The owner of this 1963 Impala admits that while the vehicle sports some SS features, he’s unsure whether it is a genuine SS. He is sure that its potent V8 is original and that the 26,000 miles showing on the odometer are genuine. He also feels that the time is right for it to find a new home. I have to say a big thank you to Barn Finder Pat L for spotting this amazing survivor for us. Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, the owner has listed the Impala for sale here on Craigslist. This classic could be yours by handing the seller $47,000.
The owner doesn’t provide a lot of history on this Impala, so it isn’t clear how it has survived so nicely for fifty-eight years with such a low odometer reading. It also isn’t clear whether the car is a genuine survivor or whether someone has treated it to some form of restoration. We know that it presents superbly in its factory combination of Cordovan Brown and Adobe Beige. The photos that he supplies aren’t the greatest, but they show the paint shining beautifully. It isn’t clear whether there are any blemishes or imperfections in either the paint or panels, but it looks pretty promising. We don’t know whether the car has spent its life in its current location, but if it has, that could make it a rust-free survivor. No issues are mentioned in the listing. The exterior trim seems to be in good condition, and the same appears true of the glass.
So, let’s talk about life in this classic’s engine bay. The owner insists that the Impala is numbers-matching, which is the first piece of positive news. He also states that the car has a genuine 26,000 miles on the clock, but he doesn’t say whether he holds verifying evidence. If the overall condition of the engine bay is any indication, the claim may be valid. For those of you who believe that there’s no substitute for cubic inches, you’re going to love this Impala. The engine bay is occupied by a 409ci V8, while the original owner also chose a four-speed manual transmission, power steering, and power brakes. Chevrolet offered several versions of the 409 in the ’63 Impala, and it isn’t clear which this is. Considering the worst-case scenario, it would still be churning out 340hp. That’s enough to slingshot the car through the ¼ mile in 15.1 seconds before winding its way to 130mph. The owner has recently installed new tires, but that’s just the start of the good news. He says it drives as nicely as it did when it rolled off the showroom floor, suggesting that this is a turn-key proposition for its new owner.
When we turn our attention to this Impala’s interior, we are finally confronted with an aspect of the car that isn’t perfect. The carpet has several dirty marks below the pedals, but it isn’t clear whether they would respond to a deep clean. The upholstery on the front seat looks slightly stretched and possibly marked, but it remains acceptable for a driver-grade car. The interior is trimmed in a combination of Saddle cloth and Brown vinyl, and apart from those couple of minor imperfections, there’s not much to report. Some aftermarket gauges are hanging under the dash, but the rest of the interior is unmolested. There is no wear on the wheel, and the dash is spotless. It isn’t loaded with optional extras, although it features the original pushbutton radio and the oh-so-cool factory tachometer.
This 1963 Impala raises as many questions for potential buyers as it answers. The owner is unsure about whether it is a genuine SS, and the lack of supplied information means that we can’t go close to confirming it. He has probably done himself a disservice by not consulting an expert on this point because a listing that confirmed the car as the real deal would have had more punch amongst potential buyers. However, even if it isn’t an SS, it still appears to be a stunning car that should be a blast to drive. Do you believe that it is a genuine SS, and are you intrigued enough to follow it further? If you do, I’d love to know the results.
Nice.
Whether it is a real “SS” or not.
New set of “Cooper Cobra” tires? Not so nice.
I really dislike white letter tires.
IMO, RWLs look great on late ’60s/early ’70s muscle cars & are almost mandatory for any ’70s t/a.
What looks terrible is RWLetters added to very low profile modern tires, especially when they spell out tacky/dumb phrases. lol
Also i think redline tires clash with green painted cars.
I agree . . except I don’t like them on ANY car – and I never did – going down the road, they make it look like it has thick whitewalls. This car probably would have had one inch whitewalls when it was new. I bought a ’68 Camaro a year ago, and the first thing I did to it was remove the white lettered tires that seem to be “standard” on every “muscle car or pony car” now days and had a set of correct thin stripe radial whitewalls made for it.
Lamest excuse not to buy a car. Reverse the letters to the inside or buy a new set.
The seat upholstery has been redone and does not match the OEM one. Not a good sign.
