1964 Chevrolet Impala Sitting for 40 Years Was Struck by a Tornado, Gets Second Chance

In storage since 1983, this Impala got extremely unlucky during the tornado outbreak of April 2022. That's when the door of the building it was parked in smashed its windshield and put a big dented in one of its rear fenders.

While it wouldn't be a big deal if it happened to a rusty old car, this Impala is much more than that. Parked almost 40 years ago when the owner passed away, it sat in storage as a low-mileage, unrestored survivor. Fortunately, whoever owns the car now decided that the 1964 Chevy needs to be fixed right away and put back on public roads.

Delivered to YouTube's "IowaClassicCars," the Impala appears to be in fantastic condition for a car that's been sitting for four decades. Save for the smashed windshield and damaged rear fender, of course. The original paint is still there, there are rust holes in the body, while the interior is only a detailing away from looking like new.

While not as clean under the hood, the Impala comes with a complete, numbers-matching V8. The mill in question is a 283-cubic-inch (4.6-liter) unit with a four-barrel carburetor, which delivered 250 horsepower and 350 pound-feet (475 Nm) of torque from the factory.

Not surprisingly, the V8 was stuck after sitting for almost four decades. But a few days of hard work resulted in a free engine that fired up as soon as it got a few sips of gasoline.

Granted, the Impala is not yet road-worthy, but it's only a few repairs away from becoming a driveable classic. And the good news is that the owner plans to put it back on the road and drive it for many years. That's something this Impala fully deserves after only 58,000 miles (93,342 km) in almost 60 years.