I have a long history with my 96 Impala but I've only owned it for just over 3 years. It all started in 1997, my buddy, Mike and I were at work and had talked about buying an Impala. I found an ad in the local paper and pointed it out to Mike. That day he went to look at the car and ended up buying it. The car was his baby, always garaged and he did some light mods (Stereo, lowering, body bushings, trailing arms, driveline) to it over the years.
Fast forward to around 2006ish, I had sold Impala #1 in 2004 and was B-Bodyless. We needed a new car and my wife who knew Mike was toying with the idea of selling the Impala contacted him and bought it for me without my knowledge. It was very cool and I was excited to own another Impala. Unfortunately the next day gears 3 and 4 went out on the transmission. Mike and I decided to cancel the sale rather than dispute the repair and possibly hurt our friendship. I was without an Impala again.
Fast forward to around 2009ish my wife attempted to buy the Impala from Mike again. When she contacted him he wasn't 100% committed to selling the car (remember this was his baby) but ended up agreeing but he said it really needed a detailing. My wife paid for the detail and Mike dropped it off. Unfortunately when Mike picked it up it looked so good he couldn't sell it.
Finally in 2013 I had sold my truck and contacted Mike. I said I had cash in hand and if he was ready to sell I'd take her off his hands. His wife had been bugging him for years to get rid of the car (I think she was jealous of their relationship) and he sold it to me for the final time. I'm pretty sure I saw tears forming in Mike's eyes as I drove her away. The only thing I've changed since that day was adding 2010 Camaro 20" wheels.
I have a bad habit of going through cars after getting bored with them and recently I'd been thinking about selling the Impala. I wanted an updated daily driver with more spoiling features. The Impala’s original seats needed reupholstering and the paint had been fading for the past year and getting worse. Then the transmission went out again!
I started looking at replacing the Impala with a newer car but the impala value was so low in its current condition I considered dumping $4k into getting the tranny fixed, new seat leather, and paint just to sell it for more. But then I decided to go a whole different route and keep the Impala.
Here is the list of restoration/mods planned:
T56 transmission
New seat leather, in black
New carpet, in black
Change the whole interior over to all black
Buick Roadmaster auto HVAC mod
Cadi Rain Sensing wipers mod
New cowl hood
Langness spoiler
Smooth bumpers
Repaint
New stereo (current one is 19 years old)
New alarm (current one is 19 years old)
New window tint (current tint is 19 years old)
Stealth brake bolt mod
Air pump delete
Antenna delete
My Impala is unique because it did not come with the twilight sentinel lighting, auto dimming mirror, passenger sun shade vanity lighting, or a power passenger seat. I’m adding all of that too.
Fast forward to around 2006ish, I had sold Impala #1 in 2004 and was B-Bodyless. We needed a new car and my wife who knew Mike was toying with the idea of selling the Impala contacted him and bought it for me without my knowledge. It was very cool and I was excited to own another Impala. Unfortunately the next day gears 3 and 4 went out on the transmission. Mike and I decided to cancel the sale rather than dispute the repair and possibly hurt our friendship. I was without an Impala again.
Fast forward to around 2009ish my wife attempted to buy the Impala from Mike again. When she contacted him he wasn't 100% committed to selling the car (remember this was his baby) but ended up agreeing but he said it really needed a detailing. My wife paid for the detail and Mike dropped it off. Unfortunately when Mike picked it up it looked so good he couldn't sell it.
Finally in 2013 I had sold my truck and contacted Mike. I said I had cash in hand and if he was ready to sell I'd take her off his hands. His wife had been bugging him for years to get rid of the car (I think she was jealous of their relationship) and he sold it to me for the final time. I'm pretty sure I saw tears forming in Mike's eyes as I drove her away. The only thing I've changed since that day was adding 2010 Camaro 20" wheels.
I have a bad habit of going through cars after getting bored with them and recently I'd been thinking about selling the Impala. I wanted an updated daily driver with more spoiling features. The Impala’s original seats needed reupholstering and the paint had been fading for the past year and getting worse. Then the transmission went out again!
I started looking at replacing the Impala with a newer car but the impala value was so low in its current condition I considered dumping $4k into getting the tranny fixed, new seat leather, and paint just to sell it for more. But then I decided to go a whole different route and keep the Impala.
Here is the list of restoration/mods planned:
T56 transmission
New seat leather, in black
New carpet, in black
Change the whole interior over to all black
Buick Roadmaster auto HVAC mod
Cadi Rain Sensing wipers mod
New cowl hood
Langness spoiler
Smooth bumpers
Repaint
New stereo (current one is 19 years old)
New alarm (current one is 19 years old)
New window tint (current tint is 19 years old)
Stealth brake bolt mod
Air pump delete
Antenna delete
My Impala is unique because it did not come with the twilight sentinel lighting, auto dimming mirror, passenger sun shade vanity lighting, or a power passenger seat. I’m adding all of that too.