Not sure what YOU think is wrong about the seat upholstery? Of course, it’s obviously an Impala, not an SS, but this IS the OE IMPALA CLOTH, not the vinyl interior used on the SS which only came with buckets and console. I can’t imagine anyone selling one of these who did not know the only difference between the two models was the seat style (as well as the engine turned side, rear and dash panels).
@ Billy Ray….you’re mistaken. The interior is in fact one of the optional original fabric/vinyl combos from the factory for a ’63 Impala hardtop…which this example IS.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” – Carl Sagan.
I don’t see any SS features. I’m pretty sure by 1963 the SS package included bucket seats.
Yes all as came with bucket seats
SS diffently had bucket seats and center council. Would put those in when redoing seats correctly. A good look underneath would probably help to show 26k or 126k.
To the best of my recollection Super Sports came with bucket seats.
Incorrect air cleaner. For 26k miles you would expect the stock air cleaner to be there. Door panels correct but seat covers are not. I rebuilt one of these in the 80s with 340hp 409 no tack and automatic column shift.
It’s not an SS. The 857 trim code indicates an Impala saddle cloth bench seat, not an SS. An SS would have bucket seats and the saddle trim code would be 858. A bench seat was not available in the SS. Also, the aluminum trim on the dash would be engine turned on an SS, not the ribbed Impala style that this car has. The “QC” on the block is the engine code for a 63 409/340 4 speed, so it might be the original engine, but you’d need to know the car’s VIN to be sure. The “972” paint code is Adobe Beige over Cordovan Brown.
If it is the original engine, it looks like it a decent car. The hydraulic cam 409/340 was much milder, and easier to live with, than the 400 & 425 horse versions, but will still move the car down the road comfortably. If it were mine I’d replace the SS emblems with regular Impala ones, and find a stock dual snorkel air cleaner, and a set of Impala full wheel covers or dog dish caps for it. There’s nothing wrong with owning a non SS, 409 Impala.
This is why I love this site…I’m always learning something new almost daily…thanks gbvette62…
SS? Not.
The side trim would be machine turned inserts, not painted. The trunk cove panel in most every case was engined turned not brushed alum. But best is the Cowl tag number under TRIM denoting bucket seats.
There is something wrong with the asking price if it ain’t a numbers matching deal.
Bob
Brown. No bueno. Chromed brake reservoir. No bueno. chromed Alternator. No bueno. Might be the photographs but the inner fender walls look matte black. Very cool tach. Sort of looks like someone built this or at least took a real 409/4 speed and dressed it up. In any event props to the seller for stating the apparently obvious ,
Yeah, the flat black under the hood doesn’t seem right to me. No expert but I have my doubts
Engine block painted in car.
also the silver on the back by lights would be engine turned along with strip on sides
The vin would start with a 3 to denote year. The next two numbers would have to be 13 to be an SS.
@ gbvette62….You’re mistaken re. the correct air cleaner for an L33 (340-horse) 409. There was only a single tapered-snorkel on L33 air cleaners, w/the factory-applied ‘409’ 340 HORSEPOWER decal on the front-facing surface of the upper housing.
I owned a 63 Impala SS Convertible 327 engine. Factory interior was definitely bucket seats with a small metal console between the seats.
This is a nice example of a 63 but definitely not a super sport.
I’m not sure if they are reflections, but the clutch and brake pedals both look worn more than a 26k mile car would reflect, but it is a pretty cool car. I think that I’d replace the white letter tires with blackwalls and maybe some old-school Cragars and drive it.
Since it appears NOT to be an SS, and with the lowest HP 409,
I’d say he’s reaching out on 47K, but he’ll get no buyers at that price.
Go ahead and clean your interior, reupholster the seat, put on the correct emblems, and get what it’s actually worth.
Another victim of prominent tailpipe mania.
Free advice. When a seller says: not sure, seems to be, or appears to be; that means it IS NOT!!!! A five year old kid could investigate this car and know it is NOT an SS in 10 minutes. Everyone else did, why couldn’t the owner?
This site has the most negative people of any I visit.This is a nice car but all the readers here want to do is bash it.
I had a 1963 Impala SS convertible and this is not an SS.
Ok to call out seller to protect the uniformed. This ias not a negative for this site it’s actually a positive.
