1963 Chevrolet Z11 Impala 427

Here's the story of a legend. In the early 1960s, the rivalry among the American auto manufacturers began to present itself on the short dirt tracks and the high-banked speedways of the southern United States. When Junior Johnson debuted his Impala at the 1963 Daytona 500, his Impala quickly had the competition taking notice when he ran 165.183 mph in practice, a full 8 mph faster than the previous year's pole speed.

Powering that Impala was the legendary 427 'Mystery Motor' that featured a new design cylinder head dubbed "the Porcupine" because the angled valves and rockers stuck out every which way, and a four-bolt main block.
Chevrolet applied what they learned from the 'Mystery Motor' program in addition to what they learned on the track to the engine's design.

When the wars moved onto the nation's Drag Strips, so did the efforts to find ways to win. Lighter cars and bigger engines were the solution. For Chevrolet, one of their attempts was the Impala Z11 with a modified 409 engine. In 1963 and 1964, the Impala could be fitted with various types of engines with results ranging from 340 to 425 hp.

The 1963 Chevrolet Z-11 Impala 427 was devoid of heaters, radios, sound deadening insulation, and any other non-essential items, simply because the RPO Z-11 Impala cars were built to race. 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.

The base price of a 1963 Impala was $2,774. Adding the price of the RPO Z-11 option of $1,240 brought the total price just over $4,000, ( not including destination charges, taxes, etc.) In total, there were only 47 of the 427 Z11's produced and even less than that number exist today, making them quite the hot commodity among muscle car collectors . Like most of us car folk, I can only dream of what a 427 Z11 must've been like, mashing the pedal to the floor, and seeing what it was made of. Awesome.