I want it! <3

This ones a keeper.

darn it! why wont anyone give me their classics? jeez, i need more than one car you know! X3

There's usually plenty of classics for sale in those free car ad books that are at the super markets every week. Be ready extra money to fix anything that might break because sometimes they still have original parts that are the same age as the car.

yeah i always look at those ads and dream haha. but theres this old deville down the street thats just sitting rotting away and i plan on asking them if they want to sell it! :B i'm so in love with the car, i see it everyday and never tire, and the color is mint!

I had a few chances to buy a car through the ads close to where I live. I passed because I know everything that is new and that is still 37 year old parts. Already putting more than a few thousand into just the things people can't notice right away like two rebuilds on the engine( the first mechanic didn't do it right so I have a new mechanic that is a better), differential replaced, starter, alternator, water pump. brake booster, almost the whole suspension redone( shocks, bushings, motor mounts, rods). and others I can't remember. So I just decide to focus the saved money toward replacing anything that breaks with whatever the best parts they have available.

8track? :3

If it still had the original 8 track player, I probably would just leave it stock. It was pulled for a cassette player when my mom owned the car. Then I put in a Pioneer CD player with Pioneer matching speakers.

oh look a car made of METAL no plastic :D the only plastic is .... i dont ...the nob on the radio? XD

nah, thats prob metal too XD

It is currently plastic, but I might do something about that.

two tons of fun of stainless steel metal.

now thats my kind of car!

sweet ride!!!

Thanks! I love this car!

That is a beautiful Chevrolet, and I am sure it is a really sweet ride! I loved when Chevrolets were built like your car as they were so comfortable, and their interiors were great!

Does your car run all right now that you have changed out older parts, and is it pretty reliable?

With all the new suspension parts, it feels like it just floats on roads. You can feel the power in the engine and the weight of the steel when driving. The interior is awesome because it's like sitting on a couch. The inside has just tons of space. You never feel all cramped up. It's currently running right now. It can be driven on the freeway but right now I just don't go speeding with it as fast as I can. I drive about 80 on the freeway so regular streets are no problem.

Your car brings back memories as I really loved those old Chevrolets. Those things ran so smoothly, and those cars made such delightful vehicles to take on long trips as it was easy to fall asleep in them. The sheer power of those cars was amazing as one just had to tap the gas pedal to get things rolling!

I am glad that your car is still running, and it looks like it is in mint condition. You have a great car along with what I assume is your Cavaliar which I am guessing is your daily driver?

This car still needs body work and a paint job. I forgot about mentioning the pedal. You never have to actually floor it if you don't want to. A tap of the pedal give a drag strip take off. You can hit over a 100 never flooring it which is how I popped that valve in the first place. Fast laning all the way from San Bernardino to Chino and back in 105 degree weather. The hyena themed Cavalier was totaled in an accident. The Impala was in the shop for engine work but I kind of rush up the mechanic so I could have a car to drive. The Impala took over as my daily driver for about four months but need to go back to the shop to finish out the valves. I told myself I wouldn't rush the mechanic this time. I knew it was going to take a long time so I bought a new car. The Cobalt which is currently the first pick if I'm going freeway driving but the Impala is not limited to streets and I switch over to the Impala as the daily driver every once in a while.

Oh man, you really pushed this poor Impala hard! Generally with cars of your Impala's vintage I take it really easy on them and avoid racing them despite their large engines. The sheer weight of your Impala is enough to make it hard for that engine to keep that car at high speeds for long periods of time. Growing up I remember cars like your Impala generally being cruising cars, and it actually is impressive you managed to get the Impala up to 100 MPH! My memory is not so good, but I remember that cars of your vintage going high speeds for extended periods just did not take it very well. I am sure with a bunch of 30+ year old parts mixed in with more modern parts is going to make your car relatively fragile.

Cobalts are nice cars, and I think they were adequete replacements for the Cavaliers. Actually, I really cannot tell the difference between Cobalts and Cavaliers as they look really similar.

What do you think of the new Impalas?

