The Super Sport name is popular among Chevrolets during the 1960s, but the level of equipment can be confusing depending on the model. Look at the Camaro and the SS was a performance package but, for the Impala, it was a trim level with buckets and console for most years. However, for its inaugural year only, the SS was a performance package for the Impala, as exemplified by our Pick of the Day, a 1961 Impala SS with the 409 engine. It is being sold on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Litchfield Park, Arizona. (Click the link to view the listing)
The 1961 Chevrolet is arguably the nicest of the decade, and it’s easy to see why, especially in Impala Sport Coupe form. Chevrolet eschewed the fins that had been a hallmark of the previous few years, now ushering a tidy design and proportions while maintaining the styling progression that made the brand America’s favorite. “If ever a car was right for its time, it’s Chevrolet for ’61! … Its clean lines are combined with a trim new size,” said the brochure. It was especially true when compared to Plymouth, which clearly had one foot stuck in the 1950s. Ford for 1961 was fine, but the Chevy was a step above.
Powertrain choices were similar to 1960, with the High-Thrift 6 and a wide range of small-block 283 and big-block 348 V8s available for every purse and purpose. Mid-year, Chevrolet would introduce the 360-horsepower 409, which would explode in popularity in spades starting in 1962 (going from 142 to almost 9,000) and be enshrined in popular culture by the Beach Boys.
Also new was the Super Sport package, which brought sports car style and power to the big Impala. The package required the big-block 348 with a minimum of 305 horsepower, plus four-speed or Powerglide. It also included a front-passenger assist bar, electric tachometer, padded instrument panel, special wheel covers on 14-inch wheels and whitewall tires, power steering and brakes (the latter with sintered-metallic linings), heavy-duty front and rear coil springs and shocks, and SS identification. Unlike for subsequent years, the SS package was available for four-doors.
This 1961 Chevrolet Impala SS is one of 453 built with the package, plus it is one of the hallowed few with the 409. “This car is all-original. It has not been changed since it rolled off of the showroom floor in the fall of 1961,” says the seller. Painted Tuxedo Black with red and white interior, it features a column-mounted 7000-rpm Sun tach, bumper guards, front antenna, push-button AM radio, and bench seat.
The cost for this nice mix of elegance and performance doesn’t come cheap (and, honestly, hasn’t in decades): $108,000. For that price, you get what might be the most historic full-size Chevrolet of the 1960s.
To view this listing on ClassicCar.com, see Pick of the Day.
Source: www.classiccars.com