Photo: Chip Foose
Say what you will about Chip Foose and the scandals he's been involved in, but the guy knows how to make a cool car, especially when classic bodies meet new technology. Say hello to the 1965 Impala "Imposter", a project that took quite a while to complete and won the 2015 Ridler Award at the annual Autorama in Detroit, Chip's 4th.
The car belongs to Don and Elma of Abbotsford, British Columbia. They wanted something that resembled the Impala they drove to Disneyland on their honeymoon. Don bought it when he was 17, so fond memories are bound to be involved.
Old school Muscle meets New School Hustle.
Rather than use an actual Impala chassis, Chip decided to buy a 2008 C6 Corvette and spend a lot of time stripping it down to where the classic body of the Impala would fit. Of course, this being Foose, nothing is left stock, so changes were made all over the place – chopped roof, flushed exhaust tips, chrome delete and so on.
The Impala body was shortened 14 inches in total with about eight inches taken from the roof and six inches from the rear quarter panels and trunk. But it's not actually that small, since the Corvette frame had to be stretched 8 inches to fit.
As for what's under the bonnet, the LS3 V8 has received a Magnuson supercharger and one of those amazing engine covers painted like the car and shaped like a bird beak.
Ridler cars are built to a whole other level of perfection and even things that can't be seen, like the transmission case or rear axle had to be finished perfect and matched to the style of the car.
“We’re not building our dream car, we’re building Don and Elma’s dream car,” Foose said. “Our goal is to make every dream that they have come true. One of their dreams was to win the Ridler and we just did it.”
The Impala body was shortened 14 inches in total with about eight inches taken from the roof and six inches from the rear quarter panels and trunk. But it's not actually that small, since the Corvette frame had to be stretched 8 inches to fit.
As for what's under the bonnet, the LS3 V8 has received a Magnuson supercharger and one of those amazing engine covers painted like the car and shaped like a bird beak.
Ridler cars are built to a whole other level of perfection and even things that can't be seen, like the transmission case or rear axle had to be finished perfect and matched to the style of the car.
“We’re not building our dream car, we’re building Don and Elma’s dream car,” Foose said. “Our goal is to make every dream that they have come true. One of their dreams was to win the Ridler and we just did it.”
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