It got the ability to go that fast because I had already put over a thousand dollars in replaced parts and a couple of upgrades. Since it's a car I use for things like errands and passengers, it still has all the accommodations of a normal car. I won't be planning on taking any weight off the car. I kind of realized that now that because I only replaced most of the engine and not all, the new parts stress out the old parts. I messed up and payed out a lot of money for my mistake. So my rule on this car is to keep it at 80 and under and it looks like that rule is working because it hasn't had to go back to the shop for broken part because of overdoing it. A couple years after, I found a show call Pinks All Out that show multiple examples of how one bad part can disable all that horsepower and how the old car engines have a tendency to break something but they use the old car engines because those are the only engines that win the drag races.
The Cobalt is almost the exact same car as the Cavalier. I instantly fell in love with the car I got. It has a newer style engine. I loved that Cavalier so much because it gave me absolutely no problems in the five years I owned it.
I actually love the new Impalas even those they are almost nothing like the old ones. At the same dealership, they had and 09 Impala Super Sport that I liked a lot. It has a lot of space inside and a large trunk. If I had more money at the time, I probably would have tried for that one for the 5.3 V8. The dealer let me test drive that car anyways jut for fun.

Yeah, it really is pretty funny how just one bad part on a car no matter what its vintage can cause all sorts of problems! At least with your older Impala things are laid out pretty well and are easy at which to get unlike the newer cars which have everything stacked on top of everything else. I really miss the large, easy to use trunks and very accessible engine compartments of the old cars such as your Impala. Also, the chrome on your Impala is so beautiful and makes the car look very distinctive.

Out of curiousity, what was the basic difference between the Caprice and the Impala around the time your vehicle was made? Was the Caprice more of an upscale car?

You sound like you have a plan by not taking the car above 80 as I think cars such as your Impala are just not built for that kind of speed. Heck, I am impressed you can get it above 65 without any problems!

I have noticed that the Cobalt and the Cavalier are pretty much the same. After the five year mark did your Cavalier start giving you trouble?

The new Impalas are pretty all right though I preferred the body style of the Impalas of the late 1990s. Those older Impalas looked more like your Impala and could probably hold their own in terms of size and power with your car. I hope that GM can bring back the ornamentation that they used to put in their cars especially in your generation Impala as the plastic interiors of nowadays really take away from the beauty of cars. I think with all of the automakers having had outsourced their parts departments they all get the same generic plastic panels which are found in all sorts of vehicles. I miss the day when cars had Fisher Bodies and looked distinctive inside and out especially like your Impala.

The test drive you took sounded fun, and I never knew that the modern Impala came with such large engines! I thought all the Impalas nowadays were V6s.

I love the way the engine is on this car. You can get to any part of the engine without having to go through a bunch of other parts. I can point out and name where almost every part in this car. The Caprice was a higher level version of the Impala. I think the engine choices were 400 and 454. All the Caprices had leather. The Impala was just more popular for some reason. I payed out almost $2,000 on the last repair to my mechanic and told him that I need this car to be freeway ready. The suspension was done by Sears.
The Cavalier was 2001 so it was about 7 years old. I bought it in 2003 from a Chevy dealership. I kept up with all the maintenance so that car never gave my trouble. This car was in perfect condition when it got taken out.
The late 90's Impalas were awesome cars. They were large and the Super Sport had a 5.7 V8. My 73 does have the Fisher body. It still has the metal plate where the door opens. It has a picture of a carriage.
The test drive was fun. Only the Super Sport has a V8 on the new style Impalas. The rest are V6's. There is no Super Sport for 2010 so 09 is currently the last year for a V8 Impala.

Oh yeah, those engine compartments in those Impalas were great, and about the only modern car which is anything like your car is the Mercury Grand Marquis with everything laid out. I remember the old fashioned circular air filters in your Impala as those things were so neat!

I do remember the Caprices of the same era as your Impala, and those cars' luxury features could easily rival that of any modern-day Mercedes-Benz or other European luxury make. From a distance the Caprice and the Impala were still pretty distinct, and one thing I really liked about GM as opposed to Ford and Chrysler is that GM made an effort to differentiate their cars back in the days. Those old Caprices were nice, and do you ever see any around in your neck of the woods? I will confess that I am most partial to the Caprices made between 1978-1990 (the boxy kind), but the long body ones were beautiful, too!

