1963 Chevrolet Impala Z11 Coupe

Race on Sunday, sell on Monday: That was the slogan back in the early 1960s. The auto companies were fighting for sales and racing was a great way to create a public relations buzz.

This car is the very first factory lightweight car built on the assembly line at Flint, Michigan, Chevrolet Assembly. It's still not known how many of these cars were built - somewhere between 50 and 57 are the numbers commonly used. The owner believes there were 50 built, based on a shipping document from an engine plant showing 50 Z-11 engines shipped to the Flint Assembly Plant.

Zora Duntov and his group of engineers developed the 427 Z-11 engine and body package for drag racing. The Z-11 427 engine was the first 427 cubic-inch production engine offered by Chevrolet in a Regular Production Order (RPO) car. It has a Borg Warner 4-speed transmission and the body features aluminum fenders and hood. The grill and related brackets were aluminum as well, to save weight. The Z-11 engine started its life as a 409 before being stroked to 427.

The base price of a 1963 Impala was $2,774. Adding the price of the RPO Z-11 option of $1,240 brings the total price to just over $4,000, not including destination charges, taxes, etc.

This car was raced by Ronnie Sox (of Sox and Martin Fame). It was used as their match race car and was billed as the 'World's Fastest Z-11,' turning low 11.20 ETs. It in fact was capable of times as fast at 10.80 ET in the ¼ mile and indeed was extremely fast for its day. The car has a factory aluminum hood, fenders, bumpers, brackets, and other components.