Yes it is OK to tell others what’s right with vehicle especially if you have owned one or rebuilt one. There is a lot of car there but at 47k you would be in it quite a lot. You have engine work, interior work, frame and other work under the vehicle possibly. I would have to underneath vehicle.
Sure, some of the comments are meaningless, but some correct the inaccuracy of the seller’s supplied information. There is nothing wrong with educating the rookie buyer or the new to the hobby person. If you were buying a car, wouldn’t you appreciate someone telling you what is right or wrong about the car to help keep you from getting burned. Hint; don’t present your car as something it is not.
Try BAT. You’re not allowed to say anything negative about a car. It’s BS, in my opinion.
Well Jackie, like certain body parts everyone has an opinion. Your opinion is that some comments are negative. Others opinions about the car are also in the main often correct. As you can see many of the details are called into question. That happens on any car site. From the now Hearst site, once a great community of folks like the late Belcord, to Jalopnik to wherever. The difference here it is more like a bunch of knowledgeable sometimes cranky folks shooting the breeze about whats in front of us. I like the car. I just dont like Brown but hey….that’s just me.
Jackie: more nitpicking on this one due to the possibility of it being overpriced (no pictures underneath & no vin verification). Also owner being a bit cagey about whether or not it’s a true Super Sport when this is easily checked by just typing in the Trim code on an internet search. Note it’s not a true SS, some sellers don’t want to know if something could devalue their car (& hoping buyer won’t check?
It looks quite nice, but is it a factory 409 or a re-engined small block automatic car? For 50k it should be. I had a nice driver 62 SS with a small block 4spd, the only 60’s Chevy I like besides a big block 68-69 Corvette
340 hp engines had a return line to the fuel tank from the fuel filter
i dont see it
I was fortunate to have owned a 62 SS with the 425/409 from 65 to 71, and from what I remember, most of the comments are accurate. Mine had the factory vinyl buckets, a smallish console, with at that time what was called a spaghetti shifter, because of the skinny shift arm, and a chrome SS ball on top of it. The engine had 2 AFB 4BBL carbs, progressive linkage, a solid-lifter cam and a dual-point distributor. I think the 4-speed was a Borg-Warner, but not sure? I seem to remember T-10 aluminum case. All the interior dash accents as well as the outside trim, were engine turned full length back to the SS emblems. It had the 409 flag badge up front on the side. It was my daily driver, and got about 5-7 mpg, but gas was around 30 cents a gallon, so nobody cared about that! Until the 67 GTO 389 and Chevell 396 and 454s were released, there wasn’t much that could stay with it, factory stock. I put 10″ Caslers on the rear, and you had to feather the pedal to stay hooked-up. Another I WISH I had kept! Sold it in 71, $1550…
@ Gary Hicks…If your ’62 had an L80 init in ’62, then somebody swapped it in. 425-horse ’09s didn’t happen until ’63. Yours was the 409/409 example.
I drove 4 hours to look at this 63 Impala and its a mess. This Impala is NOT a low mileage car, others have confirmed its not an SS. There’s a lot of wear which indicates the odometer has been clocked over once or twice. I’ll share what else I found:
Rubber on pedals is nearly worn through.
Car has been in a major accident as trunk and passenger door gaps are way off, you can push a little finger in some of those gaps.
Car has recently been painted and theres a ton of bondo under the paint. (I used a electronic paint/bondo gauge to confirm).
Drivers seat has a crater in the springs from it being a high milage car.
Drives like crap; wanders all over the road, clutch slipping badly.
Doors sag and drag on the latch when opening/closing.
Dash is cracked and they glued a piece of tan vinyl over cracks.
Ignition switch is worn out and you can start the car without a key.
All the pics on CL are low res strategic photos…I can see why.
Figures.
Utes, I’m by no means an expert, and assume you’re correct. I bought the car off a used car lot on Long Beach Blvd., in Lynwood, CA. I never bothered checking numbers, as I was just happy to run across it, and knew very little of the car other than what the salesman told me. Obviously, he told me what I wanted to hear, and being very young, and gullible, “SOLD!” No matter the HP rating, I sure had alot of fun with it, and wish I still had it today! It’s replacement was a ’72 911 S, so didn’t give it much thought till many years later subscribing to BarnFinds. Thank you for your input…