I can understand why the Impala was more popular as it was an entry-level Caprice basically. Chances are your car has cloth or vinyl seating, and it probably had no where the amount of things a Caprice had. Now that I think about it I still think it is funny how the Caprice and Impala were produced side by side for so many years. I think the Impala eventually became a fleet vehicle by the 1980s with the Caprice being the car generally sold to the public if memory serves me correctly.


I remember reading about the Oldsmobile scandal around the time your Impala was built as Oldsmobile could not keep up with the demand for its 88s and 98s, and Oldsmobile substituted Chevrolet engines found in your car for Oldsmobile ones in some cases! I think that was the beginning of the many problems which would ultimately bring down the old GM.

Are parts for your Impala still pretty easy to get? That is impressive that Sears & Roebuck was able to service the car, and I am sure you must have turned some heads bringing that car in!

One of my pet peeves about GM's owner's website is how owners of old cars cannot register their vehicles with it. Especially with cars like yours still floating around one would think GM would be accomodating to you folks as it is not a small thing to have a Chevrolet run for that many years!

I do miss Fisher body cars as they were strong. My family had one of the first generation Cavaliers, and I distinctly remember it having a Fisher body which was cool. It is too bad the old Fisher body/Buick City plant is now a big brown field as some classics were produced there back in the days. I loved those carriage symbols, and I think Fisher Body might have gotten its start as a carriage builder kind of like Oldsmobile.

What happened to your Cavalier? Was it in an accident? I agree with you that as long as preventative maintenance is done on a car, then it will last. I usually shop around among GM dealers, and nearly all of the time they can be quite competitive with price. It is too bad that quite a few dealers have closed as it makes it harder to stay loyal to a place that one does not know is going to be around tomorrow.

It is too bad that the new Impalas will only have a V6, but that makes sense in light of the high fuel costs which were around for a while. I have to confess I am not too keen on the new Impalas as they are basically rebadged Luminas in my eyes. Chevrolet needs to make the Impala like the ones from the late 1990s for me to ever consider one. Chevrolet just does not have a good large car to compete against the Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis, but I suppose those types of cars are just not in vogue right now.

At very least I would hope Chevrolet would bring back the El Camino! My viewpoint is that now that Pontiac is no longer around the G8 should be made an Impala, and Chevrolet should offer a large car with limited production as I think there is a market for such vehicles.

There is only one Caprice I know about where I live and it shows up every year around Route 66 time and then disappears all year after. I currently have the cloth seating with vinyl trim. Wal Mart won't change the oil on old cars anymore so I don't even bring the new cars to Wal Mart. I like that Sears will still work on my car. They seem to love the car. The mechanics will ask me all kinds of questions. I tried to order parts for this car directly from General Motors and everything I tried to order is discontinued through GM. Right now, large sedans are a niche market but there is there is always someone who wants one and there should at least be one to choose from. They should definitely bring back the G8 as an Impala. I read a few years ago that the impala was going to be redesigned. They canceled it and the G8 appeared which looked like the same design they were going to use with the Impala name.

That makes sense that old cars would show up along US 66 especially this time of year. Assuming you are from California I am sure older cars like yours are more common as olds cars like yours do not do too well in the harsh winters of the Midwest. With that being said I do see older cars like yours around during the summer, but those cars are always treated with kids gloves, and nearly all of those cars have antique vehicle plates. Every so often (no so much anymore) I still see an old person with your type of car driving around, but that is becoming increasingly rare now.

Wow, I am shocked you would take your car to Wal-Mart! I have heard so many horror stories of Wal Marts and oil changes that I cringe everytime I see their service bays!

That is cool that Sears services your car and that the mechanics like it!

With General Motors increasingly not producing parts for your car what do you do for parts?

I agree that large sedans are a niche market, but they still should be produced as Americans are big people and need cars like that. At very least the large bodied cars could be used for taxis, limousines, or even exported as luxury cars as even a Ford Galaxy to this day is the official Presidential car of Chile! Olders Impalas like yours definitely found their way into other countries as luxury cars, and the reality is that large cars are needed. Especially with the technology enabling those large Suburbans to have decent gas mileage or be hybrids I am sure the same can be done with large sedans.

