not only will you need to replace lots of rusty sheet metal, but there are plenty of dings to fix as well.
It isn’t until you see it out of the barn that you can really see the potential here. Sure, it has issues, but just imagine seeing this coming down the road as is! Can you imagine the conversations and looks it would get? That is of course, if it can be made roadworthy. That will all boil down to how solid it is underneath, but the seller claims the floors are complete.
The 235 straight-six is present, but looking rather sad. You can’t always judge the condition of an engine from how it looks on the outside, but I’m not terribly optimistic about whether this one will ever run again. There’s no word on whether the seller has attempted to turn the engine over.
I’m surprised by how nice the interior looks, all things considered. It’s dirty and is going to need work, but compared to the outside, it looks great in here! The 3-speed on the floor would certainly make it more fun to drive, if you can get it going. It looks like all the major components are present and in good enough condition that they could be restored.
The current bid seems high given the condition and trim level. If it were a 409 equipped convertible, it would be a different story. Then again, another ’62 convertible sold recently for a little over $10k that had a bent frame, so maybe this one is a good buy! What do you think?
Looks like a good fixer. Love the originality. I see the floor shift,but has the optional colum shifterLOL. Its amazing the money these go for. Back in the 80,s I got a real 62 ss convert,red w/black all real and 60 some orig. miles. $500. I had at least 12 pass through me up to the 66 I have now. I love the style.
The column shifter 3speed manual was standard, someone changed this to a floor shifter when the column shifter went wonky as they are prone to do.
would love to see a picture of after all the dirt is taken off.
“I feel I need a tetanus shot just from looking at it. The only thing holding her together are the bird droppings, sir.”
That’s pretty much what people would think as you roll on by…
Great project car that you can still get every part for!! I would like to see someone buy this and NOT make it a low rider!! My mother had a 62 convertible and I remember sitting in the speaker cut out in the back seat as a 4 or 5 year old kid!! She got broadsided by a guy in a blazer when he ran a red light and destroy my mothers car!!!
Really base car, this would have been the cheapest full size convertible you could have purchased from GM, I wonder if it has a power top, not sure if that was standard on the Impala series.
I’m in California and I can smell it from here. That is some potent racoon funk …
Way overpriced. GM made millions of these. Look for a better one. Why people let this happen to a car is beyond me. I know a guy like this in Pennsylvania. His 66 Mustang is in a garage and not moved since 1972. There is so much piled into it I am sure raccoons are living in it. He will never get to it as his yard is full of junk cars.
Nah, it was an automatic. You can see the selector on top of the column.
Let’s do the math, boys and girls:
Pick up that rusty dog up for $12k, put $60 in it (ya,know…409, 4spd, buckets, SS trim) and bingo…you have a $110,000 “genuine” ’62 Impala SS 409 4 spd convertible.
Nah, a 350 is all it needs. Even I have to admit the six is probably not enough for this heavy car. A 409? Why? Converts are not for drag races, they are for sedate sunny day cruising. Yep, a 350 and match her up with a 350 auto tranny.
Yeah. Right. Wish I could put some funny emoji’s in this. LOL
Good eye, I saw the 3 pedals and I never bothered to look at the steering column.
Good eye ruxvette! spotting that Power Glide indicator !!!!!!!
I hope he didn’t tow it too far with the car backwards on the trailer, tongue weight, or lack thereof, can make things really interesting…
That one year-only dash is so cool, I was once tempted to put one in my 63.5 Galaxie.
The 61 Chevrolet used this dash… a 2 year design!
Interesting that some people think this was originally a 3 on the tree..I see an automatic trans gear indicator on the column or perhaps the column was changed but I doubt it as the color is correct.
This appears to have originally been an Impala with a 6 cylinder, automatic, power steering, manual brakes, a heater and a manual tune radio.
It was a beautiful design that Chevrolet did in 1962.
Well…actually it didn’t really come with the I-6 at all – take a peek at the cowl tag; STYLE 62 1867 decodes into 1962 Impala V8 ‘vert. Someone actually ripped out the V8/auto combo and replaced it with the current I-6/stick ! An attempt to save gas in the early 70s…?
very ambitious project.
these prices make no sense.
buyer will be upside down from day one and will get more so with every dollar spent…..
It’s hard for me to get my mind around a car which has been stored in a garage since I was in high school. Glad there is a “before” picture…. modest garage, 45 years of junk around it, junk outside the garage, lends credence to the story. And I’m glad the seller didn’t list the mileage, otherwise we would all chime in on whether to believe that it had x miles when it was parked at age 12. Because, given the condition of the car, it doesn’t matter how many miles it does or doesn’t have. A tough project for a desirable car.
First off, a 409 is for “WOW” factor these days, and are very, very cool. However, most any warmed up 350 would womp it, as the “W” engines were handicapped with a low R.P.M. red-line. A new 350 crate engine would most likely be less $$$ than the rebuild of an ’09… so it depends on what you want in the end. I owned a silver ’62 convert with black interior & top… one of my favorite cars. It had a 327 and a 4-speed. That was ample for a sweet cruiser. The main issue on this car would be floors, then trunk condition. If those are solid this could be a dandy!
Nice parts car.
Where is the BIN option for $1500 ?
Guaranteed never to retain it’s current configuration of straight 6 and three on the floor. I personally would have given my eye teeth to have something like this in high school. Odd, and modified early in it’s life. Can’t believe I’m seeing the words lowrider and 409 in the same listing. Two separate groups of gearheads, then more so than now…
Hope someone makes it beautiful again.
Nice 1962 Chevy Impala convertible 😁. Nice catch Josh👍
Yep, it was auto, a 2 speed Powerglide transmission. I think this was the first year for the Powerglide and the spline was changed in 1963 so it was a one-year trans. I had a 62 4 door as my first car, the tranny went out and I could only replace it with another 62 Powerglide so me and my dad changed it to a 3 speed standard and put in the floor shift. One of my dad’s friends welded in the z bar for the shifter, there were no hydraulics, you just had to push like a mule to shift.
First year for the Powerglide? It was the last year for the cast iron Powerglide. First one was 1950.
Ever since I was a kid, I have had a love affair with cars. Maybe being from Detroit had something to do with that. So whenever I see pics like this, it breaks my heart. It’s like seeing an abused animal. No love. Just sitting there, forgotten. Left there to rot away. Shame, shame, shame on those people that neglect cars. they need love too!
It could always be worse, it could have been crushed back in 1969 like a ton of these were…..
Pass…….
Seems like a lot of scratch, but I guess the high bidder will set the value. If it was sitting in a dirt floor garage the Ironworms will have a field day. Gotta admit, side view is sweet even in this condition. Good luck to the new owner!
Cheers
GPC
I bought a beautiful, slightly shabby one-family owned 1962 Impala Sport Sedan in 1990. For four hundred bucks. Tuxedo Black over cream-and-black striped upholstery. It was a great driving car, but the cast-iron Powerglides of that year are expensive to rebuild.
“Hell no” on this one. Talk about your lazy flippers. Wonder what he paid the old man.
Is it still for sale send me a text