Barry’s ’68 Chevy Impala
Pre Sixties Vintage Auto Supply: What type of vehicle do you have?
1968 Chevrolet Impala
Can you give us some history of your car or truck?
These Chevy’s were sold as Right Hand Drive units by our Australian General Motors Holden dealers. There is a real Canadian connection with our car as the Chevs of this era were sent out from GM Canada in Oshawa, Ontario in CKD (Completely Knocked Down) packs and used some local Australian components and the Australian labour to finish assembling them to keep the “local content percentage” correct for the government rules of the day.
As both Canada and Australia were Commonwealth countries the import tariff was lower than the cars being imported from G.M. in the U.S. I have a letter from G.M. Canada stating that 552 CKD Chevs were shipped in 1968. The cars were all 4 doors, either pillared or pillarless like ours. All equipped with : 327 250 HP/ PG trans /3.55 ratio 12 Bolt powertrains with Power Steer, Power drum brakes ,15″ x 6″ Rally wheels and AM radio. Air Conditioning was an option.
1969 was the last year of the CKD Chevs coming to Australia.
Where did you find it? How long have you owned it?
A friends Uncle had got it from the original owner, but couldn’t get it to run right and wanted out of it after only having it a short time. We got it on February 26th 1985.
What work has been done?
Rust work and paintwork / Air Conditioning fitted / Replace Powerglide with TH350 / Engine rebuilt / 15 x 8 Rally’s fitted / Lowered 1 and 1/2 inches / later model bucket seats fitted
What work have you done?
Paintwork/ Fit Engine / Fit TH350 / Fit AC ( I did not make up the hoses or gas it ) / Seats
Do you have any work planned for the future?
Maintain and Cruise!!
What’s a favourite memory with your car or truck?
The 1200 mile return cruise to the 2017 Kustom Nationals in Victoria
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John February 16, 2022 @ 6:41 am
Cannot believe that there were only 552 made in Australia I have one and love it
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Dave February 26, 2022 @ 11:03 pm
Hello Barry,
Nice ’68 you’ve got there.
I’ve got a ’67 pillared, as does a mate of mine, and my mechanic has a ’68 pillared.
I’m wondering, do you know what model of Holden Neutral Safety Switch you have in the ’68. My mechanic says it should be from a HK/HT Holden, but that type does not fit my ’67 Impala.
BTW, I’m torn between the ’67 and the ’68. I prefer the ’67 grille, but much more prefer the ’68 tail lights. But, if I had the money, I could buy one of each, and then . . . . .
Cheers mate,
Dave -
Rai April 5, 2022 @ 11:12 pm
Hello Barry
Firstly Thankyou for this great info .
Your impala is a great looking car , I like the way you’ve kept it orig looking but a little meaner .
I like the 8 inch rims and the way you’ve slightly lowered it .
23 years ago I built an Australian RHD pillar-less impala it was orig white but I painted it black and it looked very much like yours . It looked like it came outta factory like that . The interior was mint original .
The car was bought originally by a wealthy Italian Butcher family who had horses and they used it to tow the float .I bought it off them .
That car was my first half resto .
I must confess I put a 454 in it and disc brakes etc .
But kept its orig look , It looked like it was born that way , I swapped the 327 for 427 badges BUT THAT WAS IT NOTHING ELSE WAS DIFFERENT , I regretted selling it back then .I thought you might find it interesting that NOW
I have the exact same car as yours , colour and all .
I bought this car also in Perth in 2019 of an old lady whose husband had passed 9 years earlier and it was just sitting in her shed .
This is my 3rd impala .
At first I decided to just fix the rust and tidy it up BUT I’m sure you’ve heard this story before !
I ended up stripping it down to EVERY nut and bolt so it ended up a FULL FRAME OFF RESTO .
Because I regretted selling the 1st one I decided to paint it Black and put a BBLOCK in it . I’ve kept and rebuilt the power glide and 12 bolt but put willwood discs all round . As far as looks I will be lowering it a little and it will LOOK exactly like yours but black . I got some spats for the back guards outta US . I too have 8s on the rear but might leave fronts 7s
I have replaced EVERYTHING every rubber pulled screens out .FULL orig black interior roof lining carpet . I got the orig seat material from SMS in US , door trims everything . It’s amazing the reproduced parts you can get for these cars .
Like you I will be putting A/C IN .
The paint is all done the BB will be ready next week
Now we are waiting on some internal interior items coming from US then the fun begins of putting it all back together . I DONT HAVE THOSE TALENTS .
Masters restorations are rebuilding the car for me .
Ivan from FREELANCE ASSIST WA has been amazing with sourcing parts .
Once it’s done I’ll flick you some photos .
Look forward to hearing from you
Regards Rai . -
John sveticic May 31, 2022 @ 7:10 am
I also have one
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Ngoni Vere September 1, 2022 @ 3:46 am
Hi Barry,
That’s an awesome 68′ you have there, truly inspirational….I hope to restore mine to a similar pristine standard. I have a Right Hand drive 68′ pillarless and would appreciate any leads on where I can purchase original Right hand drive floor carpeting/floor liner. Secondly, any leads on where can I get the weatherstrip kit for the 4 door pillarless? I’ve only come across the 2 door coupe and convertible kits.
Wishing you continued awesome memory making rides in your superb 68.
Cheers,
Ngoni
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Rai September 3, 2022 @ 8:29 am
Hi Ngoni
For parts for your impala contact Ivan from FREELANCE ASSIST on 0408 921 139.
I have FULLY RESTORED EVERY NUT AND BOLT ON MY AUSTRALIAN 1968 RHD PILLARLESS and IVAN got me EVERYTHING .