I think GM's design department was kind of in a state of confusion due to its bankruptcy. Hopefully, GM can get rid of the Governments of the USA and Canada so that it can do its own thing again. I am sure GM has some great cars in the pipeline, but it just needs the money to make it happen. My hope is that if GM's initial stock offering goes by well that some of the pipe dreams of which we know will become reality!

It is very rare and getting more rare to see old cars driving on the street. This car get complements when I drive it around because people know how much time effort and money it takes to build a car like this up to the reliability level it's at right now. I guess I got lucky nothing bad happened but I have heard horror stories about Wal Mart. I have no idea but Auto Zone can get hold of almost any working part and you can choose to pay out more to buy new. I've had problems with rebuilt parts and it makes me cringe a bit when that is all that is available. There's this junk yard I go to that has and kinds of rare pieces.

Yeah, cars of your vintage are not common at all, and it is increasingly rare to see your type of Impalas or its Oldsmobile, Buick, Pontiac, and Cadillac counterparts. I remember the Buick version of your car would be used as parade cars, and I still see them show up on the 4th of July. I do not care what anyone says as cars like yours are what class is, and I hope one day if the engineering is there with fuel economy we can have cars like yours on the road again!

I would totally be one of those folks drooling over your car! I always try to put in a kind word to the owner as it takes a tonne of time and effort do keep up a car like yours. There are quite a few other folks like you who have older cars like yours, and it is amazing to see how they do so much work on their own!

I am glad that nothing bad happened to you at Wal-Mart. Out of curiousity, are the GM dealer in your area high priced, or do you just not like to use a Chevrolet dealer?

Oh yeah, I totally cringe when I hear the term "rebuilt part" as only the Good Lord knows from where those parts come. For all we know they could be made somewhere in China! The junkyards are the way to go assuming you can still find parts relatively close to your car's vintage. Can the 1978-1990 era Caprice/Impala's parts work in your car, or are those cars just too different.

My hat goes off to you for maintaining such a beautiful car as it no doubt will turn heads!

The dealerships in my area are high priced and are only open on week days. That's when I have to work. Then sometimes you need an appointment. Then they take a long time. Sears is my first choice for their availability. My mechanic get things Sears can't or won't do like valve work. Most of the measurements are the same for Impala and Caprice but it's a flip of the coin.

Wow, that is very interesting that dealers in your area follow such an outdated model of operation. Dealers in my area have changed by having Saturday, late evening, and early morning hours. Also, the GM dealers in my area which have survived are very price competetive with a Sears, Jiffy Lube, etc. I think that your area dealers are clearly being shortsighted as folks like you would make ideal customers. That is so crazy that your area dealers make getting appointments so hard and do not have drive in hours.

Well, it is good that you have a regular mechanic as such a person can be a Godsend especially when you have big jobs to do.

I really do like Sears & Roebuck, and I do use them for things like brakes, suspension work, and other little things if the dealer is not price competitive. There is no question that Sears' hours are very customer friendly, and the professionalism of Sears mechanics has always been great.

That is good that there are similarities between the "newer" Caprices/Impalas and your car. I would think that the engines in the 1978-1985 years would be pretty close though the main compatability issues definitely would be body panels.

What parts are hard to find for your car nowadays?

I don't know what's up with the dealers here. They act like they don't have to be competitive. They wanted to charge me $600 just to check the valves.
My mechanic is hardcore awesome!
Sears is great!
The fishbowl headlights were exactly the same. I should have bought them when I had the chance. I went back and they were gone.
It looks like the original decoration pieces are the hardest to find such as the Impala Emblems. They were already taken from the car they had at the junk yard. I had to settle for a junk yard left control arm because I couldn't find a new one. It's been good for almost a year now.

Oh man, that is wild that dealers out by your neck of the woods are so overpriced! It is too bad that dealers in your area have not gotten with the programme as dealers out by my area actually have signs posted (in some of them) with their rates alongside that of Sears, Jiffy Lube, and CarX to show that their prices are in line with the competition. Dealers over here used to be a lot like your area, but there has been a shift in attitude as places like Sears picked up a lot of business while dealers had a lot of workers but not much business. I believe new car dealers across the area irregardless of brand generally get together and have common advertisements encouraging folks to check them out for extended service hours and deals which helps traffic in those places. My understanding is that the dealer wants to become like how your mechanic is to you which has actually helped some shuttered Chrysler dealers survive the loss of their franchise live on as service centers. At this one Buick dealer I had used it was neat seeing Buicks of the same vintage of your Impala pulling in for service and how even the service folks would gather around the car and admire it!

