Z car weight

[Tom Kochtanek]

If I remember correctly, those few 1962 aluminum fender sets went on to 1962 Impala SS cars. Top of the line builds with performance goodies had to be a sort of "advertising effort". Confirms the previous statements about Impala builds versus the Biscayne route for the Sunday circuit.

I always wondered after a weekend at the drags how many Dads went to those dealerships on Monday with an Impala coupe in mind, but after talking to the wife came home with a station wagon .

 

[boxerdog]

My dad did even worse, he came home with a Ford station wagon! I was really crushed.

 

[George Klass]

In 1963, I suspect that the Impala body style had a very slight aerodynamic advantage over the 2-door sedan, something that could be measured in the NASCAR environment, especially since all the cars (all brands) had to weigh the same. Drag racing was another matter, however, where 40 or 50 lbs. less weight made a difference. The aero advantage of the NASCAR '63 Impala was probably more important, as they were running 150+ MPH, but at 110 MPH on the drag strip, I never saw an advantage. In fact, my own '62 Bel Air 409/409 bubble top showed no speed advantage over the '62 2-door sedans. A lot of guys around the country were running the 2-door sedans in S/S and were running almost identical speeds as the bubble top cars. In the SoCal area, there were many bubble top 409's professionally set up for NHRA S/S class (Proffitt, Nicholson, etc.) and none of them ran faster than Butch Leal's "Old Blue" 2-door sedan. The speeds that the S/S cars were running were just not fast enough to make aerodynamics that much of a factor...

 

[George Klass]

I don’t know if i read this some where, had a dream about it or maybe it’s just common sense, but at this great time in drag racing it was all about Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday. Most Chevy dealers weren’t going to have a white Biscayne or Belair on the showroom floor but there would be an Impala there with a 409 hopefully. And George I Love what you are doing for Drag Racing History!!!

You are very kind, thank you. http://georgeklass.net/index.html

 

[Phil Reed]

George.........clarification.......Tom Jacobson's 62 Biscayne!!!!!!! I know, I know but I'm partial!!!!!!!!!!!
Tom did introduce to Butch at Pomona in the 90's!!!!!!!

 

[George Klass]

10-4 Phil, but it was owned and raced in '62 by Butch, and then sold to Tom after the '62 season. Butch (Larry, actually) was a dedicated drag racer in '62, lived up north in Pixley, CA, off of CA State Hwy 99. He flat-towed the car down to San Fernando drag strip on many Sundays (a 500+ mile round trip), and also towed it to the NHRA Nationals that year...

Here is a photo (a rare photo) of Butch racing "Old Blue" prior to selling the car...

 

[Blk61409]

If I remember correctly, those few 1962 aluminum fender sets went on to 1962 Impala SS cars. Top of the line builds with performance goodies had to be a sort of "advertising effort". Confirms the previous statements about Impala builds versus the Biscayne route for the Sunday circuit.

I always wondered after a weekend at the drags how many Dads went to those dealerships on Monday with an Impala coupe in mind, but after talking to the wife came home with a station wagon .

Tom, the 62 Impalas with the aluminum front ends were 409/409 cars. No one knows, but its believed about 18-20 of those cars were built, all at Flint where the 63 Z-11's were built. I always believed these were a test for the 63's, to see how it would go, and the inner fender liners just got crushed and thats why the Z-11's did not get them. Crazy, for drag racing it didn't matter.
Anyway, there were additional sets shipped to Hayden, Harrell, Nicholson, etc, as well as some sent to dealerships as spares.