1979 Chevrolet Impala review from North America
"The essence of what an everyday car should be"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Valves blew.
Head liner fell.
RUST.
General comments?
This is a boat of a car with room for six. I can haul two full size bicycles, one in the back seat and one in the trunk.
Driving this car I know I'm safe. I am surrounded by 5000 lbs of steal, which expands in front of me and behind me for a vast distance.
When I first got the car the engine was dying, the previous owner lacked any knowledge of cars and did not take care of it. I decided to go all out. A summer of weekends and $6000 later I lowered in my 500 horsepower self built 355 with performance everything and a 11:1 compression ratio. This leads me to the next point.
This is the most dependable and easy to maintain car I have ever known. I have replaced almost every part on this car, (most were the original 20 year old parts), myself. And I have had no formal mechanical training.
This car will be on the road until I can no longer buy gasoline, of which I burn a lot, and every time this 5000 lb beast rockets by a hopped up civic or some pony car, I will laugh at the look of amazement/horror on the face of the other driver.
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| 1978 - Impala 4 dr station wagon 350 cu in LM1 4BBL V8 As said, I like it and bought another one! |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Year of manufacture | 1979 |
| First year of ownership | 1998 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2003 |
| Engine and transmission | 350 Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 9 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 8 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 7 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 200000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 250000 kilometres |
| Date of Entry | 19th October, 2003 |