61 Impala - Exterior and interior color combinations?

[Omaha_Impala]

I'm doing some research on my 61 Impala, 2 door Sport Coupe. This car has been in the family since 1962 with no modifications.

The paint in Roman Red. The dashboard is blue/gray, and the seats and carpet are a light blue/gray. The steering wheel is also blue/gray (with no white).

I've looked at almost every photo of 61 Impalas on Ebay, carnut.com, this forum, and google searches - so far I've yet to see this same combination. Every original Roman Red Impala seems to have the red & white interior, and the steering wheels have white sections.

So...is this an oddball car, or did the used car dealer play some shenanigans in 62? The cowl tag confirms that it is an original Roman Red - but I don't think there is a code on the car for interior colors.

I've done a ton of searching, but can't seem to find any sources for exterior & interior combinations.

Thoughts, comments or insights?

 

[rstreet]

There are several sources out there for these codes. I haven't seen an original 61 tag that didn't have trim codes to the left of the paint color codes. I'm not sure what to suggest at this time but I am sure some 61 sources will jump on this....Tommy are you out there!
Robert

 

[oldskydog]

The interior trim codes for gray were 809, 810, or 811 for Impala and Nomad.

 

[real61ss]

I think you what you are calling blue/gray is probably the gray interior that was available in '61. I can't say that I've ever seen this interior in a red car but I beleive it was available. This interior was used with the Honduras Maroon cars in '61.
I'd be interested to know what the trim code is.

 

[Omaha_Impala]

I wrote down the trim code of 809 awhile back- I'll confirm from the tag later day.

 

[Omaha_Impala]

ok, here are the goods, decoded from www.1963chevrolet.com

Style: 611837 - 61 Impala 2 door Sport Coupe
Body: SL15330 - St. Louis
Trim: 809 - Gray
Paint: 923 - Roman Red
Acc: 020 - ??

So...I confirmed for myself that it is original gray...duh

I do find it interesting that I haven't seen any other 61's with this combination. Don't know if it makes it rare or not, but it DEFINITELY tells me that when it comes time to restore the interior - it is staying gray!!!

 

[bobs409]

This doesn't apply to our year cars but I remember seeing a 1977 Chevy Impala that was mist green with a red interior back in the 80's! Looked like a completely original pappy car so I highly doubt it was changed.

Very strange color combo for sure. Might be nice for Christmas time though. :stooges

 

[1958 delivery]

ok, here are the goods, decoded from www.1963chevrolet.com

Style: 611837 - 61 Impala 2 door Sport Coupe
Body: SL15330 - St. Louis
Trim: 809 - Gray
Paint: 923 - Roman Red
Acc: 020 - ??

So...I confirmed for myself that it is original gray...duh

I do find it interesting that I haven't seen any other 61's with this combination. Don't know if it makes it rare or not, but it DEFINITELY tells me that when it comes time to restore the interior - it is staying gray!!!

It probably is some what rare. But don't confuse "rare" with valuable.
Not putting down your car, it has high value as a 1 owner vehicle. It's just some "rare" combos are rare because not too many folks wanted them back then. Like Corvettes, the 3 spd manual trans was standard up through 1968, some what rare but highly undesireable since the 4 spd was the trans of choice.
My old favorite was always black upholstery, but GM got into color key combos.

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Some do...

58 Delivery states: "But don't confuse "rare" with valuable."

In general, I agree. But lately I have seen a number of vehicles with less than desirable options (generally lower performance, but sometimes weird color combos) that seem to command high prices when compared to their brethren.

A couple of examples:

Last week a the KC Mecum auction I followed a 1967 Corvette convertible that was Black over Bright Blue. That's right, Chevrolet had Bright Blue interior back then, it was absolutely hideous (IMHO). But it went for high dollar anyway (didn't hit the Reserve though). Maybe that was the 425 horse BBC engine talking, but I had to walk away from the vehicle several times to avoid getting a headache. One of the "selling points" made by the owner was the rarity of the color combination...

