2022 is quickly approaching its end, and even if, in more aspects than one, it has been an unsettling year, people still try to go about their regular business. Including by making charts and lists about what was best, and worst, over the past months.
In the custom car and truck world, those charts and lists translate into awards. And there are few as coveted as those awarded by the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association.
Last week, the organization announced the winners in several categories for such machines in the Chevrolet Performance Builder of the Year Awards. We’ll try to bring each of them under the spotlight in the coming days, and we’ll should be done with them hopefully before SEMA gets rolling and floods us with other cool stuff to write about.
We’ll start with this simply gorgeous 1961 Chevrolet Impala, nicknamed Dirty Martini. The build is the work of a shop based in Hokes Bluff, Alabama, and called Big Oak Garage. It's the newest addition in the Big Oak portfolio, and was first shown back in April, when it won the Fuel Curve Custom of the Year award. This month, it landed the crew who made it the 2022 Chevrolet Performance GM Iron Builder of the Year title.
The third-gen Impala was constructed on a Roadster Shop chassis, which touches the ground by means of Schott wheels sized 20 inches front and rear. Above them sits a metallic green body, made to look simply stunning by means of the bubble top fitted on top.
This look was achieved by shortening the glass at both ends by 4.5 inches, and changing the lines of the metal sheet that connects them. The stance of the car has also been enhanced by the rising of the rear, now 2.5 inches taller thanks to the vertical extension of the quarter panels.
Inside, we find stuff like off-white leather on the seats, door panels, and elsewhere, Dakota Digital gauges in the dashboard, and things you never knew you might need, like a cigar humidor and martini shaker.
But the real surprise when it comes to this car is under the hood. There, the shop installed a massive 509ci (8.3-liter) engine, put together by specialist Lamar Walden and tied to a Tremec T-56 Magnum transmission. The powerplant has an output of over 630 horsepower, according to Fuel Curve.
The car is almost brand new on the custom scene, so it’ll probably be a while until it ends up looking for a buyer. For now, it’s busy touring events across America, and its next outing will be at the Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals in Scottsdale, Arizona, in the weekend of November 18.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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