The 1962 Chevrolet Impala project

                         

Judging from the Moon decals and those period wheelcovers, I'd say this car was semi-hotrodded about the time of the Tet Offensive. Then it probably sat in the barn for a long time. Maybe the kid went to the war. I say the thing to do here, now, would be a 409. And restore the rest of the car as factory-plain-jane as is possible with an Impala. It's not a Biscayne stripper, after all. My Santa Barbara car guru Frank ordered one of these from the factory in 1962 when he was 17. Had them put everything go-fast on it. Frank ruled on State Street, and at the Pepper Tree. Did anyone ever order dog-dish hubcaps with an Impala? My father did on our 1968 Chrysler  Newport Custom, and I thought it embarrassing. But I was a whitewalls & wheelcovers guy as a kid. My taste has matured. This solid-seeming unit awaits the go-ahead, maybe from you, at Twisted Wire Customs in Wiscasset, Maine.