153,271 of those carried the Super Sport badge—a sign of serious intent, not just fashion. When you drive an Impala, you’re not just piloting a Chevrolet—you’re driving an icon. When Chevrolet introduced the Super Sport option in 1961, it started with a focused mission: to showcase the new 409 V8. That debut year yielded just 453 Impala SS cars, making the first one’s true unicorns.

Chevrolet’s now-legendary Super Sport badge first showed up tucked quietly into the order sheet as an option package. By 1962, it had blown up into its own sub-series within the Impala lineup, available on both coupes and convertibles. What started as an under-the-radar performance trim quickly became a rolling statement piece.

For just $53.80, the Super Sport kit turned a full-size Chevy into a street-savvy bruiser. Buyers got spinner hubcaps, engine-turned rear trim, special badging, side molding inserts, and bucket seats with a center console—all dressed to kill. But the SS wasn’t just about flash and glitz. Underneath, it brought stiffer springs, firmer shocks, and chassis upgrades aimed at handling the kind of power Chevy was about to unleash.

The deal also included power steering and brakes, metallic brake linings, a slim whitewall tire package, a column-mounted tach, and—most famously—a front passenger grab bar that hinted this thing wasn’t just for cruising.

Chevy had already laid the groundwork for big-block mayhem in 1958 with the 348. Still, when the SS made its debut, they punched that motor out to 409 cubic inches and slapped on the Turbo Fire V8 nameplate. The first 409s were rated at 360 horsepower, breathing through a single Carter AFB four-barrel carb.

They came with solid lifters, a forged steel crank, an aggressive cam, and wedge-shaped combustion chambers that looked like they meant business—because they did. Compression was a beefy 11.25:1, and your only transmission choice was the one that mattered: a four-speed manual.

By the time 1962 rolled around, Chevy cranked things up again—dual quads hit the option list, and the 409’s max output rose to a matching 409 horsepower. One cube, one horse. As perfect as ratios get in the muscle car world. Production of the Super Sport models exploded to 99,311, and in 1963 the SS upper crust included both coupes and convertibles, though only a tiny fraction rolled off with the 409 engine and four-speed manual.

With roughly 16,902 409-powered Chevrolets built in 1963— of which only about 1,200 were Impalas fitted with the 409/four-speed combo—this Silver‑Blue convertible featured here isn’t just rare; it’s nearly unique. By 1963, the 409 was offered in three versions: 340 hp with hydraulic lifters, 400 hp solid cam with a single carb, and the top-tier 425 hp with dual quads.

The engine continued in 1964 with the 400 and 425 outputs but faded out in 1965 with only 2,828 units built, leaving just the 340 and 400 hp options before the big-block 396 took center stage. The particular car shown in the gallery and in the videos checks every box. The selling dealer, Corvette Mike, confirms it is a numbers-matching SS convertible that was part of the Don Fezell Collection.

It’s not only the provenance that sets it apart from the bunch of 409-powered Impalas built for the engine’s best year. It carries the basic big-block with 340 hp, with its sought-after four-speed manual linked at the back, power steering, power brakes, power soft top, and Posi-Traction rear end.

The paint shines in the factory Silver‑Blue finish over a matching blue interior, and the soft top operates silently—exactly as Chevy intended. This documented, factory-correct presentation adds layers of rarity beyond the engine and transmission. The car has traveled 54,524 miles and is listed for sale, but the dealer indicates, “Call for price.”

Looking for similar examples sold in recent years, we’d expect six figures—a similarly equipped example changed hands for 110,000 dollars back in November 2024 (the buyer paid $121,000 to the auction house, leaving the mandatory ten percent tax on the table).

Don Fezell must have known what this blue road-ready jewel was. The Pennsylvania collector-racer built his reputation on rare, unmolested performance cars—owning four of the 57 Z‑11 lightweight Impalas, multi-winning Camaros, Cobra Jets, Thunderbolts, factory lightweight Mopars, and Super Duty Pontiacs.

He raced Camaros and Novas in A Modified class and later carried that passion into collecting speed demons. In January 2017, a big part of Fezell’s collection (including his prized drag machines) crossed the auction block at Mecum Kissimmee. It was the closing of a legendary chapter, but this Impala was not among those legends. However, his legacy continues to echo in every rare, factory-correct muscle car that survives.