Impala project I've found but is it too much work?

Didn't realise the car was over £3000, I was thinking £1000-£1500. Seems a lot for a rusty 4dr sedan that isn't even registered in the UK.

Try pilkington's for the glass, as long as they have a form they can make the glass, if your worried about no shift identification you could always fit a floor shifter such as a Hurst, B@M ect.

Check out Restodan getting a 63 2 door going after 30 years sitting up.

the yank market is not what it once was in this country, for obvious reasons.

long and short of it the logistics of owning such a large car is a ballache for most people, itll be about 17ft long and too wide for a standard car parking space, and do high teens/low twenties mpg. for example if i owned a fullsize, i couldnt keep it at my house without parking it in the road(which i wouldnt do) as my drive is only 16 foot long.

desirable models are still worth money, either as status symbols or investments, plus as its kinda assumed someone who can afford to splurge £10k-plus on a toy can manage to pay for fuel and storage if needed, if they don't have a house/land big enough to start with.

but the other end, the sub £3k 'container fillers' from years by, fairly cheap, undesirable more doors, 6cyls and late models, have really taken a dive, to the point where they're worth more as breakers and banger racers. this very much falls into that category.

this is proving a large pot of opinions here. OK time to add my few pennies worth.

Fuel costs:- depends on your outgoings and how heavy your right foot is, i get on average 18-20mpg from my 5L Caddy hearse, i can stretch that to 25mpg with very careful throttle application. Compare this to the 18mpg at best i was getting with my 2.1/4 petrol landrover.... that was with freewheeling hubs and an overdrive as well.

Size :- sure they look big, however, my hearse is the same size in length as a LWB Transit, it is however 6" narrower than the same size Transit. How do i know this, well my hearse fits on my big trailer, a transit doesnt as its too wide when we tried to put one on to go to the scrappy recently.

Gear lever :- After market floor mounted ones are very common and can be found relatively easily from the states.

Money :- Well this is a big matter for debate. Its worth what you feel is reasonable. I paid £3K for the hearse and £1K for the limo. The limo was going to be a donor at the worst as it is the same base vehicle as the hearse. The hearse was a cali car that lived on the edge of a desert, rust free and not messed with, the limo however,messed with (badly) and rusty as it was from NY city. Both were already registered over here ,had current MOT and tax on them.

Parts :- Parts for whatever model are available from the states, it may take some searching, but they are there. Forums and motor factors online searching (using an IP blocker and an Ad blocker on your browser sometimes) will find you soo much stuff. For example, i needed front pads for the hearse, found, ordered and delivered in 3 days for change from £30, most of that was postage.

I hope some of that helps, but defo joining Rods and Sods for advise and research over here on yank stuff.

Personally, if i had the money, time and some enthusiasm. I would be there with my trailer and a wad of cash

I'm sorry, if you have to ask, I think you already know the answer.

Its heavy priced at over £3K IMO. Unless its better than it looks.

Theres a lot of people asking big money for yank stuff at the moment and not a lot selling. A lot of cars being broken for the V8 & box and the rest going to the bangers or frag. Real shame.

"It cost me ££££ to import it!" you hear, but what has that to do with anything? Its worth what its worth. Some stuff sits round for years rotting while the seller tries to get what it owes him back.

I've seen that on eBay a few times I'm sure.

Its an easy car to have as a project compared to most early 60s cars from either side of the Atlantic. It could be lovely but it will always have too many doors...

Prices obviously vary depending where in the States are car is (it's a big country) but around £1000 to £1500 is probably about what you would need. Then you pay import duty on the price of the car, plus vat @ 20% on the car, the duty & the shipping costs.

This is the search I use on ebay motors, and covers everything from the 20s to the early 80s for under $2500 (about £2000)

Worth saving in your searches

www.ebay.com/sch/Cars-Trucks-/6001/i.html?Model%2520Year=1927|1928|1929|1930|1931|1932|1933|1934|1935|1936|1937|1938|1939|1940|1941|1942|1943|1944|1945|1946|1947|1948|1949|1950|1951|1952|1953|1954|1955|1956|1957|1958|1959|1960|1961|1962|1963|1964|1965|1966|1967|1968|1969|1970|1971|1972|1973|1974|1975|1976|1977|1978|1979|1980|1981|1982|1983&_dcat=6001&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=&_udhi=2500