As some of you may know, I’m in the process of restoring my grandfather’s 1:1 1964 Chevrolet Impala SS327 coupe. Some backstory, for those who are curious; Grandpa has had this car sitting in his yard since just before I was born, and could be part of the reason I love cars so much. He was a gearhead, and as such, my dad and uncle were also.
Fast forward to last year, I acquired the car along with two other 1964 Impalas for restoration to their former glory! You almost can’t tell anymore, but the original light blue of this car still shines through. Among the other two, this one is special because he bought it new in 1964 and was his daily driver for over 20 years! Even though one of the other cars is more rare, I’m still very sentimental about this one.
I’ve always been in love with this body style, it’s been synonymous with the family ever since I was little. So it should come as little surprise that when I found the first diecast version of it (same color no less!) back in the mid 90’s, I think Dad was as enthused as I was and got it for me.
The emblem plate has faded some, and I should’ve kept the stand it came on, but here she is, 20 years on.
Later on, in 2004, I was thrilled to pick up a first edition of Hot Wheels’ version of the car, still in that lovely light blue metallic.
I attempted a tampo removal to make it look stock, but was only half successful. Still, looks better than the original.
In 2008 I was lucky enough to nab one of the special collector button classics of the car.
The mag wheels remind me of the Hot Wheels I had as a youngster in the late 80’s / early 90’s, and still do it for me to this day.
Okay, so fast forward to last week, and we come to the first pic, and the whole reason for this post. I found a 1:24 scale Motor Max ‘64 Impala (non SS) coupe at Walmart, with the date 2014/5 on the inside flap of the box.
The first thing that I noticed was that this was not a Super Sport, or SS model, but that didn’t take away from the fast that I now had a 1:24 scale ‘64 Impala coupe in Grandpa’s blue. Proportions are off just a touch, but given the car’s meaning, it’s going to take a lot to put me off to it.
Clearly a V8 under the hood, either a 2bbl 283ci unit or one of two 4bbl 327ci engines. It seems unlikely (but not impossible!) that it was a venerable 409ci model.
Lucky for me I was given the original owner’s manual when I bought the car.
This image is from the available engine options contained within, and as stated above.
The door handles and hubcaps could’ve been more accurate but again for me I looked past these gripes.
I would’ve also liked chrome taillight bezels but again, beggars can’t be choosers.
That’s quite the high sill for loading groceries! Obviously this was nonexistent on the actual car.
As you can see, there is a floor mounted shifter, which got me excited! Maybe this was a 4speed car...
But as you can (not) quite clearly see, there are only two pedals, as if it were a 2speed Powerglide automatic car...
One other gripe I had was with the instrument cluster. It’s neat for a model car, counting to 120mph just like the real car, but that sticker takes the whole width of the cluster, and as you can see below from the manual, this is not the case on the real car. On a 1:24 scale I can maybe understand that it could be an issue, but I still find myself wanting for more. If it were a 1:18 this would be a cardinal sin.
One ‘64 in particular that I’ve been looking for (that has been eluding me) is the Matchbox regular wheels #RW20C taxi. If anyone knows where I can find one, I’d love to know about it, as it would be my only 1:64 ‘64 made in ‘64!
I know this was somewhat pic heavy, but nonetheless, thanks for reading!