48-Year Love Affair Leads To This 1,000 Horse ’63 Impala SS

Jim Campisano
February 13, 2026
This is not exactly how the ’63 Impala SS looked when it was rescued from a South Dakota barn 48 years ago. (Photo by Jim Campisano)

Dennis Lang probably never saw this coming. He was a young man when he bought this gorgeous ’63 Impala SS, and now here we are 48 years later and he is still prowling the streets with it. Of course, it is a far different automobile now than it was then.

Honduras Maroon was a 1962 color, but it looks better than ever on this ’63 Impala SS. (Photo by Jim Campisano)

It is a true ’63 Impala SS and he discovered it in a barn in South Dakota with no hood. The top half of the engine was gone, too, but it did have a four-speed. He’s been fixing it up ever since. It has definitely gone through a lot of iterations before it arrived at its current state, but he assures us this is the last of its builds.

The Gen-1 SBC 421-inch stroker is based around a Dart iron block and Airflow Research aluminum cylinder heads, but the ProCharger F1X blower stands out. It made 1,000 horsepower on the dyne at 5,500 rpm, and the graph was still going up when the run was aborted. (Photos by Jim Campisano)

What attracted us when we first saw it at Sick Week 2026 was the engine. The hood was up and the supercharged small-block was on full display. The engine is 421 cubes, built 16 years ago around a Dart block and Airflow Research heads. Dennis says it has the best of everything inside, but crowning glory is the ProCharger F1X supercharger. It’s fed by twin 300 fuel pumps, a sumped fuel tank. 

”It dyno’d out at about 1,000 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and they wouldn’t take it past that because of the warranty, but the graph was still going straight up,” Dennis says. “It’s got a lot more than 1,000 horsepower.”

Tail panel was unique to the ’63 Chevy. Side spear was stripped of its anodizing and polished. (Photos by Jim Campisano)

The headers are custom built to go around the factory X-frame rather than under it, and it is 3-inches from there back. There are eight coil packs and everything is controlled by a Holley EFI fuel injection system.

Connected to the back of the engine is a TREMEC TKX five-speed with heat treated gears and a McLeod double-disc clutch. It sends all that power to a narrowed Moser 9-inch with 35 spline axles and 4.30 gears. It is suspended by a four-link Racecraft rear suspension. 

Racecraft four-link is used is the rear and holds a narrowed Moser 9-inch with 4.30 cogs. Original fuel tank was sumped. Remarkably, the undercarriage is almost as clean as the topside, despite the thousands of miles it has accumulated over the years. (Photo by Jim Campisano)

Up front is a power rack-and-pinion set up with tubular control arms. Wilwood brakes hide behind 18-inch American Racing wheels in the back and 17s up front. Nitto 555R2 rear tires measure 305/45/18. Fronts are regular 555s at 255/5017.

Nitto 555R2 tires really fill up those rear wheelwells. American Racing TorqThrust II wheels are a modern version of the classic original. (Photos by Jim Campisano)

The body is 100 percent original except for the hood. There is not a piece of non-factory-issued sheetmetal to be found. The B-body was originally brown, but Dennis changed it to 1962 Honduras Maroon. It was Dennis Taylor who laid it all down around five years ago.

Naturally, air conditioning is part of the build, even with over 1,000 ponies spinning the compressor. Dennis’ son in law Jason Sack, owner and driver of the 6-second Cowboy Up Sick Week Nova, fabricated the radiator cover. He was more than just a little instrumental in the build. He spec’d out the engine, among other duties. (Photo by Jim Campisano)

Speaking of the outside, the owner had the factory anodized trim stripped down and polished. The ’63 Impala came from Detroit with some of the most spectacular brightwork ever conceived, and it has never looked better than it does on this car. It is no wonder Chevy sold over

Even the truck is perfect. Yes, Dennis applied new, correct spatter paint in there, but there is not a patch panel anywhere. 

The interior is a fantastic mix of old and new. The factory buckets and rear seat were redone 30 years ago and despite tens of thousands of miles, look factory fresh. A five-point roll bar was added, from which racing harnesses were added. This allows a far more protection than the original lap belts. Modern updates include a Dakota Digital instrument panel in the factory location and the Holley EFI screen on the console. 

The factory console and engine-turned appliqués remain, but the original four-speed was ditched in favor of this TREMEC TKX five-speed. (Photos by Jim Campisano)

“My son-in-law Jason Sack, who owns the Cowboy Up Sick Week Nova, dreamed up a lot of what is on this Impala,” Dennis says. “He picked out the cam, heads, and designed the motor. I put the motor and driveline in, but he spec’d it out.”

Despite the impressive show car appearance and four-figure horsepower, Dennis and his wife have accumulated tens-of-thousands of trouble-free miles on the ’63 Impala SS. They didn’t drive it from Minnesota to Sick Week 2026 in Florida because the outside temperature was 40 below zero when they had to leave, but it has made the trek in the past, not to mention numerous jaunts from their home state to California, Las Vegas, Reno, and San Pedro Island on the southern tip of Texas. It’s been incredibly fun and reliable.

(Photos by Jim Campisano)

And what more could you want from your car, even almost 50 years after the fact?