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Rough Start: Reliving Past Sins In A 1977 Chevrolet Impala Coupe


Rough Start: Reliving Past Sins In A 1977 Chevrolet Impala Coupe

I got my first car when I was twelve, a mid-1970s Camaro that had more rot than potential. I went through a few rollers afterwards, mostly early G-body Cutlasses. Then came the Impala, the first car I had the keys to that had a license plate, tags and insurance on it. I had made my first horse-trade deal with the neighbor…he had picked up the 1977 Chevy Impala coupe that my stepdad had been using for a back-and-forth driver, but he wanted to strip it down and make a racer out of it. Regardless of what little power the 250 six was actually making, it ran and drove, something my 1979 Cutlass wasn’t doing. So we split the difference and I got the Impala. I threw some fat and fatter Cragars on it and every once in a while I’d sneak around with it, hoping nobody would notice a giant silver Chevy just tooling around. One afternoon, thinking I was in the clear, I found a spot in the yard near the trees and gave a little brake-torque…and got tire spin. So I let that motor eat and the smoke was beautiful…right up until the little red Toyota crested the hill and my mother caught me dead in the act. Whoops. Cue the Riot act.

I still have a soft spot for the 1977-79 Caprice/Impala coupes, even more so when they’ve made it through life more or less visually unscathed. GM really did get this generation of big car right…the styling held up well, the platform was a gem for the time, and luckily, all of the Malaise can be dialed out from the underhood with simple, basic modifications. If you’re looking for a great project car and want room to go as big or as little as you want, you can’t go wrong with a GM small-block, a full frame and a budding aftermarket. Just remember…don’t let anything happen to that rear window. You don’t want to know how much that cool design will set you back if you ever hear shattered glass.

Craigslist Link: 1977 Chevrolet Impala coupe


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2 thoughts on “Rough Start: Reliving Past Sins In A 1977 Chevrolet Impala Coupe

  1. Bill Greenwood

    They were actually a nice body style but….My folks went from a 73 Fury 360 that upshifted (at WOT) to 3rd at 90 and change, and would pull an honest 130 mph flat out, to a 77 Impala 350 that couldn’t touch 100 mph. If you bracket raced it, your dial-in would be “Tuesday.” 0-60 was measured with a sundial, and 0-70, a calendar.

  2. RK - no relation

    You don’t see them two doors around much anymore, especially up hear in the salty rust belt

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