61 Impala SS
- Thread starter scl61
- Start date
Hey Guys,
I was reading this post and thought someone might find this interesting. I just loaded some of the paperwork that was given to me when I purchased my 61 SS on the members photo album area. Check it out. I purchased my car from the original owner, it was bought new at the local Chevy dealer here in town. The dealership has changed hands but the present General Manager took a special interest it the car and arranged a 40 th anniversary. He placed the car back in the same showroom, located the original salesman, the mechanic that test drove the car and filled out the dealer prep sheet, the General Manager of the dealership in May of 1961 and I had the original owner there. The newspapers made a big deal out of it. It was a special day!! What's the chances of doing this with any car, much less a real SS!!!
Sadly, the salesman passed away a few months later. I have pictures from that day but for some reason, I can't get them to load. Wish I could share them with anyone who's interested in SS's
:
I was reading this post and thought someone might find this interesting. I just loaded some of the paperwork that was given to me when I purchased my 61 SS on the members photo album area. Check it out. I purchased my car from the original owner, it was bought new at the local Chevy dealer here in town. The dealership has changed hands but the present General Manager took a special interest it the car and arranged a 40 th anniversary. He placed the car back in the same showroom, located the original salesman, the mechanic that test drove the car and filled out the dealer prep sheet, the General Manager of the dealership in May of 1961 and I had the original owner there. The newspapers made a big deal out of it. It was a special day!! What's the chances of doing this with any car, much less a real SS!!!
Sadly, the salesman passed away a few months later. I have pictures from that day but for some reason, I can't get them to load. Wish I could share them with anyone who's interested in SS's
:
That's great Tommy! You were like a celebrity for a day huh? 
Having an original 1961 SS is one thing but all that paper work, getting all those people together like in the same dealership...that is really special. Something like that doesn't happen everyday.
Did the original owner want it back? LOL I see he traded in a 58 Chevy to buy this one. He's our kind of people! Did you ask him why he chose the 348 instead of the 409? (I bet you had many questions for him)
Now, as I ask everyone that has this type of material...may I use this on the misc photo page? These type of documents are very interesting and I know many would like to see them. (we could of course "blur" out any names or numbers if need be)
Thanks for sharing. You have a very interesting car there Tommy.
Bob
Having an original 1961 SS is one thing but all that paper work, getting all those people together like in the same dealership...that is really special. Something like that doesn't happen everyday. Did the original owner want it back? LOL I see he traded in a 58 Chevy to buy this one. He's our kind of people! Did you ask him why he chose the 348 instead of the 409? (I bet you had many questions for him)
Now, as I ask everyone that has this type of material...may I use this on the misc photo page? These type of documents are very interesting and I know many would like to see them. (we could of course "blur" out any names or numbers if need be)
Thanks for sharing. You have a very interesting car there Tommy.
Bob
Bob,
I don't mind if you use the paper work that I posted. There is some more that I haven't posted. To answer your questions, yes I had lots of questions for the original owner. He and his wife are wonderful people, they only live about 15 miles from me, the car was right under my nose for years and I didn't know it!!
So far as why he bought the 348 instead of the 409, he didn't order the car, the dealer had the car setting in the showroom and he was going home from work one afternoon and saw the car, stopped and traded his 58 in on it. The SS brochure that people talk about that shows the SS 4 dr ht, the dealer had one of them and they gave it to him when he bought the car. He said the dealer only got one car and one brochure so they just gave it to him. He passed it on to me with the car.
Soon after I bought the car and before I did anything to it, I contacted Verne Frantz and he visited my shop and spent a day going over the car, Mr. Hicks (the original owner) came over to the shop that day and talked with Verne about the car.
I don't think Mr. Hicks would be interested in owning the car again, he understands the value and the fact that it's probably not something that you would ever drive on the road again. He does attend some shows with me and seems to get a kick out of talking to the people. He wasn't married when he bought the car and his wife has stories that she tells about them dating in the car. Their daughter told me when I disassembled the car that if I found any Barby Dolls under the back seat, they belonged to her!!
Sorry to be so long
Tommy
: 
I don't mind if you use the paper work that I posted. There is some more that I haven't posted. To answer your questions, yes I had lots of questions for the original owner. He and his wife are wonderful people, they only live about 15 miles from me, the car was right under my nose for years and I didn't know it!!
So far as why he bought the 348 instead of the 409, he didn't order the car, the dealer had the car setting in the showroom and he was going home from work one afternoon and saw the car, stopped and traded his 58 in on it. The SS brochure that people talk about that shows the SS 4 dr ht, the dealer had one of them and they gave it to him when he bought the car. He said the dealer only got one car and one brochure so they just gave it to him. He passed it on to me with the car.
Soon after I bought the car and before I did anything to it, I contacted Verne Frantz and he visited my shop and spent a day going over the car, Mr. Hicks (the original owner) came over to the shop that day and talked with Verne about the car.
I don't think Mr. Hicks would be interested in owning the car again, he understands the value and the fact that it's probably not something that you would ever drive on the road again. He does attend some shows with me and seems to get a kick out of talking to the people. He wasn't married when he bought the car and his wife has stories that she tells about them dating in the car. Their daughter told me when I disassembled the car that if I found any Barby Dolls under the back seat, they belonged to her!!
