This is kind of sad….

As I write this, you have to realize it’s been such a long journey, I’m not sure where to begin. The Impala is gone, officially. Let me step back a bit.

So as we started 2021, we had the optimism of COVID might be coming to an end…. The Impala was alive and well in the garage with a small pile of upgrades ready to get going. I didn’t do much over the winter, mainly because everything was tip top. Throughout 2020 with the pandemic, I had it in my brain that if people start panic selling their cars, maybe it was time to move on from the Impala.

The biggest drawbacks for me were the following:

Tinkering - I enjoy working on cars, but I also value my time. With two small kids and way too many hobbies, I really like when a car job is done, it stays done. The impala never felt done, until 2020. Either way though, it was a constant job of tinkering and fixing, even ironing out bugs.
Power - Even though the Impala put out 350ish horsepower at the wheels, I always felt I could have more. The cam could have been more aggressive, tuning could have been done more, etc. So I had a thought of maybe I’ll dump some more into it and hit that magic 400hp.
MPG - From the factory the Impala was getting around 25mpg on the highway. Not too shabby. With the 383, I was lucky to hit 13mpg with premium fuel. This made the car totally unusable for a long trip, mostly because it would have been cheaper to drive another car or fly.

Not that any of these things really were individually making me decide to sell the Impala and move on, but I think just all of them together had me looking. Well in early February of 2021, during a huge blizzard, I stumbled upon this:

By late February, I was a Corvette owner with plans to sell the Impala. Over the next few months, you may have noticed on the channel the lack of Impala content. I sold the SStreetlights because they are very valuable and even having the car in a parking lot with these made me nervous. I started preparing the interior by removing all of my things, seat covers, car seats and whatever else. You should follow my guide on how to sell a used car - I think there are some super good tips.

After getting the car organized, I listed it for sale officially on July 11, 2021. By doing this, I knew many of my loyal followers and readers were going to bail. The Impala was what drew them to my site and channel, giving them ideas and even help at times. For that I kind of felt bad and almost felt like I was taking the first step of exiting this club of Impala / Caprice owners.

Within hours, the messages started coming in. Now keep in mind I listed it only on YouTube with my walkaround video and information. Just to keep my options open, I didn’t list a price, as that could change if nobody wanted to buy the car. Every message was asking if it was still for sale and how much. I also got a number of negative feedback which I expected. Some people took it very personally and acted like I was causing my father to roll over in his grave, even though he was with me when I bought my Corvette and fully loved the next chapter.

After a week or so, a deal was struck and the Impala was in a ‘Sale-Pending’ status. With summer vacations, transportation, and funding, it all took time to iron out. An interesting thing I learned during this process was when you have your entire build on YouTube, you really don’t have to explain a ton. The new owner knew pretty much every nut, bolt, mod, part, trick, and upgrade I installed - which was kind of cool.

The one aspect of the sale that didn’t make me happy though: open truck transportation. Check this one out:

It was fine, I didn’t cry and I knew it was insured, but still! The ending with the car wasn’t what I expected. So let me answer the questions I get asked the most, and that will pretty much close the Impala chapter of my life…

Do you regret it, after all that work? At this point I do not. I liked the idea of the car, what it stood for, and the uniqueness of it, more than I actually enjoyed driving it. Don’t get me wrong - I love a big, four door sedan with tons of power. The Impala though was almost taken to a point that changed it’s characteristics with all the engine mods. If I could go back, I’d probably install a running, turnkey LS and be much happier with the reliability and smoothness.
Why a Corvette? That’s not unique at all… I realize a C5 isn’t something that gets everyone excited anymore, it’s not the year 2000 anymore and 350hp isn’t a ton compared to what is out there today. I wanted a car I could do everything with again - drive anywhere, road trips, track days, good mpg, and still modify as needed. My Camaro SS with the LS1 was one of the most reliable cars I’ve ever owned - I wanted that feeling back again. Plus, I think my Corvette being an FRC is unique and different. I wouldn’t have been even close to excited about a standard coupe.
Will you take your Impala content down? No way! I put so much time into that car and the videos/write-ups, I want people to use what i learned and maybe even copy my ideas. If you have questions, ask! I have been writing people all year with tips and tricks and I still frequent the facebook groups.
Do you have any Impala parts for sale? Tons! Just ask…
Why didn’t you raffle it off or send it to auction? That just seems like such a risk and I like controlling the situation better.

Let me summarize the final moments by saying this. In that video above, me driving the car for the last time was so nerve-wracking. I always have this fear that after you sell something or have a deal, the engine, trans or something major is going to explode. It didn’t, and the previous owner is happy with his purchase last I heard. I even asked my Dad the week before it loaded on the truck if he wanted to take it for another drive. He declined for the same reason - didn’t want something to go wrong and ruin the sale.

In all honesty, I think the magic was gone for both of us. From 0-180,000 miles the car was an absolute riot. My dad drove it for 20+ years all those miles and it never let him down. Once we changed out the old LT1 for the 383, I think the entire car changed. It just wasn’t the same anymore, even though everything else remained. That’s tough to explain, but if you even turned the key before/after, you would understand.

Thanks for following the journey and here are a couple of random videos from 2021. Enjoy!