Saturday, December 19, 2009

1969 Chevy Impala

Hi Everyone,

My life-long best friend Tracy and I were trying to remember what year her Impala was that she drove for a short time in high school. I'm fairly confident it was either the 1969 or 1970 Impala, but we are trying to verify the exact year. This is proving to be a somewhat difficult task. I asked Tracy, a logical (one would think since it was her car) person to start with, but as usual, she can't remember...she long ago decided to leave the memories of our childhood in my capable hands (cough, cough), which gives me license to tell her that we did loads of things that we really never did! I do at times (as often as possible) lie and tell her that she did most of the "bad" stuff and I was just there to rescue and look after her.

Anyway, on to the car. Since I got zilch from Tracy on the Impala info, I called her Dad....he didn't remember her ever having the Impala or the Jeep that came after the Pinto! So I got nowhere there.

My next call was to Tracy's younger sister, thinking "ok, Lisa has to know this, she hasn't destroyed near as many brain cells as we have!"...Lisa was a total bust, as was her husband Jay, sitting in the next room. I did have a glimmer of hope that Jay might remember since we all grew up together. I got nuthin.

So, until I get to the bottom of what year Tracy's Impala was and provide you with pictures, including one of Tracy in a bikini!, history and a few of our antics, I will entertain you with a nostalgic and somewhat scathing review on the 1969 Chevrolet Impala. Please watch the video in it's entirety ...it's pretty entertaining, and while you watch, picture these two girls....

(That's me on the left, Tracy on the right. What a couple of dorks!)

....driving that Impala, very much like the test driver does only we didn't have the helmets or the semi-peppy music playing. It was more like me driving (Tracy hated to drive back then, so I always drove), and the 8 track would have been playing something like "You Aint Seen Nothin Yet" by BTO or "Bennie and the Jets" by Elton John.

Oh and do take note of how the car handles corners at high speeds...I can vouch for the validity of the cornering, so can a couple of the ditches we ended up in!

Enjoy the video and I'll be back with the correct info on Tracy's Impala soon :-)



MHL

7 comments:

  1. It is a standing joke in the UK about USA motors and corners. That video kind of confirms the jokes and rumours. The USA sure had some good looking cars in the past but they really weren't designed to go around corners fast were they?
    Great Video!

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  2. LMFAO!!!!
    Wow! What a scathing review!
    I loved how it was just about riding on the rims while going around the corners.

    "It couldn't punch its way through a wet kleenex."
    That's my favorite line! Too funny!

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  3. Hi Steve...ah now you've put me to a challenge! I will have to do some research, you most likely will not see results until after Christmas, but I'll come up with some American cars that can corner :-) And yes, there have been some very good looking cars in the past. Thanks for the comment.

    Hi Dean...nice to see you here! I have watched that video a few times now and I crack up every time...after seeing the video it became clear to me why Tracy's dad got rid of that car (her's had a much bigger engine and I think it was an SS)...but then he put her into a Pinto! But the guy in that video is pretty harsh on Chevy!

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  4. I'll look forward to you posting a list! but no cheating, no indycars etc (most of which are built in the UK anyway) They have to be road cars and capable of cornering fast without drifting the rear out and needing a handful of opposite lock!
    :)

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  5. Looking forward to the bikini shots of the both of you. Oh yea cars! 69 or 70 Impala. I can't remember the yrs on some cars I've had. The muscle cars yes. The bikes yes. But not some of the short lived cars. Ask her old flame from back then. Someone knows.

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  6. Webster :-)...I never said there would be a picture of me in a bikini, just Tracy!
    I did get some additional info on the car and I was technically right, it was a Caprice, which is the high end Impala. Now I just need to find out the year for sure and I will be able to do the post on Tracy's car. I'm looking forward to it!
    MHL

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  7. Wow...dorks? Are you kidding? You two were both very pretty young girls...and who doesn't love that 70s hair??

    The Impala takes me back. My old man had a 67 that he loved, which my mother wrecked when he tried to teach her to drive. After that, she never drove again. A guy I was friends with as a kid had a 72 in the same colors as the one in that video. I drove it a few times...what a boat that thing was...HORRIBLE on corners. But just like the man said...a nice quiet ride.

    Thanks for the look back...

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