The Sickest 1968 Chevy Impala Restomod Even Dom Toretto Would Approve Of
It’s hard to find a true muscle car enthusiast who hasn’t heard of and loves the Chevrolet Impala. It’s also one of those rare badges that means something completely different depending on whom you ask. Your grandpa probably remembers it as that slick cruiser everyone wanted in the ‘60s, while an East Coast rapper will call it the perfect lowrider for a gangsta. But to gearheads, it’s a rolling reminder of when Detroit stuffed big-blocks into luxury cars and one of America’s greatest sleeper sedans. Some even consider it the first real muscle car – specifically, the 1961 Impala, which brought a 360-hp 409 V8 and became the first Chevy to ever feature the legendary SS badge.
The 1968 Impala SS Reimagined As The Ultimate Widebody Muscle Car
Sadly, by the late ‘60s, full-size muscle cars like the Impala were fighting a losing battle against their nimbler intermediates, but Chevy wasn’t ready to wave the white flag. No, the Bowtie brand added everything from a 250 inline-6 to massive 427 big blocks that had more muscle than a Hemi (at least on paper) to the 4th-gen Impala’s options list. And yet, at the peak of the muscle car era, the Impala was slowly overshadowed, and with more compact Chevelles and Novas becoming popular, its sales kept declining.
To do the Impala some justice, our HotCars render artists selected the gorgeous ‘68 SS Sport Coupe and pushed its original design to the limits with widebody treatment, better aero, and an unreasonably massive blower. The result is a piece of full-sized big-block muscle so angry and unhinged and yet so unmistakably Impala that it would make Dom Toretto forget about his Charger.
The Ultimate Widebody Impala Takes Shape
The 1968 model year brought the Impala easily one of its best and most muscular guises, with a more aggressive front end featuring a split grille design, cool hidden wipers, and the iconic triple rear headlights now integrated directly into the chrome bumper. As such, it’s the perfect canvas for a modern Fast and Furious-esque restomod in true HotCars style.
Our Impala SS Sport Coupe retains the Impala’s full-size proportions, iconic Coke-bottle silhouette, and even many of its trademark chrome details. However, it now features a significantly more imposing and muscular presence, thanks to the massive widebody fenders doing much of the heavy lifting. Meanwhile, the ridiculously low stance amplifies the Impala’s sheer width and wild proportions.
Up front, we left everything from the ‘68 Impala’s blacked-out grille to the quad square headlights and the shape of the hood untouched. But to bring this muscle car to the 21st century, we swapped out the original lamps with modern LEDs. The large splitter sitting underneath looks as if it’s scraping the asphalt, but it’s that towering old-school blower popping out of the hood that steals the show, polished to a mirror shine with bright red butterfly valves up top.
From the side, the long, formal roofline flows into widened fenders. Slotted inside them are gigantic 345-section Michelins that wrap around deep-dish rims, showcasing perfect fitment. For a fun twist on the design, we opted for a side exhaust setup, since it perfectly contrasts the Impala’s otherwise sedated and serious side profile.
The rear quarter is arguably the ‘68 Impala’s best angle, with those new integrated tail lights giving it a refined, modern edge. However, we replaced the original horseshoe tail lights with completely round ones for a more minimalist, futuristic look. A subtle ducktail spoiler also offsets all the aggression nicely without going over the top, making this Impala look like something that could have come out of GM’s skunkworks in the ‘60s.
With a completely blacked-out design and that towering blower in the front, this Impala could directly stand up to Dom’s 1970 Charger, especially considering what’s under the hood.
What’s Under The Impala’s Hood?
Back in the day, if you asked nicely, Chevy could sell you the ‘68 Impala with the magnificent 427-ci L72 race engine straight out of the Corvette C2 Sting Ray. We mentioned it was even more powerful than a Hemi on paper. That’s because Chevy initially rated the L72 at 450 horsepower and 460 lb-ft – making it the highest-rated engine ever sold in the ‘60s – before dropping the figure down to 425 hp for insurance reasons. It’s Chevy’s ultimate rival to the 426 Hemi, and enthusiasts agree that both engines were severely underrated from the factory. Paired with superchargers, these things could easily push at least double the power.
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