Then there have been several C2 Corvettes (1963-67 era) that I noted had 327s with the lowly (for a Corvette that year) 250 horse rating and a PowerGlide attached to that. While perhaps a nice spousal "companion car" to a more performance built combination back in the day, these cars now seem to enjoy higher values due to their uniqueness and rarity. I'm not talking about the one with the Z06 big tank and A/C, but a plain old 1963 convertible with a 250 horse automatic. And I've noted a few three speed cars advertised as being "rare" as well, but that was the base option that year (1963). For a bit more you could've had a 340 horse solid lifter engine and a four speed (still pretty rare), but what, you checked the wrong boxes?

But that puts performance against rarity (sometimes you get both!) and those are two different crowds. I guess it's gotta be a pretty "hot" car to begin with (1961 Impala sport coupes are pretty hot right now, aren't they?) and then you need to convince some buyer that whatever rare options you have are sooo special that they pony up to acquire it.

One of the cars at Mecum got so detailed about the supposedly "rare" options that they documented it as being "one of one". It started with this certain color combination, then got down to the accessories, and I think what put it over the top (1 of 1) was the fact that it was ordered "seat belt delete" or something. Big deal. It was a Mustang, I know nothing about them, but it didn't seem that special to me.

I'm not venting, just pointing out that there are many buyers, many tastes, and many pocketbooks out there. I guess if you like it, that's what counts .

I'm glad our new friend from Omaha figured out his color combination, and I think it's neat that he wants to stay with it ! I've seen Maroon over Gray and I thought it looked pretty smart. I like Red as well, and together they will look just fine. Hey, it's a fabulous 1961 Impala, enough said!

Oh yeah, my vehicles are usually "one of none"!!!!

Cheers,
TomK

 

[Omaha_Impala]

58 Delivery states: "But don't confuse "rare" with valuable."

Couldn't agree more - I'm under no illusion that this combination will put it in the same ranks as true SS's with the 409. This is a very plain jane Impala, so a bit of uniqueness is a-ok with me.

As for the resale value, that is something that my kids, the auctioneer and executor of my estate can worry about way, way down the road (hopefully).

Thanks for all the feedback. This is a great site.

 

[Dick MacKenzie]

Omaha,
I fully agree with 58 Delivery and Tom on the rare vs. valuable issue. In fact I've made that argument a few times with people about the 427 C.I, 4 gazillion H.P., 3 speed cars. That being said I still think you have a really cool and good looking car! AND..having been in the family all this time, one to be proud of as well. Love to see some pictures.

 

[1958 delivery]

Omaha,
I fully agree with 58 Delivery and Tom on he rare vs. valuable issue. In fact I've made that argument a few times with people about the 427 C.I, 4 gazillion H.P., 3 speed cars. That being said I still think you have a really cool and good looking car! AND..having been in the family all this time, one to be proud of as well. Love to see some pictures.

Yes, I'd like to see this red/gray car also. Never seen one before.

 

[real61ss]

58delivery
This pertains to a different subject.....did you get my email address? I sent it to you

 

[1958 delivery]

You should now have an e mail.

 

[Omaha_Impala]

Picture requested, picture received!

This is probably my best picture showing the exterior and interior. I have some more interior pictures on my other computer - I'll load those later.

 

[rstreet]

That's going to be a nice 61. What's the tractor in front of the car???
robert

 

[Omaha_Impala]

Thanks!

The tractor is a John Deere 'A' - we used it to pull the Impala out of the shed. The tractor has been in the family longer than the Impala....

A couple more photos for fun - including the tractor.

 

[1958 delivery]

The door panels look Fawn?

 

[Omaha_Impala]

The panels have a bit of brown staining, but they are more of a light blue/light gray. Don't know if the blue is a result of time and fading.

Here's a couple more pictures of the inside.

 

[1958 delivery]

OK, I can see the door panel color now. That should look good with the red but the dash seems too blue?