And it has Canadian tires!
Made in Antwerp, driven in Hungary, and eventually shipped back to the US. This was the car I brought home when my wife told me that “we were going to have children soon, and I needed to think about buying something that wouldn’t be under the wrench constantly, wouldn’t cost a fortune to maintain, and would be something that I wouldn’t want to sell/trade two weeks later.” I bought this from a pilot in Budapest who wanted the money to finish restoring his second Willys Jeep, he owned her for 16 years. She’s still sporting her original 250 inline 6, with original column shift Saginaw three speed. The Valve cover has been changed in favor of a chrome one, her original color was yellow, and at some point the interior must have been re-done (and I had to add seatbelts) but I think I’ve decided to keep her the way she is. After all, when he restored her, this is what a Hungarian’s idea of an American car was. A battle with a State Patrol inspector brought to light some interesting facts though: This car was built from Canadian parts. Assembled into a vehicle in Antwerp (called a “Completely Knocked Down” kit) The VIN is unique to GM of Belgium, who stamped VINs based on a code that no one (GM US, Canada, or Belgium) has any recollection of. Aside from the tag on the fire-wall, there are no VIN markings on the vehicle (trust me, the inspectors looked) The Vehicle was titled as a 1967 in Hungary because that was it’s assembly date. December 17th, 1967 Exact production numbers don’t exist for Impala’s in Belgium, but records show that less than 2000 “Chevrolets” were built in 1967 (Nearly 1500 models in 1966). Most of this information had to come from a “GM Historian” in Australia, as the current members of GM had no recollection of “Classic CKD vehicles” (he found this out when he brought his Australian RHD Impala to their 100th anniversary). Good times! A few more fun facts: Before March of 2014 this vehicle never turned a wheel in the United States Before July 2012 only metric wrenches were used in the care of this vehicle (no, really! I saw the guy’s garage) If this vehicle ever returns to Hungary it will be hit with car insurance bills dating from December 2013 to whenever it is registered as you are never allowed to let your insurance lapse, and I was not allowed to remove its registration (as I was not a scrap yard owner). -Bill
And it has Canadian tires!
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