Back in 1967, the Chevrolet Impala was the number one selling model automobile in the U.S. with an output of about 576K copies. Keep in mind, that’s the Impala only and doesn’t include the Caprice, BelAir, or Biscayne trim levels. Today, 57 years later, the number one seller is the Ford F-150. As a matter of fact, according to Kelley Blue Book, in 2023, eight of the top ten selling vehicles were trucks or SUVs. Only two passenger models made the cut, number 5, the Tesla Model Y, and number 8, the Toyota Camry – my how things have changed. So, what was the secret to the Impala’s success so many years ago? Let’s examine this ’67 two-door hardtop and see if we can figure that out. This Granada Gold two-door hardtop is located in Lodgepole, Nebraska and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $8,100 with the reserve not yet met.
So, to answer my question, I’ll suggest value, styling, dealership network, and options, options, options. You could really build a big Chevy any way you wanted it and you didn’t have to take options A and B if you only wanted option C. Examining this Impala a bit more closely, we find that it has an optional 275 gross HP 327 CI V8 engine (a 283 CI powerplant was the standard V8), no power steering, brakes or air conditioning. But it does have an optional clock, and wait for it, a four-speed manual transmission with a factory floor-mounted shifter, that works around a standard bench seat. Now I don’t imagine too many of that over half a million Impalas were similarly equipped, but you want it? you got it! In spite of 100K miles of use, the seller states, “Runs drives and stops great“.
Now, this vintage of Chevrolet’s B-body can be a rust magnet and this Impala has not gone unscathed. This one has rust in all the usual places such as the fender legs and lower quarters. What’s here is not terrible but it’s going to need work. The lower quarters are available and the fenders are not so gone that they can’t be patched. The seller claims that the floors are solid.
Body problems aside, and subjectively speaking, Chevrolet nailed the styling in ’67 with its updated but continued fastback styling that premiered in 1965. In ’68, the formal, squared roof Impala Custom would be born which borrowed its greenhouse from the Caprice. It was likely a logical move as buyers were moving more towards the trappings of luxury and the Custom roof line brought a little more of that to the Impala without sending all potential buyers to the more expansive Caprice.
The black vinyl front bench seat upholstery has definitely seen better days. The rest of the interior environment looks OK. The carpet is probably not too hot but that’s a straightforward replacement. Small things like the armrests will need to be replaced but the door panels and more importantly, the headliner, look fine. I can tell you from experience, that curved Muncie gear shift stalk is a tough piece to find today, it’s considerably different from the one employed with a center console.
The seller suggests, “You’ll love the way it runs; it’s smooth and reliable“. This is a neat find, it has real possibility though I’d want to examine the body more closely and take a gander at the frame. You could never get a car outfitted like this today, and of course, time marches on. But when you see an old Impala equipped the way this one is, which was the way that a specific orderer wanted, it’s easy to see how Chevrolet did their part to keep buyers happy. It was a great time while it lasted, right?
I can visualize the salesman sitting at his desk with the order sheet and the buyer on the other side, saying, “Are you sure? Are you REALLY SURE??”
Maybe a salesman would have asked that if someone was ordering a 4spd on a wagon or 4 door, not likely a 2 door hardtop like this. Four speeds in non-muscle cars weren’t uncommon during this period of time, I’ve owned several myself. What would have been more common than this car with a 4spd would have been one with three on the tree, manual transmissions, especially in certain parts of the country wouldn’t have seemed unusual.
Steve R
It just strikes me as a weird combination. The bigger small-block and the 4-speed make sense, but why pay for the Impala trim (instead of getting a Bel Air)? But then you don’t spend on any creature comforts like p/s, p/b – much less A/C or p/w?
Yes, had a 67 2 door impala, light yellow with black vinyl roof. 283 three on the tree, no ps, no pw, no ac. Nice car. A 427 4sp would have been great tho
They were a scarcity in California. A favorite thing to do as a kid was peer into the windows of cars and being jazzed when one actually had a stick!
Like it was a reward or something.
When I was a kid our neighbor had a 61 wagon with a 409 and 4 speed!.
