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Classic Cars Classic Cars - Archived Discussions '64 Chevrolet Impala 
58 messages, Last post on Jun 09, 2000 at 1:34 PM
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I worked at Union 76 (UNOCAL) in the mid-'60s and our minister drove a Biscayne. I suppose that it makes sense that Biscayne buyers (the church board in this case) wouldn't be likely to spend the extra $$$ on the big motors on a budget-buy car, especially for a man-of-the-cloth. Never saw any Biscaynes with anything bigger than the 283. A co-worker raced his '60 Impala (348 w/trips, 4-speed Hurst). He had a '66 Nova SS (???) for a brief spell, then ended up with a GTO (389 w/trips and the close-ratio 4-speed), after which he got married and his racing days were H-I-S-T-O-R-Y. Regarding that Impala SS with the six-banger: what a waste! :>) A lot changed when Chrysler offered the Roadrunner and its 383 in what was basically a stripped-down Satellite 2-dr hard-top. I had a Sport Satellite hard-top (318, white vinyl-top) and yearned for the "beep-beep" muscle-car version. |
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I once saw a 1962 Biscayne Station Wagon with a 409 engine from the factory. I don't know what horsepower version it was, but it had a three speed stick on the column. I seem to recall the guy telling me that he had ordered it that way because he planned to pull a trailer or something. The Roadrunners were a hell of a lot of bang for the buck! The 383 torqueflight was no slouch. But...you brought back a memory... Back in around 1970, I was a very young guy working for Sears. a co-worker sold me a VERY wierd Pontiac that had been special ordered from the factory by his best friend who sold it to him when he was sent on an all expense paid trip to Vietnam. It was a 1964 Catalina 2 door hardtop. It had the 421 engine, with (what a waste) a 3 speed on the column. It took forever to shift, but MAN, could that Pontiac haul!! And, it looked like such a sleeper! Only the "421" emblems gave it away. One night, on my way home from work, a cocky young guy from our sporting goods dept pulled up along side me in his 1969 Roadrunner and smirked at me. Well...Even with some 90,000 miles on it, that old Poncho SMOKED the Roadrunner! He never spoke to me again... |
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Served him right! He deserved every smoke he got being dusted. A tour company had some '64 Catalinas in service (non-stretchout versions), but with the normal V-8s and 3-speed automatic. They had nice lines for those days and were very roomy. By the way, was it the Malibu (Chevelle) that was like the Roadrunner (stripped muscle-car) when GM put out the "Heavy Chevy" back in the early '70s? |
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As I recall, the "Heavy Chevy" was a very basic Chevelle with the bigger engine. But, I think it came out around 1971 or 1972, after the smog regulations gelded all of the power away. Mr. S, do you remember? |
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| I think you're right Isell, I only recall them in 71 and 72, I seem to recall they had a minimum of trim and a plain bench seat. | |
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| Yes, the Heavy Chevy was produced in 1971-72, but I don't have specs on it right now...given its rather low value in the marketplace, I'd expect it was not a car with SS engine options. | |
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| I'm just going on memory, but I seem to remember that he offered the big engine, but none of the ornamentation (buckets, chrome trim) of the SS. It may have been a way around the insurance company since it would have registered as a Chevelle rather than a Malibu SS, but that's just a guess. | |
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| Okay, I did dig into the extensive Shiftright Memorial Library, and found out a little more...says you could order ANY engine with the Heavy Chevy except the 454, and that the car was built as a competitor to the Road Runner. So I'd guess that with the larger engines the car would be worth more than is showing in the current Price Guides. | |
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I think it was in 1971 when they really got into emissions. They dramatically lowered the compression ratios and went to net horsepower. At least in California. Then, a couple of years later, we got cataytic convertors and all of the other smog equipment that killed the muscle cars. The most pathetic sight of all was a 1974- 1974 smogged up Tempest with a tacky "GTO" decal stuck on it. As I recall, the "Heavy Chevys" weren't much of a performance car. How about a 375 HP 396 '68 Camaro? HANG ON !!! |
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| To say 1974 - 1976 phoney GTO's. Really, I would just as soon forget that some idiot at Pontiac would do such a discraceful thing! | |
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