61 Impala Sport Coupe

Nikke

Nikke

Active Member
Hi, new here.

I have a Bubble top and want to know if this is a 348 or a 409 car.

Its not an SS but it have Tac, 3,36 posi, 4 speed, no Power steering.

Some guys are saying that at summer of 61 some 380hp 409 non SS showed up at Race tracks and at the end of summer 409hp 409 showed up.

There is no engine in it now.

Its a 4E built.

Trim 873 PNT 900 ACC IPE

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petepedlar

petepedlar

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 3
Just from what I know........... there were only 50 or so 409's put in cars in 1961, so the chances of yours being a factory 409 are pretty slim. 409 would have had a balast resistor on the firewall which does not appear in the picture, no holes where it would have been and the wiring harness appears original without it. You have the 348 trunk emblem which would have also been for a 409. Gas line appears to be 348 (409) but is not clear in the picture.
I would say that it was a 348 car, probably a high preformance version, 305, 340 or 350 HP version because of the tach & 4 speed.
There is a section on our site that tells how to identify a 409 car, if you look there you will find more info.
Tommy is the worlds expert on '61's....... if he reads your post I'm sure he'll respond. You can take what he says to the bank.

Dave
PS, if you want to put it back to a 340 HP, I have the heads, intake, carb, cam, dual point listed in the For Sale section.
 
real61ss

real61ss

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 8
Tommy is the worlds expert on '61's.......

Dave,
Where I come from the definition of "expert" is .....x is a has been and a spurt is a small stream of water but thanks.

Nikke,
Welcome to the site, looks like a great project you have. From what I can see from the pictures that you posted, your car was a 348, either a 280 hp or a 350 hp. I base that on the fact that it was an original tri-power car and they only came to those two horsepower versions. The vac. tank behind the left front fender supplied vac. for the carbs because there is no sign of power brakes and there is evidence of the tri-power coil bracket. If you blow the photo up there appears to be a small and a large hole where the coil have been mounted. A 4 barrel car would not have had these holes. Hope this helps
 
Nikke

Nikke

Active Member
Ive heard about 380 and 409hp 409 non SS in 61.

But the 350hp 348 aint the worst 61 chevy

Nikke
 
Nikke

Nikke

Active Member
Ive have checking around and it seams like all 350hp 348 did have Tachometer.

Not only 409s
 
jim_ss409

jim_ss409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
A real Tri-Power 348 is a relatively rare and desirable combination. Yes, the handful of 409 cars from 61 are even more rare but the Tri-Power is still pretty nice.:beer
I don't know about the late 61 380 and 409 hp 409's. I think I read something about that in a magazine but I'm not sure if it's a documented fact.:scratch
 
Ronnie Russell

Ronnie Russell

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Nikke,,,,,,,, Is your 61 a recent import or has it been in Sweden for a long time? Either way, it is a fine car.
 
tripower

tripower

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
This looks like the car that was on eBay back in March of this year. I agree with Tommy it looks like it is a HA or FH car.
 
Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
I am building a 348/350hp Tri-Power 61 Bubbletop and have to say that I have heard about more "Real" 61 409 SS cars than 61 348/350hp Tri-Power SS/Non-SS cars. And Yes, all High Performance 348's came with the 7000 no-redline Tach in 61.
 
Nikke

Nikke

Active Member
I bought it on ebay in March and its still in the States.

It needs alot of work to make it a Show Car.

Here is a 380hp 409.

TheThumper1961409Impala.jpg


And a 409hp 409.

TheRedBulletTonyGauvinJr.jpg
 
BSL409

BSL409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
How much will it cost to ship over to you:dunno 61 Bubble top 348-3x2 4 Speed will be a very nice Car:beer
 
DonSSDD

DonSSDD

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Neat car, great project. I live near Halifax, Nova Scotia, I sold a 62 bubbletop to a guy outside Helsinki, it shipped in a 20 ft container for $2550US. I found a broker who got the shipping price for me, PM me if you want their name. I used them twice, sent another car to Amsterdam in 2008 for $1450US via the same broker.

Don
 
S

smithd7

Well Known Member
petepedlar said:
Just from what I know........... there were only 50 or so 409's put in cars in 1961, so the chances of yours being a factory 409 are pretty slim. 409 would have had a balast resistor on the firewall which does not appear in the picture, no holes where it would have been and the wiring harness appears original without it. You have the 348 trunk emblem which would have also been for a 409. Gas line appears to be 348 (409) but is not clear in the picture.
I would say that it was a 348 car, probably a high preformance version, 305, 340 or 350 HP version because of the tach & 4 speed.
There is a section on our site that tells how to identify a 409 car, if you look there you will find more info.
Tommy is the worlds expert on '61's....... if he reads your post I'm sure he'll respond. You can take what he says to the bank.

Dave
PS, if you want to put it back to a 340 HP, I have the heads, intake, carb, cam, dual point listed in the For Sale section.
Click to expand...
 
409newby

409newby

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 11
There has been a 61 on auto trader for some time that has all documentation for 409/409! looks to be real!:dunno
 
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