Watch This Video
Episode 6, AMEREICAN MUSCLE Season 1

427 CHEVY BEAST That Ford Dreaded 1963 IMPALA Z11
@rarecarstorys

A rather mild land yacht at its introduction in 1958, the Impala quickly joined the trend of the era and became increasingly more powerful with each generation.

Rated at 280 horsepower in 1958, the 348cubicinch (5.7liter) V8 came with 350 horses on tap in 1960. But the Impala truly stepped into the highperformance realm in 1961, when Chevrolet introduced the Super Sport (SS) option.Originally available on any Impala, the SS package was mostly an appearance bundle at first, but it also came with a brandnew, 409cubicinch (6.7liter) V8 rated at 360 horsepower.

But Chevrolet took things up a notch in 1963, just before GM announced a withdrawal from competition for all its brands.

watch this video

AMERICAN Car History, Season 1

watch some of our favourate videos

FASTER THAN A HELLCAT? 1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt A Drag racing legend
   • FASTEST 1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbol...  

THE ULTIMATE MUSCLE CAR A COLLECTORS DREAM 1971 PLYMOUTH HEMI CUDA
   • Avoid the Hidden Fees That Come with ...  

427 CHEVY BEAST That Ford Dreaded 1963 IMPALA Z11
   • Ford's BIGGEST Fear The 1963 Impala Z...  

WHY did the GOVERMENT BAN? 1970 BALDWIN MOTION VEGA ,
   • 5 Reasons the CHEVROLET VEGA is the M...  

CRAZIEST Corvette Ever Made! 1967 L88 Corvette
   • I Found the ONE 1967 L88 CORVETTE Tha...  

WHY DID GM HIDE THIS CAR? 1981 CAMARO Z28 YENKO TURBO Z
   • 1981 Camaro Turbo Z, the rarest of al...  

RAREST Quad turbo V12 SUPERCAR IN THE WORLD? 1995 Ford GT90
   • 5 Unbelievable Facts About the 1995 F...  

FASTER THAN A BUGATTI? 2006 FORD GT40
   • Get Ready for the ULTIMATE 2024 Car S...  

RARE MONSTER 1972 CHEVROLET SUPER VEGA GT
   • CHEVROLET SUPER VEGA Secrets Revealed...  

IMPOSSIBLE NUCLEAR POWERED CAR 1958 FORD NUCLEON
   • Is This NUCLEAR Powered Car the Futur...  

REVOLUTIONARY CAR INSPIRED AN ENTIRE INDUSTRY 1963 CHRYSLER TURBINE
   • The Shocking Truth About America's Fi...  


As the drag racing scene was leaving a big mark on highperformance production models, Chevrolet put together a raceoriented Impala to compete against the Ford Thunderbolt. That's how the Regular Production Option (RPO) Z11 was born.Created for drag racers and NASCAR enthusiasts, the Z11 was essentially a lighter Impala with a bigger, more powerful V8. The latter was a 427cubicinch (7.0liter) derived from the existing 409 mill and equipped with a longer stroke, a twopiece, highrise aluminum intake, dual fourbarrel carbs, and a special cowl induction system. Thanks to a 13.5:1 compression ratio, the 427 produced a whopping 430 horsepower and a staggering 575 poundfeet (780 Nm) of torque.

That's slightly more than the legendary 426 Hemi V8 engine that Mopar introduced a few years later!But the Impala Z11 wasn't just about power and torque. To become a competitive drag racer, it also had many of its steel parts built from aluminum. The fenders, bumpers, engine hood, brackets, grille, and braces were all made from weightsaving material.In addition, Chevrolet stripped the car off its radio, heater, sound deadening material, and front sway bar.

The result was a 300pound (136kg) reduction over the regular Impala.like many RPOequipped, highperformance Chevys of the era, the Impala Z11 was far from cheap. The package added $1,240 to the price of a regular Impala, taking the sticker to $4,000 before any other options were selected. As a result, only a few cars were built. Most sources claim that Chevrolet assembled only 57 Z11s, which makes it the rarest Impala ever offered.

"Old Reliable," the Z11 that was used as a mule before production kicked off. Once other Impalas started rolling off the assembly line, "Old Reliable" was taken to the track and won 90% of its races in 1963 in 1964. Such performance was unheard of in those days and helped cement the Z11's reputation as a fast and reliable factory performance car.

With fewer than 50 of them still around, the Impala Z11 is now a prizedcollectible and arguably the most expensive of its kind. They rarely show up on the auction block, but when they do, they command prices over $350,000.In 2017, a blackpainted Z11 (one of only two built this way) changed hands for a whopping $432,000. Also in 2017, "Old Reliable" sold for $525,000.

While the Impala nameplate lived on for many decades after the Z11 was discontinued, Chevrolet never built another one like it. GM did offer the Impala Z24 with up to 425 horsepower in the late 1960s, but it was devoid of the lightweight and racebred components that helped the Z11 achieve glory at the drag strip. And it all happened six years before Chevy developed the 1969 COPO Camaro.

Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. fair use is a use permited by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."

Thanks For Watching ❤