To celebrate its 50th year in the automobile business, Chevrolet cooked up the Gold Anniversary Edition of the Impala in 1962. It was a low-production vehicle (no more than 350 copies) and usually came in Super Sport trim. The key was the Anniversary Poly paint (code 927) that also found its way onto some 1963 Impalas. Though no documentation is presented (but referenced), this 1962 Impala SS appears to be one of those rare cars and we’re told it runs well, but the paint and paint are a different story. Located on the back of a trailer in Brandon, Florida, this rarity is available here on craigslist for $10,500. Kudos to Barn Finder Nate for this cool tip!
Chevy made it a big deal in 1955 when they produced their 50-millionth car. Lots of fanfare including parades. But when the 50-year mark came and went, there was far less hoopla. Between 300 and 350 of the Gold Anniversary Impalas rolled off the assembly line (the seller says 324) which was a drop in the bucket to overall Impala sales. With numbers that low, some dealers probably didn’t get even one to sell. Besides the 927 paint, we understand that interior code 891 Yellow-Gold was applied to each of these cars. Since the SS could be had with any Chevy engine, buyers had lots of choices.
The seller says this car is a real-deal Gold Anniversary. It came equipped with a 327 cubic inch V8 and a 4-barrel carburetor and that motor is still under the hood. Paired with a 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, we’re told the car runs and drives great with just 42,000 miles. But the condition of the body and paint suggests it spent a lot of time outdoors and went through a period of neglect. The trunk has been replaced, too (accident or rust?). The photos are few, especially of the interior, so we have to assume a full restoration will be in order. Interesting that this is a two-tone car as most we’ve seen are just gold.
We’re told this was a factory air-conditioned machine, but the under-the-dash unit and the style of the compressor suggest aftermarket. A bunch of new parts are included, but we don’t know what they are and whether they were installed or are in the trunk. The seller has a clean title and will consider a trade for another Bow-Tie product (perhaps from the 1960s, too, but that’s just a guess). The key to whether this car is authentic would be if the 927 code is on the cowl tag. If it is, this could be a car for which only a few dozen might still exist.
Oh, it’s that time again, tv auction time, that is. This time, it’s phoofery from Scottsdale, home of the pauper, where a ’62 Impala complete with clown wheels, motor, and interior sold for an alleged $TWO,,,HUNDRED,,,GRAND,,, a ’62 Chevy, mind you.
So, what do we have here? 42,000, HA,, maybe 40 years ago, and a new cap, like, that should do it( chuckling), I’m sorry, if the auction is any indicator of value, the temptation to make an alleged $100K is very real, and someone will sink a ton of cash into this,( gone by the way) clown it out, not for what a nice car it could be, STOCK, but how much they can make on it. And that’s the way it is,,,
I wish I had a ’62 Impala, better yet, a ’78 one, topping it off with do and that
Posted one hour ago and Craigslist ad already expired! Runs and drives good but can’t be bothered to take pics off the trailer? Plus accessory belts missing, yeah – bet it runs really good.
The BF joke of the day!
Vehicles like this makes a good conversation piece, but this is where it begins and ends with me.
After seeing the unknown aftermarket AC unit and the seller calling it factory, I really don’t have any more questions for this seller.
He just answered them all.
Just my oponion!
As a big fan of all things 62 Chevrolet, I find the 62 Anniversary Gold cars very interesting. How many were built is anyone’s guess, but over the years I’ve heard 300, 350, 1100, 2000 and 6000, plus possibly two Corvettes. Page 62 of the 1962 Engineering Features book, printed in September 61 and sent to all dealers, lists Anniversary Gold under available colors with the following note “Used in limited quantities on Sport Coupes only”. Though limited to Impala Sport Coupes, it was not required to be an SS. A few Anniversary Gold convertibles were built later in the year.
While Chevrolet’s slogan for 1962 was “A New World of Worth”, they also played up their 50th anniversary quite a bit. Chevrolet created a gold “Thank You America for 50 Years” logo that was used on many of their 62 promotional materials and was given away as a key chain fob. There were numerous mailers and brochures created celebrating the anniversary, a mid year “Golden Sales Jubilee” event based around the 50th anniversary, gold curtains for the showrooms and anniversary gold vests for the sales staff to wear, a showroom display featuring a 1912 Chevrolet model and a gold 62 promo model, and even a “Gold Album” featuring songs by Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and others.
That is not a factory AC system, or even a Chevrolet dealer installed Cold Pack under dash unit, but more likely an old Mark IV or similar unit.
And the listing’s gone already.
Sears used to install A/C in cars back in the day, it could be one of those.
It’s a funny world we live in. About 3 hours after I posted the information above about 62 Anniversary Gold cars, an old friend of mine who has one called me. I hadn’t talked to him in 8 or 9 months. He was calling to tell me about some Corvette parts for sale, and I told him to take a look at this Barn Finds piece on this car.
It’s not a new listing,,, It has been on CL for awhile now.
Must confess I’ve never heard of the Golden Anniversary edition (I wouldn’t consider myself a huge fan of the 62 Chevy genre, but I’m a detail guy and do consider myself fairly well informed). Learn something every day!
I would think of they really want to sell it we could have more pictures. Very few. I like the 62s but I don’t think this one is worth the effort. Looks like everything under the hood has been under water.
I remember seeing one of these in the showroom at Evan’s Chevrolet in Drexel Hill, Pa in 1962. My dad was helping our elderly neighbor who was buying a new Nova. I was 12 and went along because it had to do with cars and that was enough for me. I vividly remember that gold paint and matching interior. It was an SS which was the first one I had ever seen. To this day I think it is one of Chevrolets most beautiful designs.
I said it before, the ’62 is my favorite Impala design. Unfortunately this one looks like it’s had Hurricane Ian flood damage. And the seller couldn’t verify the Golden Anniversary status by taking a picture of the cowl tag? CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!
One of my first big flips….whoa did I say that ? Had a guy from my company out of state in the east upstate area looking for a rust free 1962 2 door Impala and had a lady friend that was trying to unload a worn out put rust free hardtop in about 1982….you can guess the rest….still didn’t make enough to retire….
Love all the crooked camera angles……NOT!