Another cool 4-speed car worth saving!!
A car I wish I hadn’t sold was a ’69 Impala 2dr, bench seat, with factory four speed. Like this one it had “power nothing”. It had a 350/300 engine and I would usually skip 2nd gear if I wasn’t in a hurry.
I had the same animal,, 69 Custom Coupe,, white with a green interior,, 300/350 with dual exhaust,, no options except for a 331 posi,, one of my favorite cars. I was a tech at a Chevy dealership, I put a 350/350 cam and springs, re jetted the Q-Jet, re curved the distributor,, ran hard, blew off a bunch of 383 Road Runners.2
Yes, I have a friend in IA that has a ’69 Impala Custom with a 350/4 spd, but has power steering and brakes. I think it also has A/C…neat car.
I’ve owned a lot of Impala 327 manuals. My favorite was a new ’69 LeMans blue with a black interior coup, ( brand new) with 3 on the post.Had a little work done at the speed shop and that car earned a reputation and a nickname, Bule Max.Witha set of Cragers it turned heads.
As I remember back when this car was new, the fact that you could order only the accessories you wanted was soon to disappear and be replaced by “packages”. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I think the Japanese introduced this concept and the domestic manufacturers quickly jumped on board. Another example of something that was taken for granted and only missed when gone. Now we have to buy packages that sometimes cost more than a fully loaded luxury car from the 50s-70s. Wonder if my kids will ever consider these the “good old days of car buying” lol.
Actually, things changed at Chevrolet when John Delorean took over as General Manager in March of ’69. He was not a fan of endless individual build combinations and started to change things with the ’70 model year.
JO
Like said above there were lots of big cars with 4 speeds. I personally have a 65 Catalina 2 door post that has factory ac, a 389 2bbl with a power bench seat with a 4 speed. This car will be a fun driver when finished that won’t eat you out of house and home and will drive anywhere. Great car, glad it survived.
I have a 63 GP 4speed, and out 72 thousand built only 5 000 plus had manuals.
I’m old enough to remember when these cars were new, and though not as common as 3 speeds and automatics, there were a lot of full size (and intermediates) sold with 4 speeds. I knew a 68 327 4 door Chevelle with a 4 speed, a stripper 68 307 Nova with a 4 speed and a 62 Impala 4 door post with a 409 and 4 speed. All three of them were bench seat. People would often buy 4 speed full size wagons and sedans to tow trailers with.
It was not uncommon to find cars without AC or power steering or power brakes. These were luxuries to a lot of people, and something many didn’t find to be necessary. Dealers didn’t question someone ordering a car with a 4 speed, or a car without power brakes. A loaded car with a lot of options was a lot rarer then an air conditioned Impala without steering or brakes. What people think today is a rare or weird combination of options, was common in the 60’s. My cousin had a 62 Impala (not SS) hardtop 409 with a 3 speed column shift and a friend’s father ordered a 69 Caprice 4 door with steering, brakes, air, power windows, vinyl top and no radio. He’d never had a car with a radio and so no need for it.
A big reason US automakers started selling options in packages had as much to do with the introduction of computers and the increase in the number of options offered, as anything else. Many options are dependent on the computer, or other options, making it easier to put them in a package. If 75% of the buyers were ordering power windows, locks and mirrors, it made more sense to make them part of a package and only have to have one wire harness and other associated parts, then to stock 6 different harnesses to cover the possible combinations of windows, locks and mirrors people could order.
I had a 67 Bel Air 4-door in college. I bought it in 1980 for $150 from my friend next door; it was his Dad’s car that Dad bought new. Dad was one cheap-ass guy.
It was a 4-door Bel Air, no power anything, 283 with 3-speed on the column. It drove like a tank. I loved that car. I still have that friend some 44 years later.
My friend took the $150 and bought a Fiat Strada. We still laugh about that.
What happens to the hub cap to all these old cars? They’re always missing ALL of them.
