Turned heads & a Surprise

[petepedlar]

I have a few things to get done on the Impala but I was planning an emission test today. I didn't make it for the test ..... which has to be done here before I can get plates. I had already bought a permit for the day.

We have a Friday night cruise here, well I guess it's more like a park and bench race. It's at the local Tim Hortons and the adjoining parking lots. There's usually 80 to 100 cars.

I thought what the h@ll..... it's not quite ready, brake pedal is a little spongy.... but it's only a few blocks from my shop........ and I have the permit..... so away I go.

Well......... did I ever turn heads when I drove in & made my way through the crowd to find a parking spot...... I must admit it sounds pretty awsume......

For about 2 months I have been told by several people that I have a twin in town. Well parked 5 cars away there it is. Exactly the same car !!!!!........ but I can tell even from the distance that it's a nicer car than mine...... I didn't even get parked before the guy and his wife were standing there waiting for me to get out of the car....... and the questions start...... I asked him what he had in his car..... He asnswered.... "a QA with a four speed"...... I looked at him ..... thinking to myself... here we go, this guy thinks I'm a fool...... so I said " I don't think so, there was only 142 of them built"....... his wife responded..... "yep and that's one of them. We have had the car for over 20 years and have all the documentation"

So there it was, red with red & white interior, 1961 Impala Bubbletop, 360 HP, 409, 4 speed ......... 40,000 miles, all original except for a Cars Inc. interior........ Even Tommy would be impressed with this one........... and it been in storage for 15 years about 2 miles from my house......... after I looked at it I did apoligize for doubting it was original.

Dave

 

[walkerheaders]

and do you have any pics of this beauty? now that you folks are friends, we may see some pics in the future?

 

[DonSSDD]

Thats pretty cool Dave. 2 cool cars together.

Don

 

[bobs409]

And I hope you gave them our website address.

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Sweet story!

Dave, that's amazing isn't it? Right next door almost!

That's what's fun about local car shows, you get to see what everyone else has, have some fun, and feel good about spending all your time and dollars on pieces of art work .

I bet Tommy'd be interested in learning more about that fellow's documentation. Very special cars!

I thought the 409/360 "623" blocks were stamped with "Q". Am I wrong?

Cheers!
TomK

 

[real61ss]

I sure would be interested in knowing more about the car and the motor in that car. So far as I know, the '61 409's were all marked Q. Is the car a SS? Could you see the casting number on the block? Does his car have power brakes? if it doesn't have power brakes you should be able to see the casting number pretty easy. If it is a power brake car and has bendex brakes, you should be able to see the number using a flash light. The cars that used the Morain brakes are difficult to see cause the booster is larger.

Anyway, congrats on getting your car done, hope to see it sometime.

 

[petepedlar]

Sorry guys, no pictures this time. I'll get some in the future though. It was almost dark and the look over was done under the street lighting in the parking lot. I'll also get the deck & casting number and see if he'll show me some of his paperwork.
There was a crowd of people around both cars and we couldn't really talk that much....... and I already had doubted his word about it being original so I didn't want to dive under the hood with a flashlight......... it did have the aluminum intake and painted dual snorkel air cleaner..... from what I could see I'm sure he's telling the truth.

It's not an SS car.

I'm sure I'll see them and the car again.

Dave

 

[oldskydog]

I'm with the twins, TomK and Tommy. As far as I know, 61's were Q only. QA should be a 380 hp. About the only other explanation might be that it is very late production 61 and maybe Tonawanda had already converted the engine line to the 62 engine production. If that were the case, I would think the block would be an 068. That would open up a new chapter in the history books.

 

[rstreet]

This thread is gonna get real interesting in the next few weeks until Dave can get to another show or cruise in with that other 61 I Think Phil already has a flight booked out there to check before Dave
That comment by Cecil about late production reminds me of a Buick my Dad bought many years ago at the end of the model run. The word he got was the hold up with the car was they had no steering wheels left in that interior so he finally received it with the next year's steering wheel.
robert

 

[petepedlar]

I'm definately no expert...... but QA is listed on our home page as well as on Show Cars list as a 1961 360HP and a 1962 380 HP.

Dave

 

[oldskydog]

I'm definately no expert...... but QA is listed on our home page as well as on Show Cars list as a 1961 360HP and a 1962 380 HP.

Dave

Show Cars Book of Numbers has a few errors.:

 

[real61ss]

Dave,

I'm betting that if you ever get to see the casting numbers, it will be a 068 block. If it does turn out to be a 623 block, I'd really like to know the casting date on the block and the build date on the car.

Cecil wrote.....
"About the only other explanation might be that it is very late production 61 and maybe Tonawanda had already converted the engine line to the 62 engine production."


My motor has a block casting date of 4-27-61, I beleive this may be the last date these blocks were cast and it has a "Q" stamp.

Dave....I hope you can get with the owner of the car and provide more info as this is very interesting.

 

[rstreet]

Just think of this potential...... a "Q" 623 turns up in a mostly original 61 Sunday's only driven car
robert

 

[oldskydog]

Just think of this potential...... a "Q" 623 turns up in a mostly original 61 Sunday's only driven car
robert

Or, even more interesting would be a real late 61 QA 068 with a late May or June casting and assembly date. I know they were casting 068's in May as I think TomK has one dated 5-24-61, but maybe they were out sooner. Makes me wonder exactly when 61 production shut down for the change-over.

From a 62 Hotrod Magazine article by Ray Brock:

"Mid-summer 61, Chevrolet made it's first major changes. A new camshaft was introduced which had more intake lift. At the same time, new cylinder heads (690) with larger ports and valves were released. Two new intake manifolds were also released, a single four-barrel model (678) and a dual four-barrel model (881).

Very few of these revised 409 engines were produced in 1961 model Chevrolets since these changes were made just about the time assembly lines were being shut down to changeover for 62 model Chevrolets."

If that 61 is a late production with a QA suffix, then it would most likely have an 068 block and 690 heads with a 678 intake and 3345 carb.