When you've had a car as long as Ed Bobowicz and his family, it's only natural to have some affection for it. They bought this wagon in 1972 from one of their Tonawanda, New York, neighbors who was the original owner. Since then the wagon has towed a 24-foot camp trailer and hauled building materials, kids, groceries, and every other thing they could throw in its cavernous rear compartment.
About six years ago, with 160,000 miles showing, Ed decided it was time to do the old wagon a favor. He did a body-off restoration, which Ed admits was quite the task considering how heavy a full-sized wagon body is. Everything was repainted, replaced, replated, and restored. A lot of custom touches went into making the car look like something that Chevy actually rolled off the assembly line. For example, the valve covers were originally finned aluminum and were machined to remove the fins, and the air cleaner was converted into a cowl-induction design. Ed spent years collecting the correct N.O.S. Super Sport parts in anticipation of the rebuild, and it's a good thing that he did because many of these parts are very difficult to find today.
The original 427 was overhauled and came back to the car after being blueprinted and fitted with an Isky cam, Edelbrock intake, Hooker headers, and other performance goodies.
The wagon doesn't get used for towing duties anymore, but it would definitely make short work of that 24-foot camp trailer with the estimated 475 hp the big-block now cranks out. Even if Chevy didn't make an SS427 wagon back in 1968, we're glad that Ed did.
| Owner | Edward Bobowicz, Lockport, NY |
| Vehicle | '68 Chevy Impala wagon |
| Engine | 427ci Chevy, Jahns 10.0:1 pistons, Isky solid lifter cam, Edelbrock Performer intake with 3310 Holley 750-cfm carb, GM HEI ignition, Hooker 2-inch headers, Dynomax mufflers. |
| Transmission | Turbo 400 |
| Rearend | 12-bolt Chevy with 3.55:1 gears |
| Suspension |
| Front | Stock Chevy with 2 1/2-inch cut springs, Monroe shocks, Stainless Steel Brake 4-piston discs, 1 5/8-inch sway bar. |
| Rear | Stock cargo coils cut 2 1/2 inches, Monroe Airlift shocks, Stainless Steel Brake four-piston discs, boxed rear lower control arms with urethane bushings, shortened rear sway and Panhard bar |
| Wheels | Budnik Mercury II, (17x7 w/4-inch bs and 17x8 w/4.5-inch bs) |
| Tires | BF Goodrich, Comp T/A, 255/60R17 front and rear |
| Body | PPG Groto Blue sprayed by Peter McCrea, Amherst, NY |
| Interior | Stock Chevy buckets and console in front and bench in rear, recovered in stock blue vinyl by Mosers Auto Trim, Kenmore, NY, carpets by Year One |