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Three On The Tree! 1963 Chevrolet Impala

There have been no shortage of 1963 Chevrolet Impalas covered on Barn Finds. Considering that 1.6 M were assembled that year, I guess it’s no surprise that they keep turning up. Our subject car, however, is a convertible – always a fun find and it has other interesting aspects, so let’s look it over. Located in Wylie, Texas, this Impala is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $29,800. There is a make an offer option too.

Both a regular Impala and an Impala SS were offered in ’63 but this example is just a regular Impala and being a convertible, it’s one of 82K constructed that year – that’s a huge number! I have wondered what conspired to slowly shrink the drop-top desire. If you look at the Impala, in particular, the numbers decrease precipitously after ’65 with a final farewell occurring in ’75 – technically a Caprice convertible as the rag top got a promotion to the top trim level in ’73. Noise, pollution, desired isolation, ultraviolet rays, who knows for sure but the ’60s were really the last hurrah for convertibles of most ilks or stripes.

So, let’s cut to the chase, our subject car is, to put it politely, challenged – very challenged. The body is bent, banged up, loaded with cracked Bondo, lots of peeling paint, and poor rust repair. And the pièce de ré·sis·tance is the goofy looking backward mounted air scoop riveted to the hood. The good? The top, minus the rear window, is not too shabby looking, the rear bumper appears to be mostly straight and the seller does have four “SS” wheel covers included but they’re wrong for this non-SS car – they look like the ones used on the ’65/’66 models.

Not said to run or otherwise, there is a 327 CI V8 under the hood that is more than likely a 250 HP variety based on the barely visible cylinder head casting mark. The last registration sticker for this Chevy is from the state of Pennsylvania and it was issued in 1975 so this one’s probably been a no-goer for some time. It does have a three-speed manual transmission with a column shifter something that has been gone from the American carscape since about ’72 or thereabouts. Interestingly, while a four-speed was always a four-on-the-floor arrangement, the three-speed shifter resided on the tree and was not available poking up through the floor.

The interior is about what one would expect with the front bench seat, covered by a blanket for likely obvious reasons, loaded down with detritus of some sort (though the backseat looks pretty good). Note what is one of the longest screwdrivers that I’ve ever seen keeping the clutch pedal depressed – usually not a good sign. It looks like we’ve got some dashboard trompe l’oeil going on just in front of the speedometer.

So, the ask on this 1963 Chevrolet Impala convertible is $29,800. I say fuggedaboutit, what says you?

Comments

  1. Avatar bobhess Member

    Pretty outrages price for something with 3 on the tree that looks like it actually hit at least 3 trees.

    Like 58
    • Avatar Big Al

      bobhess Hahaha Good One !!! 🤣🤣

      Like 15
      • Avatar Bob C.

        I second that!

        Like 7
  2. Avatar Mike Member

    Not for $2.98 would I waste my time on this money pit.

    Like 12
  3. Avatar Rw

    Way over priced,but other than that I like it.

    Like 6
  4. Avatar Paul

    Be realistic $300.00 is all it is worth. $20,000 minimum to restore. Then it would be $10,000 as a Non SS car.

    Like 8
  5. Avatar CCFisher

    Trivia time! Three-on-the-tree passenger cars were available for a few years after 1972. Anybody know what the last cars with a column-shift manual transmission were?

    Like 1
    • Avatar Pat

      I drove a new Chevy Step van in 1973 that Was a snow ball truck. It had 3 on the tree

      Like 1
      • Avatar XMA0891

        A friend in college had a ‘78 or a ‘79 Nova that was a three-on-the-tree.

        Like 2
      • Avatar CCFisher

        1979 Nova, Phoenix, Omega, and Skylark were the last to offer a 3-on-the-tree.

        Like 3
    • Avatar William G Zinselmeier

      I had a 79 Nova with 3 on the tree

      Like 1
      • Avatar Pete k.

        What doesn’t this car need!???

        Like 2
      • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

        Pete k,

        How about a wealthy new owner who puts in 3 times it’s value to make it nice?

        Like 2
    • Avatar Mark

      I had a 1973 Buick century 4 door, Buick 350, 3 on the tree, Manual steering, manual brakes, radio delete, rubber mat instead of carpeting, vinyl seats, but the original owner ordered it with a rear antisway bar and the optional front huge swaybar mono shock and that thing cornered flatters could be even at 90 miles an hour!

      Like 1
  6. Avatar Big C

    What? Are they doing crack down there in Wylie? Are there gold bars stashed in the trunk?

    Like 7
  7. Avatar Dirty Dingus McGee
    • Avatar Cooter914 Member

      Aww, ya beat me. Poor Dennis should have left it in the barn.

      Like 5
      • Avatar Big C

        Mr. Collins. That explains the $28k. Nuff said.

        Like 4
    • Avatar Taconix

      I keep posting on YouTube that the car is on eBay and Barn Finds, but they keep deleting the posts.

      Like 0
  8. Avatar Thomas Crum

    The 1963 Chevrolet Impala conv. Owner musthave a been a teaster at Johney Walker. Back end looks OK but it sure has lots of wiskey dents on the front. Nothing wrong with a manual transmission. This is now a good thieft deterent now with very few people with the ability to drive stick.

    Like 3
  9. Avatar chris bartku

    I had a 78 dodge d100 w slant 6 and 3 on the tree – bulletproof

    Like 2
  10. Avatar Dirk

    28k??? That thing is rougher than a cat’s tongue. Yes it is a convertible but I think they are looking at something like under ten grand in that condition

    Like 3
  11. Avatar Angel Cadillac Diva Member

    As far as I read, 1965 was the peak year for convertibles and they started to decline after that. The general consensus is air conditioning kinda killed the convertible. It was getting cheaper and in more cars.