That is great that your mechanic is good as such a mechanic can make all the difference between a clunker and a dependable car. Especially if his rates are fair and his knowledge of your type of car is beyond question, then using such a person is worth your time.

Sears is definitely great as they do a lot of stuff with the exception of major work such as engine rebuilds. Especially if your Sears is attached to a mall getting your car serviced can work out as you can possibly get some things done while you are waiting for your vehicle. I never had a problem with Sears, and I always get my tires and batteries from them as the warranty plans from Sears is very generous.

Oh right, that makes sense that decorative/trim pieces from your car are definitely not going to be found anymore from GM anyway. Even the 1980s-era Impalas had very different embelems such as the name of the car written in printed script as opposed to the cursive script of your Impala's generation. About the only place where you would find such embelems are from a junkyard or one of those classic Chevrolet magazines where folks can buy stuff or do trades.

Things like control arms and parts like it from junked cars of your era definitely can work out fine. Can parts from the Oldsmobiles 88 and 98, Buicks LeSabre and Electra, Pontiac Catalina, or Cadillacs Deville and Fleetwood work in your car as those vehicles seem really close to your vehicle? At least the Oldsmobiles of that period would seem the closest in light of some of them outright having the same engine as your car (which were sold to customers without informing them of that fact).

The dealers here don't compete for price for some reason and don't advertise because their prices are higher.
I had to go through a few bad mechanics that ended up not caring about weather my car was working or not and good mechanics that disappeared.
My sears is close to the mall and there are places close to the mall also if I want to go for a walk and get other things done. Sears has great warranties and will take care of any problem you have and redo work for free if you still have time on receipt and if you forget your paperwork, they will look you up on the computer and get you serviced.

I know what you mean about bad mechanics as it is pretty hit or miss with that profession. My experience has been to go by word of mouth to find good mechanics at reasonable prices. I am sure there are Chevrolet forums out there, and many times those forums can be helpful especially if there is someone local to you who might have some tips. While this may not give a complete picture of a business I find that by going onto the Better Business Bureau website I can weed out the worst folks as the BBB does list complaints very thoroughly. Especially with your car's age it is absolutely critical to find the right mechanic for it as the reality is that some mechanics maybe clueless on how to deal with your Impala's systems. Also, there is always those mechanics who just do not care and will gleefully charge for services not rendered. Especially with jobs like your vehicle's valve replacement not readily apparent to the naked eye there is a big leap of faith trusting folks with cars. A warning sign for a bad mechanic in my experience has been someone who is always trying to upsell you on stuff who always seems to catastrophes things. I test a mechanic out by taking my car for an oil change. If during the process the mechanic tries to sell me things I know I do not need or mentions problems I know for a fact do not exist, then I know never to go back there. A bad mechanic will always use little jobs to try to make a big job.

One thing I like about Sears is their warranty as it is nationwide (at least on batteries, tires, and some other installed parts). Having the computerized system at Sears is really great as it can be a pain looking up receipts. I have no complaints about Sears as nearly all of them are professional, and Sears is prety trustworthy unlike Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. I always buy my tires from Sears, and even if I pay a tad bit more in terms of price it is well worth it especially if I am not in the area of my local Sears and need to get my tires rotated or have some sort of tire problem.

As for finding receipts, what I do with my General Motors car is register with GM's online owner's center at http://www.gm.com/gmownercenter/gm/?campaignId=&vin= to store my service records so that I can quickly scan through them digitally to find out where my actual receipt is. I noticed that the oldest date on the registration page is 1990 when I last looked at it, and if you cannot find your Impala's date, then definitely give GM a call. I strongly believe that all GM owners should be able to use that website as it is a great tool. I know that I have found out about recalls on that website long before receiving a letter, and I like the interactive parts of that website. Ford has something similiar to GM though I like GM's better because I can type in my own notes for each repair so that I know what they were.