1964 Impala SS is a labour of love

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This article was published 24/03/2016 (3510 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Many people fondly remember their first car bought when they were in their teens, but Jeff Pearce has held onto more than a memory.

The La Salle resident is now showing off his first car, a fully restored 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport, a two-door hardtop sports coupe shining with chrome.

Pearce, who grew up in south St. Vital, said he bought the car for $3,200 in 1981 when he was 18.

“I drove it for years,” he said. “There aren’t many around.”

Although it was a sports model, there was plenty of interior room. Pearce joked that it was a drive-in special as the trunk could hold five people, who would pop out once past the ticket booth at the drive-in’s entrance.

The powerful V-8 engine made the Impala SS an impressive muscle car for its time.
When the time came for Pearce to purchase another vehicle, he was able to store his Impala in his parents’ garage for many years, then moved it into his own garage when he and wife Cindy moved to La Salle 11 years ago.

Pearce said he wasn’t tempted to sell the car because of sentimental reasons. However he recently discovered that the resale price for a fully restored Impala SS was a whopping $85,000 US.

“The value has really gone up,” he said.

Five years ago he decided it was time to start restoring his baby, and he contacted Dale Loewen who runs Sandale Fabrication, a vehicle restoration and repair company in Grande Pointe, Man.

Originally painted blue and white, Pearce said he wanted to keep the colours but has changed the blue to a deeper shade.

He said he’s spent thousands of hours searching for car parts that he ordered from as far away as California and Chicago.

“You try to find the original stuff,” he said.

The toughest part to locate was the two-tone steering wheel. Pearce said he finally decided to have the original one repaired and repainted.

When interviewed by The Headliner, Pearce was putting the final polish on his car prior to its display in the World of Wheels show as one of Sandale Fabrication’s restored vehicles.

Pearce said he plans on driving his Impala SS in various cruise nights held in Winnipeg throughout the summer, and also showing it at local Show and Shines.

“It’s not going to be a trailer queen,” he said, referring to his desire to drive his car not just show it off.

Asked how much he has spent on restoring his car, Pearce just laughed, saying that it is an expensive hobby.

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