hot rods, muscle cars, customs...

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Populuxe Cowboy

I'm not a big Boyd Coddington fan, but I have to admit the Junk Yard Dog wheels on this 1955 Studebaker Champion Conestoga Custom Wagon look good. They're not overpowering at all. Which is good since this still has the original flathead six and three-speed auto.
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Needs a set of Spyders.

:P

Speaking of which...

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I'm not a Chevy man. I grew up in a Ford household. But there's no denying how bad ass the Bubbletop Chevys of the early '60s were. This is not a numbers matching unicorn. It's a 1962 Bel Air powered by a Z11 409. It has Posi-Trac and a T-10 Borg-Warner four on the floor. 540hp means it will boil those bias-plies right off the rims.



 
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Populuxe Cowboy
I'm not a Chevy man. I grew up in a Ford household. But there's no denying how bad ass the Bubbletop Chevys of the early '60s were. This is not a numbers matching unicorn. It's a replica of an original 1962 Z11 409 powered Bel Air. It has Posi-Trac and a T-10 Borg-Warner four on the floor. 540hp means it will boil those bias-plies right off the rims.



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Pretty car. Couple issues.

RPO Z11 was only offered for 1963. In fact, Chevy RPO codes in that format didn't come around until 1963. In '62, most RPO codes consisted of three-digit numbers, while some had the three-digit number with a letter or two tacked on to denote a specific option. For example, the top spec 409 in 1962 would have been the 409-horse RPO 587, while a 380-horse 409 was available as RPO 580.

In 1963, RPO Z11 cars were package deals that included a 427-inch big block based on the Turbo-Fire 409 that got a longer stroke, a two-piece intake manifold that drew air through dual quad carbs and a special pre-filter intake plumbed to the cowl. A Borg-Warner T-10 4-speed did send power to a Posi. Z11s also got fewer creature comforts to reduce weight, through they weren't strippers, plus aluminum panels from GM's Flint Metal Shop.

Now the motor in that build does appear to have the two-piece intake beneath dual quads, and that intake is special enough to suggest the motor may have been opened up and possibly even stroked. It may be an actual Z11 427 salvaged from an actual destitute Z11 Impala, but I can't imagine an actual Z11 wouldn't be fully restored regardless of its prior condition.
 
TexRex
Pretty car. Couple issues.

RPO Z11 was only offered for 1963. In fact, Chevy RPO codes in that format didn't come around until 1963. In '62, most RPO codes consisted of three-digit numbers, while some had the three-digit number with a letter or two tacked on to denote a specific option. For example, the top spec 409 in 1962 would have been the 409-horse RPO 587, while a 380-horse 409 was available as RPO 580.

In 1963, RPO Z11 cars were package deals that included a 427-inch big block based on the Turbo-Fire 409 that got a longer stroke, a two-piece intake manifold that drew air through dual quad carbs and a special pre-filter intake plumbed to the cowl. A Borg-Warner T-10 4-speed did send power to a Posi. Z11s also got fewer creature comforts to reduce weight, through they weren't strippers, plus aluminum panels from GM's Flint Metal Shop.

Now the motor in that build does appear to have the two-piece intake beneath dual quads, and that intake is special enough to suggest the motor may have been opened up and possibly even stroked. It may be an actual Z11 427 salvaged from an actual destitute Z11 Impala, but I can't imagine an actual Z11 wouldn't be fully restored regardless of its prior condition.
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You are, of course, correct. Rereading the article I got that from, they point out the engine is not original, but make no claim that you could get a Z11 409 in '62.
 
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Populuxe Cowboy
You are, of course, correct. Rereading the article I got that from, they point out the engine is not original, but make no claim that you could get a Z11 409 in '62.
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Cool stuff. They corrected the 425-horse to 409-horse, the former being top spec in 1963. Walden knows his W motors and I have no doubt he got that power without upping displacement, but it still isn't actually Z11-spec even if it has the Z11 exclusive two-piece intake manifold.
 

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