'65 Impala SuperSport Convertible Proves Itself An Integral Part Of Owner's Life

Don’t even bother asking Gary Steinman if his 1965 Impala SuperSport convertible is for sale.  It isn’t.  Not at any price.

The Grapeview resident purchased his beautiful red with black top and interior muscle car new in November of 1964 from Bigelow Chevrolet in his native Aberdeen.  Then an undergraduate student at the University of Washington, Gary originally had his sights set on a used 1961 Corvette.  Thinking the Corvette as too small, his father made-up the difference in price to obtain the safer, full-sized Impala.

Buying a new-model convertible in Aberdeen immediately proved to be a soggy experience.  Only weeks after purchasing the car, the top got stuck in the down position after a rather heavy Santa Claus rode on the folded top during the annual Christmas parade.  Since no replacement parts were available yet, Gary was forced to drive for a couple weeks with no top – in Aberdeen during December.

“I didn’t mind at all,” Gary explains.  “It was such a great car, I just wanted to drive it.”

The car was used as a daily driver through dental school and many years after.  Like many cars of its era, it was an ingredient in the perfect slice of Americana, seeing many dates, drive-in movies, and street drag races.  Gary and his wife, Merrisue, even drove away in the car from their wedding. 

Soon it became a second car, then a third car.   But Dr. Gary Steinman never considered selling it.

Impalas could be ordered to fit a range of tastes, from automatic equipped six cylinder cruisers to four-on-the-floor, big block stop-light bandits.  This beautiful red Impala SuperSport was originally optioned with a 327 V8 engine and 4-speed transmission.  In 1973 the original engine was swapped for a 454ci V8 built to legendary tuner John Lingenfelter’s high-power build-up specifications.  This is the engine that remains in the car to this day.   Gary even assembled the parts necessary to transform the car into big block trim, including appropriate high-RPM tachometer, radiator spacer and 396 emblems (even though as an early production car, it would have been equipped with the soon-to-be phased-out 409 big block.)  Only the most knowledgeable Chevy fanatic, however, would be able to figure out from looks that this isn’t really an original 396 car.

1965 was a transitional year for Chevrolet’s full size automobile.  The rectangular design of the ’62-’64 cars was replaced by the sleeker, sexier Coke-bottle shape that would dominate Detroit iron for years to come.  The signature six-taillight treatment was kept one last year, however, making the 1965 model easy to identify from the rear.

On this particularly sunny day, sliding into Dr. Steinman’s beautiful car made me feel like singing Jan and Dean tunes and cruising down to the A&W.  The immaculate original black vinyl interior is functional, but not necessarily luxurious.  Seats are flat, wide and offer zero lateral support, which makes sense in a car that was designed to go fast in a straight line.  There’s room for two in the front buckets, three in the rear bench and for sneaking into drive-in movies, at least two or three teenagers in the trunk.

Turning the key engages the high-torque starter, bringing the big block V8 to life with a lumpy burble that only an overhead valve engine could produce.  After allowing the engine to warm, I make the long throw with the obligatory Hurst shifter into first gear.

The floor-hinged accelerator pedal is tough to operate smoothly without placing your heel on the base of the pedal for control.  The clutch has long travel, and picks up late.  As the friction-point hits, though, you had better be holding on to something.  With the big block’s strikingly unlabored mechanical sound, this ’65 Impala’s 440 rear-wheel horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque shoves the driver into the seat with the force of a wrecking ball into a condemned building.  Prying myself from deep into the seat springs, I pull the lever into second gear, again unleashing the neck-snapping torque. 

The throw from second into third gear is so far that it feels like it’s in a different time zone.  One needs to lean their entire body towards the glove box to get into gear.  But if there’s one true failure in driver ergonomics, it’s the location of the tachometer.  It sits to the far right of the long rectangular speedometer, and is impossible to see without taking your eyes completely off the road.  In automatic transmission cars, this is where the manifold vacuum pressure gauge resides. 

For weighing-in just over 3600 pounds, this machine gets going quickly.  When Gary drag raced this car in the 70s it was capable of mid 13-second quarter mile runs.  He experimented with different rear-end ratios and replaced the 14 inch steel disc wheels with wide 15 inch mags.

“I could beat the all the GTOs, because they were too light and had to launch in second gear to get traction,” Gary reminisces. “I’d only avoid racing Cobras, Corvettes and Hemi-powered cars with older owners, because they were the only ones who could afford to keep those engines in tune.”  

Due to its large dimensions and smooth ride, the Impala is deceptively fast.  This makes it a little unnerving when approaching a tight corner, because it certainly isn’t fast to stop or turn.  Even with updated front discs, slowing the car requires a significant amount of road compared to a modern automobile.  The steering was also updated with a quick-ratio box from a later Camaro, which means the wheel doesn’t have to be rotated multiple times for a lane change.  But like all its American contemporaries the power steering makes the wheel light enough to turn with your pinky and is about as communicative as Tibetan monk.  You can tell that this car was designed for the expanding high-speed, very straight interstate system.

Even with its handling deficiencies, this Impala SuperSport convertible is still a kick in the pants to drive, especially given its many performance updates.  The car is not about LeMans or Sebring.  It’s about stoplight drags, cruising on Friday night with your four best buddies, and parking at “the spot” on Saturday night with your best girl.

Gary Steinman doesn’t do much dragging these days, but he and his wife do quite a bit of cruising with vintage car clubs.  And on sunny Fridays, it’s not uncommon for the couple to commute in their ‘65 to work, a sizeable 120 mile round trip to and from their Tacoma dental office. 

The car also sees quite a bit of use in parades around Mason County.

“But Santas who don’t need extra padding for their costumes aren’t allowed to sit on the top,” Gary jokes.

Gary certainly loves driving the car, but it is the stories, the jokes and the history to which it contributed that truly make the car special.  From bringing his is oldest daughter home from the hospital in it to chauffeuring her and her husband from their wedding 26 years later, the memories are enough to keep it in the family forever.

“So much of my fun was in this car.” Gary states.  “I get offers on it all the time, but no amount of money can replace those memories.”

Sam Barer writes for Apex, an Olympia, WA based freelance writing company. To submit a car for a future “Sound Classics” story, email soundclassics@apexstrategy.com

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