    As for this 1963 Impala, $29,000? Seriously? I’m with you, Paul, $300 and you pay for the tow

    Like 4
    • Avatar Fred

      If it comes with a title it’s worth $500 for the title and vin tag to the right person, leave the rest for scrap as there’s really no good parts on it!

      Like 0
  12. Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

    Collins didn’t really look the car over very closely, he described the transmission as a column shift Powerglide in the video. He also pointed out it’s a 327 4 barrel engine, and “probably has lots of rust underneath . . .”

    The trim tag indicates the car is a V8 Impala convertible, red vinyl & cloth bench seat interior, paint is Ermine white. The option line indicates the car was equipped with: F = tinted windshield, 2 = Radio package AM with rear fender antenna, C = padded dash, and Y, however all the decoding charts available indicate the letter Y was not used for any option for many years, so it’s an unknown why it’s there.

    My guess as to how the “short” option list came to be created; The original buyer ordered the car, was probably over the age of 40, always had an open car, never had a car with automatic transmission, power steering, or brakes, and wasn’t about to put them on his new Chevy [“don’t need ’em!]. Might have traded in a 10 year [or older] convertible.

    I’m pretty sure the ’63 Impala came standard with a tint windshield and padded dash, [both options on the Belair and Biscayne], but were also listed on the option list because it was possible to delete both if desired.

    This may well have been the cheapest [MSRP] 1963 Impala convertible ever built!

    Like 4
    • Avatar Camaro guy

      Bill I’ve owned 3 63 Impala’s over the years none of which had a padded dash so I don’t think that was standard on the Impala

      Like 0
      • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

        Camaro guy,

        Thanks, I stand corrected. What about the tinted windshield? Anyone got more info on that?

        Like 0
    • Avatar Chuck Dickinson

      Sorry, but there was “‘nothing” standard equipment on the Impala that the Bel-Air and Biscayne didn’t have except BU lights, trunk light and parking brake warning light. No tinted glass was standard on ANY GM car, while a padded dash was standard on some of the upper level cars (Buicks/Cads, etc.), but not a lowly Chevy. This could’ve been a lot cheaper–no radio, 6 cyl, no heater, no w/shield washers/day-night mirror, etc.

      Like 0
    • Avatar Joe Bru

      I’ve owned about 15 1963 Impala’s & some have had Padded Dashes, some not. Doesn’t make sense that someone wouldn’t want a padded dash or a tinted windshield for free. I have 4 now, 2 with & 2 without ws tint & all are “Safety Plate” with proper dates. One non-tint ws car I have was purchased from the original owner. Did you see that on a brochure?

      Like 0
  13. Avatar Dale Stevens

    If someone buys that $500 car for 29 thousand they’ve got money to burn or giveaway these prices on cars now days is beyond belief, it’s crazy how people are spending hard earned money for pieces of junk, I just can’t believe it🍞🤯🤯🤯

    Like 1
  14. Avatar jetfire88

    The screwdriver holding the clutch is essential for stick cars parked in old places for long times. It keeps the clutch plate from rusting/sticking to the flywheel. I’ve had more than my share of that issue with rarely good results getting it free.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Jetfire88,

      You are very correct. When I place a stick shift car into long term storage, I usually create a 2X4 with a notch at one end, placing the notched end inside the upper part of the steering wheel, and the flat end on the clutch pedal pad. I found out years ago that the seat upholstery and internal seat springs often can’t handle the constant pressure and gradually deform, letting the clutch surfaces touch again.

      Plus it lets you move the car quickly if needed. When lightning hit my storage building, I was able to save 3 cars because the wheels were pointing straight, and the clutch pedals were pushed in. We were able to hook a chain onto the front bumpers and yank the cars out. Better to damage the bumper than lose the entire car to fire.

      Like 2
    • Avatar Jim ODonnell Staff

      Really, I didn’t know, I’ve never encountered such a situation. Thx!

      JO

      Like 1
  15. Avatar John WALSH

    Don’t know what’s going on here, but just watched Dennis Collins pull this same car from a barn this morning along with another 7 Chevy pickups. The show was recorded a month ago. The truck to he left of the Impala was another that was pulled out, easily recognisable by the artwork on the tailgate and it had superb low miles on it.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Rw

    Collins is a DB

    Like 3
  17. Avatar Mike

    I personally think the 63 Impala was the peak for the brand, just my opinion, but I wouldn’t touch this one with a fork. $29,800? Well, it’s good to want. I don’t think this would bring $29,800 even if you were to find buyers for every single part on it. Maybe it’s a misprint and they really want $298.
    Good luck with your sale.

    Like 1
  18. Avatar tom crum

    GM had the padded dash as an option. Kaiser had it is a standard feature

    Like 0
  19. Avatar PRA4SNW

    Does this guy ever sell any of these overpriced hunks of crap that Barn Finds seems to always feature?

    Enough already!

    Like 1
  20. Avatar Thomas Crum

    In 1963 I had just finished college and was starting a position as an auditor for Kroger Corp. I was going to cover outlets through Ohio, Michigan and other states. I purchased a 1963 Impala with a 6 cyl. and automatic trans. I put on 73,000 the first 12 months without any failures. Following year switched to aDetroit local corp. since I was then getting married.

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Rick M Member

    My friend had one when we were in High School. Red w/red interior, two speed automatic, convertible. He paid $150.00!
    Which is a little more than this hunk of junk is worth! Although a full restoration on this one would be great! But $$$$$$$$ needed to do it right.

    Like 0

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