Here’s a trivia question. What was the best-selling U.S. automobile in 1965? If you answered the Chevrolet Impala, you would be correct. At more than one million cars, it beat the hot new Ford Mustang by nearly double (if you count the so-called 1964 ½ Mustangs that were titled as 1965s). The seller’s car is a 4-door sedan, not as sexy as the Sport Coupe most collectors would prefer. It’s largely original with 61,000 miles and can be found in York, Nebraska, and is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $15,200. Our thanks to Barn Finder T.J. for another cool Bow-Tie tip.
GM redesigned its full-size cars in 1965, and the big Chevies (especially) took off in demand with buyers. Gone was the sometimes controversial “X” frame for a full-blown perimeter frame. Modern features like curved and frameless side glass arrived, and a full-coil suspension was onboard. When the dust settled, 20% more Impalas hit the highways and byways than the ‘64s.
In its 60 years, this family sedan has only had two owners (and we assume that includes the seller). It has faded brown/tan paint with no signs of metal rot. The interior is driver-quality, with maybe a stitch or two starting to give way in the upholstery. The basic 283 cubic inch V8 appears to reside under the hood, flanked by what we assume is a 2-speed Powerglide automatic. The Chevy has been treated to a new exhaust (full or partial?), shock absorbers, and new spark plugs and points (remember those days before electronic ignition?).
Per the seller, the only thing you’ll need to do is source a new windshield (this one is cracked). If four doors aren’t a turn-off, this vintage Chevy seems to have a lot of life in it. And the raised white lettered tires are a throwback to the 1970s (all my cars in my 20-somethings wore them, even on a six-cylinder Mustang).
Russ. I Don’t care what anybody says… White Letter Tires add at least 3 hp at the rear wheels. 4.5 hp if you have all four of them…….. Ok, but seriously, anytime a ’65 or especially a ’66 Impala comes up I just have to look. My Grandpas favorite car was his ’66 Impala SS 396. This one looks like it would make a nice solid driver. Polish it up and enjoy it. ( oh yeah and maybe get the windshield replaced).
That’s 1,074,925 Impalas to be exact, and my Grandpa Sam and Grandma Elsie, the Packard one, were among them. For just under $3grand, it was affordable, and they shelled out about $2500 cash( they paid cash for everything) as the dealer probably gave them $300 bucks for the ’61 Bel Air, that had 20K miles.
To be clear, comparing it to a Mustang isn’t exactly fair, an entirely different group, it should be noted, Ford sold almost as many Galaxies in 1965, 978,429 Fords were sold, and while sales of ’66 Impalas were “down” to a mere 655,000, it still remained the most popular US car sold. A family today would love a car like this, but not for 5 figures. Been to the grocery store lately?
This would be a nice weekend cruiser! It has a new dual exhaust system and the inside is pretty clean. Just clean up the engine compartment a little. As stated in previous comment white letter tires give it more power and if stickers are added to the windows you get 1 horsepower per sticker more.
I remember being a kid that these were everywhere. My guess is that there isn’t a single year, single nameplate that has exceeded this number sold. Throw in the Bel Air and Biscayne and it grows to something like 1.2 million. This is just the north American market not global if there is a comparable Toyota or VW figure that pops up. Truly the people’s car.
Nice car, even has full wheel covers! I have to differ with some of the previous posters in that I’d put narrow stripe white walls on it. Doesn’t look good with RWL. Decent interior & exterior. GLWTS.
My brother in law bought a new ‘65 Impala wagon in the same color combo as this car.
He ordered it at Shaver Chevy in Gary Indiana, April 1965.
It was barely a month old when he drove dad and eleven year old me down to Indianapolis for time trials at The Brickyard.
We left at what was probably around 4:00 AM which was pretty cool for an eleven year old kid..
As we were sailing down I-65 in the dark of night JC had a Chicago Jazz radio station on and I remember some cool saxophone while in the backseat.
That Chevy was like a spaceship to me..
Dad had bought a new 1964 Bonneville just eleven months before but as nice as it was, that Chevy wagon seemed so much more modern which it was at the time due to the huge improvements from GM’s 1964 offerings.
Even though I’ve been more of a Ford guy since my first car in 1972 was a Fairlane GTA S Code, and I’ve even owned a really nice ‘67 Galaxy convertible since, the GM full size cars 1965-1969 have always seemed more modern than the full size Fords of that era.
Somehow JC ordered that wagon with a 283 and a four barrel.
To this day I’m not sure how he checked a box for it or if he had the dealership install it but I can still remember being that eleven year old kid standing next to him peering down at that pretty red lump of cast iron while he told me the virtues of the smaller primary barrels in regards to slightly better fuel mileage at cruising speeds than the standard two barrel
carbs..
But he called the other two barrels “the whoopee pedal”.
Wow.. sixty years.
JC was a motorhead from the fifties and he campaigned a 1959 MGA in SCCA events.
Although it isn’t listed in the ‘showroom brochure’, the RPO L77 engine (220 HP 283) was available in many Chevrolet models in that time period. Checking that box got you a 4-barrel carb, a modest bump in compression and – usually – a dual exhaust system. Most dealers skipped the L77 upgrade in favor of the 250 HP 327, which did provide more torque.