This sunburned 1972 Impala Sport Coupe has been baking in the American Southwest for a long time. It’s currently located in Phoenix, Arizona and is offered for sale here on eBay with an opening bid of $4,350. The seller, who purchased it from the original owner’s family, says they drove it 120 miles home at speeds of up to 100 mph without incident. Even the original air conditioning is claimed to still blow cold. It obviously needs paint or protection for the surface rust (I vote paint, I hate rust) and the interior needs help. But with only 71k miles clocked up so far I’m sure it’s ready for some more. The gas gauge and AM radio don’t work, and the dome light needs a new lens, but everything else seems to be intact. This is somewhat of a plain car for most enthusiasts, but it does have nice lines and only one small dent to fix where grandma backed into something. The fact that it’s still running and driving smoothly after all these years says a lot about the basic engineering that went into the car. Would you preserve the original paint (and surface rust), or would you paint and upholster this big Impala?
I’d attempt to fix the inside, and leave the rest alone.
Like Jamie, I am not a fan of rust and I really do not understand what is charming about it.
learned to drive on one of these – green on green w a green vinyl roof (see a pattern?) until these photos i had forgotten all about the 2 stage seat belts, one around your lap the other over your shoulder. folks back then often did not use either and the shoulder belt stayed folded along the roof just above the window. how times have changed.
much better color combo here. glws.
my MIL (mother in-law) Had on of these when my wife and I started dating in 1983. The beast had tons of power. My wife lived driving it. No one got in her way when she was at the wheel. I’ve seen a couple of others in this same paint and interior. It does bring back lots of memory’s.
Wouldn’t mind finding one and upgrading the intake, carb, and exhaust. Then cruise down to the Texas gulf coast. South Padre here I come.
paint on RF fender looks newer then the rest of car. the a/c works!. if the reserve is not to high this might make another nice driver. but will have to spend a little money fixing the seats. i love the 3 white and 1 black wall tires, just like people did it ” back in the day “. nice find.
What a great car. These used to be everywhere.
This one sits right and looks solid. Bet he paid $800 for it from the grandson.
What you really want to see on these cars is the bottom corners on the rear window, and the seam running from there down to the trunk opening on each side. This bodystyle was prone to serious rust there, and if you look at the one rear-quarter photo provided, there’s a hint of the vinyl top being a little bumpy there, and maybe some RTV along the chrome trim. These cars were forever leaking into the trunk from these spots– I remember laying face-up in the trunk of customer’s cars with a flashlight while my dad sprayed water from a garden hose onto the rear glass, asking, “Do you see where it’s dripping from?”
Still, not the worst car I ever saw.
you know this afternoon i was thinking about the 72 impala i bought new it was beautiful gold with black vinyl interior it drove like a dream gm outdid themselves on the 71 to 76 impala and caprice its a crying shame that so many are being turned into DONKS they are to beautiful for that
I had 5,in my lifetime. And I LOVE THEM learned to drive in a 72 KINGSWOOD ESTATE WHATA BOAT. SMOOTH LAND YACHTS