1964 Chevrolet Impala SS Spent 44 Years in a Barn, V8 Refuses To Die

Saved by the folks over at YouTube's "Iron City Garage," this Chevy was last on the road in... wait for it... 1978. Yup, this classic spent a whopping 44 years in storage. Sure, it's in a rather rough shape and will need a full overhaul to become road-worthy again, but hey, it's definitely not as bad as you'd think for a car that sat for more than four decades. If it hadn't been for the sticker on the windshield, I would not believe it hasn't been touched since 1978.

But is it actually worth saving? Well, it has a lot of rust around the wheel arches, but the body panels are still straight as an arrow. It will need new floor pans too because the original ones are too far gone. But the original upholstery is still there, albeit with serious signs of wear and tear.

But it's pretty much complete and although the soft-top is missing, the mechanism is still there. And not only does it still have an engine under the hood, but the guys at the shop managed to get it running again. On top of that, the V8 still had plenty of oomph to take the Impala for a drive around the block.

Unfortunately, the mill is not of the numbers-matching variety. As it turns out, someone swapped the original unit for a 327-cubic-inch (5.4-liter) small-block dated 1968. The owner believes it was sourced from another Impala, which means it should be a Turbo-Fire powerplant. These were rated at 250 or 275 horsepower in 1968.

Overall, it's the kind of barn find that won't become more than just a parts car, but it's downright amazing and it still runs and drives after 44 years off the road. And that 327 V8 still sounds cool when the gas pedal hits the floor. Check it out in the video below.