1965 Impala SS Convertible L78 396/425 Production?

[old5.0]

I know of a dark blue 2dr hardtop, non-SS. 4-speed and top end are gone, short block's in the trunk.

[bigsixman]

A fiend of mine was living in Anaheim, CA in 1965 and he ordered a 65 Impala SS with the 396/425 L-78 motor right away when they first released the L-78. His was sierra tan with a black vinyl top, black buckets, L-78, M-20, 3.55 gears and posi. The car keep getting held up because Eaton Corporation was on strike and they couldn't get the posi unit. He finally said to build it with the open rear and he would put a posi unit in it later. I believe that he told me that it was built at the Van Nuys, CA plant.

He drove it back to MN late in the summer of 1965 and all of us had never seen one before and we were very impressed with the big car with the solid lifter 396.

[Jeff H]

Wasn't there a magazine article years ago about somebody who ordered a 4 door with the L78 so he could get the motor to put in his other race car and then planned to drop another motor in the car and be his daily driver. I thought it was because there was a backlog in buying the L78 over the counter so he ordered the car with it.

[Verne_Frantz]

I've posted this before, but this was my high school buddy's L-78 he had in '69 in my parent's driveway. Originally had a black vinyl roof over the green. Black interior and 4.11s. He drove it from NJ to Long Beach, Ca for his Navy duty then sold it out there.

[KM265S]

Jeff,
The 4 door you mentioned is owned by a friend of mine. `65 Biscayne 4 door, L-78, 4 speed, Black, Red interior. The original owner was a drag racer and wanted an L-78. The only way he could get one at the time was to order one in a car. It was either a Corvette or a full-sized Chevy. The Biscayne 4 door was his cheapest option. My friend has talked to the original owner's son. Cool car.

[PeteLeathersac]

'
I recall reading that same story before too, 80's Car Review maybe?
I've been saving old ads for '65 L78 big cars to post in the Old Newspaper Ads thread but this looks like a good place to land them.
Cool if any ads match known existing cars, better if someone can run the old CA Plate #'s and track one down!
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

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[PeteLeathersac]

'
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

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[travlnz28]

Here is mine. Very patiently waiting it's turn in the restoration line.

[mockingbird812]

Nice! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[m22mike]

And a cool color too..... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/worship.gif[/img]