Have mine for my 69’cutlass hanging on the garage wall
I have four hubcaps on my gold 67 four-door Impala
In 1967 I was service manager for local Chevrolet dealer. As part of my job was to check in new cars as they were dropped off by anchor motor freight. One day they dropped a marina blue 1967 427 Impala super sport. That car came home with me! Had a sticker price of $3,750. Yes I wish I had kept it.
My dream car, 1967 Impala SS 427 4 speed, I’m 64 years old and only have seen two in my life
Great car, I would buy this and fix the rust, new seat covers, and just drive it. The 327 with a 4 speed is actually fairly responsive.
Had a 67 Impala SS 4 speed 327, it would be a ton more money than this, for a few extra badges and trim. No suspension or performance improvements.
My brother owned a 73 cutlass with a 5spd,that car wouldn’t pull sick hen off a pisspot
Back in the spring of ’74 of my jr yr of high School I was working as a box boy in the local grocery store and got my first car, a red w/ black bucket seat interior ’67 Caprice 396 factory four speed and posi. That car would lay down two stripes of rubber from the back tires like nobody’s bidness. The only downside it was during odd-even rationing of the arab oil embargo or whatever which translated to 10 gal of gas every other day. 10 gal didn’t even come close to filling the tank and I’d be on fumes by noon later that day.
I’m glad that you’re 67 Caprice didn’t lay down two black stripes of rubber from the front tires.
Had a Nova, same vintage, 327 4bbl 4spd with bench seat and dog dishes. A sleeper for sure.
A screwball ride. Hard pass on this rustbucket.
Had a vw same color
Given the 2-million or so ways to configure a ’69 Camaro packaging made a degree of sense. Of course today it’s gotten quite out of hand.
Delorean was a proponent of the modular body platform to make managing assembly and inventory easier. The fourteenth floor wasn’t having it. His flamboyance over shadowed his genius.
This was supposed to be a reply to Jim O’Donnell
I’m sure the seller knows what he has but some GM cars had 3 speed manuals with a floor shift. I had a ’71 Camaro, 307, 3 speed on the floor. Not an unusual combination.
Back in the day you could order a higher line model (Impala over Bicayne) and not pay big dollars for all the extras.
As a car salesman back in the early ’70’s we called them “nickel millionaires”! They were the hardest ones to close on a deal. As a salesman we didn’t want to order a car for a customer we wanted to sell out of inventory. That car, as ordered, probably netted the salesman a $50 commission if he was lucky!
Oh, for the days of a la carte ordering. I know it led to quality control issues, but you could at least have the car or truck you wanted (or needed, especially in the case of trucks). Even the stripped models now force unwanted complexity on us. Young people have no idea………
Right on about ordering it your way.
My ‘71 Nova was kind of a compromise with my parents.
307 200 h.p. V8 with a Muncie 3speed transmission, and Positraction .
Deluxe interior with bucket seats and floor shift.
Order filled and delivered for $3400 Cdn.
Probably lucky I didn’t get the 396 with 4 speed. Might not be here!
To not have power steering or power brakes in a car this big and heavy would have been a real drag…
Glad the seller saved this car. Interesting that the earlier owners did not take very good care of the car despite its 4 speed and block. Just shows how as time passes even the most of common of models ( save the tranny) and despite the condition become desireable.
Had a 71 Chevelle SS 402 at, ac, NO power steering. Around town it was easier to go around the block than make a U turn, around 4 turns lock to lock on the wheel.
Had a ’67 same color combo, Granada Gold Black interior. Mine was a 283 Powerglide Impala. Did the bodywork myself (lots of bondo) And had it sprayed for $100 bucks. Looked good for about a year. Fond memories.
Thanks, Jim for the information on John DeLorean. I didn’t know that. I bought a new Camaro in 1970 but it was in the dealer’s inventory. It was equipped just the way I wanted and was the color I wanted. In1996 the same thing; a Chevy Lumina that was just what my wife wanted right off the dealership lot. I found out about packages when we bought a 1988 Isuzu Trooper. So I guess that’s what influenced my thinking about packaging. BTW, that’s the extent of my new car purchases. I’ve been a “previously loved” devotee for almost thirty years now.