Hello friends,
Here is my 95 Impala. I am the third and last owner of this vehicle. What's funny is that i purchased it off a firefighter, which is exactly what i'm persuing right now. Anyways, I always admired these cars since the first day I saw them back in middle school (around 1997). Their size and presence is like no other vehicle i've seen. These cars are the last of the true muscle cars of the 20th century.
After my first year in college (back in 2003-2004) I bought it for a decent price from that firefighter. It was completely stock. The only upgrade it probably had was performance distributor caps & wires.
The body and interior of the car were in good/fair condition, nothing to complain about. The only thing that really got on my nerves was the fact that the stock CD player only played one of my CD's. But you can only take so much before going crazy hearing it over and over again.
I patiently waited and waited and worked and worked to save up a little money to get a good sound system in my car. The day before I planned to drop off my car at the audio shop, the inevitable happened. I got into an accident. Everyone was ok. In fact, the other car I hit only needed the rear bumper replaced compared to mine that looked like the end of the cars life. But I did not let that happen.
I researched collision centers and finally found an ex-mechanic that used to work on the city's police fleet of 9C1 Caprices, which are pretty much the same, if not a tad bit better (as far as suspension goes), as the Impalas. He helped me out alot. In fact with his prior experience with these cars he was able to finish roughly in 2-3 weeks. The only thing not completed was paint, but school was starting again, so I put that off too. Of course good work comes with its price and there went all my money for the sound system I just saved up. I was happy anyways ... I still had my car!!! Resurected from death is what I tell people.
So i've been driving it for about over 2 years now with the "custom" paint job of fading/rusting black primer in the front to black glossy/dingy/scrached paint in the rear.
Only recently have I saved enough money to customize my interior a bit. I had my original cluster slightly modified (the speedo/odo display wasn't working that great, so I had it replaced with a Cyberdine speedo/odo gauge) and I finally upgraded the radio too (a JVC double din). Thats as far as I have gone so far.
What I would like very much is to have a professional paint job. I would also like a professional to do my interior as well as a professional to install a complete sound system. Lastly, I would like to upgrade my air intake, exhaust system, and dress up the engine a bit. All done professionaly because it will last alot longer than "Joe Blow's - Done in 2 days" work.
The only extravagant thing I would like to have is air bag suspension, but not for the reason you might think. Yes, I know that it is a head turner and cool to have it, but for mother it would be a blessing. She has a muscular degenerative disease where her body attacks her muscle cells. She is currently on immunosuppressant medication to help control the rate of degeneration. That being said, my car sits low. Having the system would help ease the exertion my mother has to use to get in and out of the car as she goes about completeing daily duties
It is true that we have more than one car (we have 2 others: a beat up 98 VW Golf and an old 89 Chevy G20 Van). But mine is the most reliable and trust worthy, which is another aspect of my car that I love. It never lets me down. I'm not going to lie, I feel like I have been neglecting it. I would like to bring it up to date and have it look, run, and feel like never before.
I hope things turn out for the best. Until then, I guess I just have to work and save and play the "waiting game".
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Regards,
Impaladreamer_30
