Many barn finds are dug out and sold, only to get parked and ending up in worse condition then when found. This 1964 Chevrolet Impala wagon is just one of those cases. It was complete with only 55k miles on the clock, but the owner lost their storage and it ended up sitting behind the house under a tarp waiting to be restored. The owner has realized that they are not going to get to it so they have listed it here on eBay. A special thanks goes out to Jim S for sending this in.
There is plenty of rust. The seller tried to treat some of it by spraying it with primer, but that doesn’t look to have been very effective. They claim that the frame and floor pans are solid. We would want to take a look with our own eyes though because there appears to be a lot of moisture inside the car.
Supposedly this 283 Turbo Fire V8 ran a few years back before it was parked. It shouldn’t take too much to get it going again, but the slipping Powerglide transmission may be another story. You will be grateful for V8 power when you stick the optional rear-facing third row seat in the back. It increases the seating capacity from six to nine!
You will probably be a person with good memories for ’64 Impala Wagons if you want to jump into the bidding for this one. Just be sure you want an Impala wagon more than the seller did when he started work on it, otherwise it might end up back on eBay in another 5 years. And unlike Porsche 356s and early 911s, it’s unlikely that it will appreciate very much in the meantime.
Although it seems a lot better than many of the cars that are featured here, there will be a fair amount of work and $$ required to bring this back to good driver status. The main cost will probably be in fixing the body rust and redoing the paint. There’s also the results of the replacement front clip, which might not have been done too well judging by the poor alignment of the hood and fenders in one of the photos. Then there’s the slipping PowerGlide transmission. If it ran low on fluid, as the seller thinks it might have, it will probably be toast. Better to upgrade to a later, better transmission anyway—something with more than two speeds.
As Jesse said, these can haul a lot of stuff, or people. It might make a cool utility car for someone’s collection……a go-for-parts car, or a tow car for a small showcar + trailer. Just be sure to check its tow capacity first—and get that transmission fixed, or better still, replace it with a 4-speed.
It would look much better if he hadn’t primered over the rust spots. Then it would be much easier to ignore that huge problem and just drive it and enjoy while it composts. Primer does not stop the advance of rust any more than adding fluid will fix the transmission. Yet people are always hopeful that it will. At least it’s fairly easy to swap out the tranny. 9 bidders, $2000 so far and 4 days left. I love it when a bunch of people fighting for something that’s not a lot of money. Will the price double over the next 4 days? We’ll see…
@TomS – agreed! Primer is not waterproof. It has always amazed me that people will repair a car, and spray primer, but then will not paint. What gives? Even a crappy coat from a rattle can HAS to look better than a grey blotch. Plus it would stop the repair immediately beginning to rust again.
Anyway, as a true wagon lover, I am enjoying Wagon Wednesday. Keep it up, BF!
I remember a friends dad had one of these & the interior pieces rattled, ( seats & panels) like crazy but the cars were indistructable. This one looks to be all there, I like it.
cool car. I wish I could turn back the clock long enough to rescue my 64 BelAir.
also wish the general population was aware of how BAD it is to cover a car with a plastic tarp, whether parked indoors or out. it is better with NOTHING over it, maybe some bed sheets inside to minimize the UV damage to the seats & dash…..
never thought id say it, but i like wagons.i bought one at a tow yard auction-a 70 chev, very stright rust free body and almost perfict int. and drove it home for $275.sold it a week later to a hot rod guy intown. Funny thing, the local muscal car lot had a rod show the very next day. So im walking around looking,turn a corner and sitting infront of me is a 1970 chev wagon just like the one i just sold,even the samelight green inside and out. It was all restored.grafted a chevelle cowl hood,all the badges even the int. there to look like a 70 ss454 heck it even had the 454 under the hood the wagon was bueatful as was the hot chick that seemed to never leave the car.
There might be a lesson there……focusing on the hot chick who never left the car.
Seems like….chicks love cars, want to ride in cars…and like guys who can handle tools. In fact, I knew I guy whose pick up line was, “…..I’ll have to show you my tool box sometime….”.
11 Bidders, 27 bids, sold @ $2,700.00. Exciting.
This wagon looks so much like the wagon in the Lambracht action the I thought it was the same car when I saw the picture. Sounds like somebody got a nice deal on this one!