1962 Impala: Breaking The Mold
Some cars are built with an inherit style. A ‘69 Camaro is going to be a performance machine as that was their intent leaving the factory. In the 60’s, Cadillacs were pure luxury - performance wasn’t there, just comfort.
For the Impala line, they fell somewhere in between. They were primarily designed as a full-size luxury car for the Chevrolet line, but there was some performance mixed in as well such as the 409 engine. However, when you think of a ‘60s Impala you most likely think of a comfortable cruising machine, not a performance handling package.
Breaking The Mold
The crew at Ironworks Speed and Kustom broke the traditional molds when they built this ‘62 bubble top Impala. This car exudes it’s elegance, but one look at it quickly shows you that there is more to this Impala than meets the eye.
Right off the bat you’ll notice the stance, and the 20/21” HRE Wheels with massive Wilwood brakes tucked behind them all wrapped in Michelin tires. Then you start noticing some of the details such as the tucked bumpers and the complete lack of chrome and emblems.
That killer stance is courtesy of a custom Ironworks Speed and Kustom chassis. This chassis utilizes C6 Corvette suspension upfront that’s been outfitted with ridetech coilovers.
Abundance Of Power
Nestled between the frame rails is an LS2 with a pair of turbochargers to give this Impala the speed it never had from the factory. The turbos are on the smaller side to give this engine minimal turbo lag so it’s easy power under the foot. All that power is sent through a 4L85 transmission for easy cruising.
One of the things that sets the ISK shop apart from others is the use of 3D CAD modeling which means they create tons of cool one-off billet aluminum parts. This Impala is no exception; the intake manifold and plenums, instrument panel, dash, and console bezels.
Complimenting all the cool billet pieces on the interior is a complete Sid Chavers interior with a red leather that pops against the outside paint. That paint is actually a PPG Grigio Scuro color, which is straight from a Ferrari.
