In my next life, or maybe not too far in the future in this one, I’m going to be a crazy old man who owns a 19th century multi-story brick warehouse, in a bad neighborhood in an inner city. There will be bars on the windows of the first two floors to keep out the riff-raff. Inside, will be five or more floors packed with vintage cars and parts and whatever else I can find. More than I could work on in ten lifetimes. Bumper to bumper and door handle to door handle, I will be the most audacious automobile hoarder in the history of the cosmos and all of mankind. And I don’t care as much for the shiny stuff. Now that I’ve got that off my chest, take a look at these two 1964 Impalas that I would have already purchased by now. If I were that crazy hoarder, you might never get to have seen these two cars advertised, because I would have already bought them.
They’re listed here on craigslist in St. Louis, Missouri. The asking price is $1,950 for each car. According to the seller, the blue one has a 327 with a three speed manual transmission. It has rust and no title.
The matching blue interior is rough, but if what the Tri-Fives have done in price is destined to happen to these, then these are probably worth spending some money on. Or soon will be. (Since I’m stacking them to the rafters in this building, that doesn’t matter right now).
This appears to be the 327 in the blue car, missing a few things, but it has power steering and power brakes, which are desirable options for this model. The seller doesn’t say whether either is in running condition, but this one would appear not to be.
The second car is beautiful burgundy, (aka Palomar Red) but the interior color is not mentioned. Our Barn Finds Reader’s Choice Award of the day goes to whoever can correctly identify the hubcaps on this one.
The drivetrain in the burgundy car is a 283 with a PowerGlide, and this car has a title. I forgot to mention, on each floor of the building will be a large aisle on each side, with two rows of cars back to back in the middle, and one connecting aisle on each end. The purpose of this is to drive the cars slowly around it in the middle of the night. Who’s with me on this?
I’m sure I’d outgrow it in a few years, but this looks like a good starter location. I’ll call it “Warehouse #1”.
So what do you think? Will the ’63-’64 Impalas ever fetch the money the Tri-Fives are bringing? How far off is that day? Please share your thoughts below.
I want to say as to the hubcaps-64 Chevelle? I know them but it’s late for me here.
Hubcaps are one year option off 67′ BelAir. Had a set of three, heck of time locating the forth, but finally found it.
In college my roommate had a 64′ Impala with factory air conditioning , 4 speed. After finals he when home to visit family in Los Angeles . After washing and waxing his red 64′ he went in to take a shower and came out to find it had been stolen.
67 Camaro caps
They are first Gen CAMARO
Assuming it has a freight elevator with room and lift capacity of a full size car, that is.
I like the idea of that warehouse.
St. Louis seems to have a lot of old cars around
As long as gas is available for them, value will be there.
Once the fuel situation changes from gasoline over to either electric or hydrogen power in the next 20 or so years, it’ll be a crapshoot whether the hobby will survive.
I wouldn’t bet the farm on throwing all my money into something that only a small fraction may be interested in, and an even smaller fraction may actually have a use for.
As far as an old factory for storage- meh. Those wooden floors will make it go up like a tinderbox and the brick walls hold heat like a chimney when there’s a fire. Adding a big fire load like a bunch of cars? Better sprinkler it.
My buddy who is 80 , hoarded a bunch of cars in town. Good building, bars on the windows, alarmed, fenced, and sturdy doors.
They pulled the exhaust fan off the roof and got in that way.
The 409 powered ’63 and ’64s have already surpassed the tri fives. Won’t be too long before the small blocks do the same. The tri 5s were big when I was in high school, so it only makes sense the ’63s and ’64s will be big for the next generation who used them in high school.
Yes because it’s the folks who remember the cars from grade school/high school
that drive up the prices.
I believe John wins the prize on the hubcaps 68 camaro
It has started, but I think in the next few years, there are going to be more and more car hoards coming to light. I have a friend whose dad used to hoard 67 Ford Country Squire wagons (!). They had to be 390 cars and had to have the wqood grain, no matter how bad it looked. I guess he wanted the trim pieces.
At one point he had around 8 or 9 of them plus a few other cars (V8 Levi’s Gremlin X was most interesting) stored in a warehouse. This was when they were just old cars. He lost his warehouse and the cars went to a field, where they returned to Mother Earth. We used one in a demo derby. Out of the 9, he had one really spectacular car and the rest were in various states of disrepair. But I expect to see more hoards come to light as the owners get older and pass on, leaving the families to dispose of the collections.
one of my ” dreams” is to have an unusual car for every day of the week, it started off with just one week, today it could easily surpass a month . ( if I were to hit the lottery) PPL who are not ” car nuts” would criticize me .. what would you do with so many cars? DRIVE THEM!. Rando, your friend whose dad collected 67 Country Squires would have been my idol , it is a shame they went to waste as they did!