Sorry to be so long
Tommy
: 
I wish, I wish, I wish...
Boy I wish I had something so cool that I attracted a "Verne Frantz visit"
I don't even have a Barbie Doll (although my wife's name is "Barb" and that works for me!).
Great story, great find, great future! I am glad that someone who really appreciates the value of the vehicle has it.
Best wishes,
Tom K
Boy I wish I had something so cool that I attracted a "Verne Frantz visit"
I don't even have a Barbie Doll (although my wife's name is "Barb" and that works for me!).Great story, great find, great future! I am glad that someone who really appreciates the value of the vehicle has it.
Best wishes,
Tom K
61stumppuller
Member
Another question on an old thread. I may or may not have a factory 61SS. I bought it about 10 years ago with old, but all correct stuff still on it - trim, emblems & accessories. Even the correct hub caps with spinners and without the knockouts for the plastic cross flag emblems. The grab bar hole is slotted, shift plate was orginal. The bummer was the engine was gone, and the VIN plate code desn't appear to be SS. It appears it was a 340 HP 348 by the way the engine compartment is trimmed out.
Question on metallic brakes - the car had regular brake shoes when I got it (the car had 60,000 + miles on the clock), but the front drums had different vibration springs - they are flat wire spirals instead of the round wire springs. Any body know the particulars for metallic brakes? - cylinder bores casting #'s on components or other stuff??
Question on metallic brakes - the car had regular brake shoes when I got it (the car had 60,000 + miles on the clock), but the front drums had different vibration springs - they are flat wire spirals instead of the round wire springs. Any body know the particulars for metallic brakes? - cylinder bores casting #'s on components or other stuff??
Your car sounds really interesting to say the least!! I would be very interested in knowing the build date on the cowl tag.
As for the metalic brakes question, metalic brakes were a required option on 61 SS's. The front metalic brake drum had a flat wire spring instead of the normal round wire spring.
You said the original shoes were gone and this is not unusal, they didn't wear out, they just got so hard that they wouldn't stop the car anymore. But, maybe when the shoes were changed they may have reused the original hardware. The original "pull back" springs were about twice as large as the springs on standard brakes. If these large springs are still present, clean them very carefully, the front spring should still have some white paint on it, the rear spring will be yellow and the bottom spring that connects the 2 shoes at the adjuster will be blue. If you find traces of what I just described, your car most likely had the metilic brakes.
I can get the casting numbers off my drums but it will be this weekend.
There won't be anything in the vin number that would indentify the car as an SS.
Hope this helps
Tommy
As for the metalic brakes question, metalic brakes were a required option on 61 SS's. The front metalic brake drum had a flat wire spring instead of the normal round wire spring.
You said the original shoes were gone and this is not unusal, they didn't wear out, they just got so hard that they wouldn't stop the car anymore. But, maybe when the shoes were changed they may have reused the original hardware. The original "pull back" springs were about twice as large as the springs on standard brakes. If these large springs are still present, clean them very carefully, the front spring should still have some white paint on it, the rear spring will be yellow and the bottom spring that connects the 2 shoes at the adjuster will be blue. If you find traces of what I just described, your car most likely had the metilic brakes.
I can get the casting numbers off my drums but it will be this weekend.
There won't be anything in the vin number that would indentify the car as an SS.
Hope this helps
Tommy
A humorous suggestion
61 stump puller:
You really do have something interesting there! I hope it turns out to be authentic. I really envy you guys who are experiencing the "Art of the Find"
Here's a suggestion:
Get the car road worthy and bring it to Columbia, MO. I will look it over, but since I have no prior experience with the '61 SS, I will have to fly both Tommy and Verne out here to check out your car. That could take some time, so you might want to leave the title with me and zip back to Wisconsin. I will buy you a plane ticket.
We will probably need a couple of years to verify everything, but don't worry, your vehicle will be in good hands...
If you believe that, then why not fly Verne and Tommy out directly and have theim check it out
Seriously (and all kidding aside), I hope it turns out good for you, and that you are able to document the remains of one of these rare creatures. I really do envy you guys who have a chance at even seeing one of these beauties
Best of Luck,
Tom K
P.S. In case you were wondering, I was just kidding !!!
61 stump puller:
You really do have something interesting there! I hope it turns out to be authentic. I really envy you guys who are experiencing the "Art of the Find"
Here's a suggestion:
Get the car road worthy and bring it to Columbia, MO. I will look it over, but since I have no prior experience with the '61 SS, I will have to fly both Tommy and Verne out here to check out your car. That could take some time, so you might want to leave the title with me and zip back to Wisconsin. I will buy you a plane ticket.
We will probably need a couple of years to verify everything, but don't worry, your vehicle will be in good hands...
If you believe that, then why not fly Verne and Tommy out directly and have theim check it out
Seriously (and all kidding aside), I hope it turns out good for you, and that you are able to document the remains of one of these rare creatures. I really do envy you guys who have a chance at even seeing one of these beauties
Best of Luck,
Tom K
P.S. In case you were wondering, I was just kidding !!!