Prototype 1963 Chevy Impala Sportsroof

Most custom cars are personal creations, built to suit the specific tastes and desires of their owners and builders. A select few go beyond mere personalization and approach the level of true design studies. Such cars often appear to have rolled right off an assembly line, rather than looking significantly altered.

Over the past several years, Barry Penfound has strived to create such well-designed vehicles. His LoSabre '59 Buick (Custom Rodder, March 2003) is the epitome of a clean, contemporary mild custom, while his '64 Cadillac, dubbed Cambiar (Custom Rodder, November 2004), looks like an updated '60s GM dream car. Barry recently launched Penfound Design so he could spearhead similar projects for others, and this sultry '63 Impala is the first effort to come from the new venture. It was built for Jack Matia, a Chevrolet dealer and aficionado from Elyria, Ohio.

"I had seen and liked the Buick and Cadillac that Barry built," Jack says. "Since we had known each other for years, I asked him if he might build a car in that same spirit, but it had to be a Chevrolet."

As it turns out, Barry had just the car in mind. "I had seen Steve Stanford's illustration in the July 1996 issue of Custom Rodder, and had it in a file of 'very cool cars,'" Barry says. "When Jack asked about a project, I dug it out."

Stanford's rendering illustrated a hypothetical '63 Chevrolet model dubbed the Impala SportsRoof. He wondered what the sharp-edged Chevy would look like with a curvaceous lid in place of the boxy, "formal" stock roof. Rather than swap on a more obvious '61-62 Chevy bubbletop, Steve selected the sleek top skin and rear window from a '60 Plymouth Fury for his inspired illustration.

Would it work in real life? "I took dozens of measurements of a '63 Impala and '60 Plymouth before we even considered doing the car," Barry says. "They seemed a good match, especially where the roof met the Impala windshield and the [rear] window met the deck."

Barry contacted Steve to get his blessing and a few pointers before looking for project vehicles. "A very clean '63 Impala Super Sport was found locally," Barry says, "and a '60 Plymouth Fury was discovered about 40 miles away, with the roof, trim, and glass in good condition; the rest of the car being a victim of Midwest winter salt and rust. The cars met at Dave Rieger's Shop, Classic Revivals, in LaGrange, Ohio, where the bulk of the work took place.

"As opposed to other projects, where design work is part of the process, the Impala had a road map to follow," Barry continues. "From day one, Stanford's drawing was nailed to the shop wall, with a copy in my pocket as well. Whether it was finding the '64 Thunderbird interior, '59 Olds steering wheel, or even details like the '59 Impala antenna or '61 Thunderbird rear fender spears used as front fender trim, the vision was to bring the drawing to life. Of course, the roof change was the most challenging element."