E-Delivery

Leon goes on to explain that the owner didn't really want to sell it, but after a long conversation about the car and his brother, the owner agreed and Leon finally had the car back. Leon has been working on his brother's car ever since. "Its' been a long haul, since as it was a nothing car, basically the whole side of the car, the hood, the entire front is all hand built, the chassis is just like the outside." The car has been modified in too many ways to print. The rear end is from '69 Camaro, all air ride suspension, with a427 Chev engine. The Chevrolet Impala debuted in 1958 and after one short year, the second generation was quickly released. From its' inception until 1965, the Impala was Chevrolet's most expensive passenger car and the best selling automobile in the United States. The Impala was different than it's cheaper cousins and stood out with it's symmetrical triple taillights. The '59 Impala was completely redesigned, from the first generation, with a new X-frame chassis. The roof was lowered 3" and the body widened by 2". Some of the more distinctive changes were the horizontal tail fin, rather than a vertical tail fin and tear drop taillights. Chevrolet produced 490,000 second generation Impalas, with all of the right hand drive versions being built in Canada, at the Oshawa, ON assembly plant. These were produced for the New Zealand, Australian and South African markets. Leon's Impala has come full circle. In 1967, the friend who bought the car from Leon's brother, entered it in The Majestic's First Annual Car Show and would continue to show it in Canada and the US. The original Impala was not as radical as it is today. It had 327 with four 2 barrels and a four speed. Leon would go on to make the major changes you see today. "I tried to keep an 'old school look.' I've been working on it off and on, since 1981." Leon finished the '59 last year and brought it back to the Majestics 50th Anniversary Car Show this past spring, as one of the few original cars left. A lot of the older generation remembers the car from that first show. "Several guys came up to me to talk, and they have stories about my brother or the car; it's been great." The car has not been seen for close to 45 years and it's getting quite a reaction. 3 0 G A R A G E | S H O T S

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