As for the 64 Impalas , it has taken a long time for them to grow on me , and, I think too, that 62s should be thrown in the mess. . To me, these Imps seem to be odd color combination, yes, they would look great to be brought back to ” as new” condition . I would not ” rod” them won’t lie, would like something bigger than the 327 in it , but, that is a nice engine to work with , so, maybe not ..
The 327 block is the most versatile of the early GM v8’s.Lotsa aftermarket goodies out there to improve performance yet still retain a stock appearance.
Posting has been deleted.
68 Camaro hubcaps
Relisted and is here: http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/5657928546.html
Back in the day my brother-in-law purchased a black 64 SS convertible factory 409 car. Unfortunately the 409 was being swapped for a 327 from a 62 Corvette that the 409 was going into… what a mistake but what a cool car !
A ’64 Impala 4-Door was the family car until the ’68 Olds. Dad had put thick vinyl covers on the seats, making it a bummer to ride in.
When he traded the Chevy in, he got a few extra bucks, but I don’t think that he got enough, and the real winner was the next owner of the car.
Always liked the 1962-65 Impalas. Nice lines, great engines, bountiful colors and options, and not huge land cruisers. When I was in the Air Force, a guy in the squadron whose Dad worked at the Chevrolet assembly plant, I think, Memphis. He showed up one Monday with a 1962 SS396 Impala Convertible, white with red interior, bucket seats, 4 speed manual transmission, power steering and brakes, A/C, etc. His Dad had “”walked” the car through the assembly line. Sweet ride!
My mom had a 1955 Bel Aire convertible, in 1961. A neighbor had a 1956 Nomad, in 1962. I liked the look of the ’56 more than 55. I really liked the ’58 as an Impala SS or Nomad. I never like the look of the ’64 until recently, now I think it looks OK. I had a friend who’s mother drove a ’65 Impala 4 door, blue metallic, but I like the look of it anyway. I had friend in high school who had ’66 in that rust colored metallic. I thought anything after 66 was ugly, still do. I really thought the ’65-66 would be the next best thing after the ’55-57 went over the hill, I guess I am wrong. My dad had a ’57 Olds convertible. It was a good looking car, but never caught on. Next he had a ’61 Mercury wagon. I am a Ford guy but that was a piece of junk, just like the ’58 Ford, they rusted away. Then my Dad got a 1956 190SL. 23,000 miles, black with red leather. It was beautiful. That was in 1963. He drove it to work and left it parked on the street in front of the Bronx garbage truck shop and in the winter they loaded salt on the garbage trucks and sprayed the streets. The 190SL was a rust bucket. I bought it from him in 1968 for $400.00. I drove it until 1972 and sold it for $250.00. I have never looked at a Mercedes again, but I did get a taste for foreign cars, except when it came to trucks and vans. I bought a 1971 IH in 1975, still have it. I bought a 1981 Ford E150 in 1984, still have it. I bought the love of my life, a 1987 E350 Diesel hi top ambulance in 2009 and I still have it and I will move into it live on the road looking for old Ford vans!
Still remember like it was yesterday passing up the opportunity to buy a red ’64 Impala 2 door with factory 283 and 3-speed on the column for a great price. Why did I bring that up right before going to bed? Now it will haunt me in my dreams.
My First car I drove to high school was my dream car. ..64 Impala Super Sport Convertible, baby blue, blue interior, 327, 4 speed, factory air, mag wheels, dual exhaust. My parents did not know I had it, made the seller buy it back when they found out a year later …I was a 15 year old freshman, no license, no insurance. Bought it for $300.
My Dad bought a new car every year from 1949 thru 1976 but he never had a Chevy. I bought one new in 1972 and it was stolen from the dealers lot with 1000 miles on it after having it for 1 month.I got a new 72 LTD Brougham with the insurance money. I guess it was not meant to be in our family to be Chevy owners. I came close in 1961 when I was at a Chevy dealer on business with my new 61 Ford and fell in love with a burgundy Impala Super Sport cp. that had just came out. They tried to sell me the car but couldn’t get to my payment.
I think a lot of us have great memories of the 1963 and 1964 Chevys as well as the earlier 1961 and 1962 bubble tops.
We had a 1963 Chevy in driver’s ed and then got a new 1964 Chevy when they came out. I got to teach the instructor how to drive in that car. (He was a horrible driver with some really bad habits) My first drive over 100 MPH was a friend’s big brother’s 1964 Impala, for half an hour. I was surprised everyone just sat there and didn’t notice. I think a lot of us have great memories of the 1963 and 1964 Chevys as well as the 1961 and 1962 bubble tops.
Back in 1990 I stopped by an old gas station in Ellsworth, Kansas. Anyone remember old full service gas stations?
Anyway, on the car lift was a 1964 impala SS 409 all original with mud grip tires.
It belonged to a little old lady who had bought it new and was still driving it back then.