Of all the barn finds and nearly unbelievable automotive discoveries that we hear about on a regular basis, this is one of the greatest. Not only is it an amazing story, but it’s a true one. We talked to Mike and Lisa of Bremerton, Washington, (who wish to remain anonymous), and they are the owners of five vintage Chevrolet’s, one of which is a 1966 Impala convertible that displays a single number on the body tag sequence number: 1. This is the very first convertible Impala of the 1966 model year.

The way that the couple obtained this collection of cars is just as interesting as the cars themselves. Most of the cars came with names that were adopted by previous owners, and Mike has no interest in changing them. They are; Barrington and Aberdeen: both are two-door 1966 Caprices, Jack the Bear: the 1965 ½ four door Caprice, Old Blue: the 1966 Impala convertible, and the only car without a name: his 1967 El Camino Custom.

They didn’t end up with these cars over the course of a lifetime, or even a single year. Rather, they acquired them all at once. “We bought the whole estate in order to get the convertible, it was an all or nothing deal,” Mike told us. “We got all of the cars and so many parts, that it took five trips with a 17-foot U-Haul trailer and two pickup trucks to get everything back home.” Mike says that there were at least six complete cars worth of parts when he bought the collection 2 1/2 years ago.

The estate had belonged to a man named Gerald Pattison, who lived in Shoreline, Washington. It is safe to say that he had a passion the Chevrolet Caprice. “It was his favorite car,” Mike told us, “Not only did he collect the cars and parts, he also collected literature and paperwork.” Mike showed us a few boxes of books and miscellaneous documentation that Gerald had collected. “Not only were his three-car garage and one-car garage both full of parts, but so was his house.”

All of the cars other than the El Camino, which was Mr. Pattison’s parts hauler, had been garaged since 1985. All of them are in remarkable shape, and although they are all pretty similar, they are different in the little ways that matter.

The Parts Hauler

This big-block El Camino made one heck of a parts hauler when it came time to add to his collection. It has a 350 horsepower big-block, 396 cubic-inch engine, and doesn’t disappoint when it comes to power. Not only that, but it’s all original and numbers matching, right down to the California “smog” equipment. The interior is usable, and the exterior has a great patina to it, but it’s by no means a rust bucket.

Barrington

The daily driver, this car had 104,000 original miles on it when Mike and Lisa bought it, but is now up over 125,000 after they drove it to Las Vegas and back. It has a big-block 396 cubic-inch engine, but unlike the El Camino, it has the 325 horsepower version. The Aztec Bronze paint was new as of 1985, but still looks great. Mike told us, “the only thing that it needs is an interior kit.”

Aberdeen

“This is the evil twin of the daily driver,” Mike told us. It originally had a 396 cubic-inch engine, but now sports a 427 cubic-inch big-block with a four-speed manual transmission. Aberdeen also has a telescoping and tilting steering wheel. “Jerry was building Aberdeen into his dream car,” explained mike. This car was last registered in 1982, and although it was being built as a dream car, it doesn’t appear that Gerals was able to spend much time behind its wheel.

Jack the Bear

This four-door 1965 ½ Caprice is loaded with options. Like the other cars, it makes use of Chevrolet’s big-block 396 cubic-inch engine and a Turbo 400 transmission. It also has power windows, power seats, automatically-retracting seatbelts, a factory in-dash tachometer, and the wood grain sport steering wheel. Jack still has a completely original paint job, minus the original black vinyl top.

Old Blue

Of course we saved the most important car for last. The first ’66 Impala convertible made in the model year. This amazing car only has 51,000 original miles, and is in strikingly good shape – other than the one fender that has been replaced and left unpainted. Afflicted with only minor rust as compared to what usually plagues a convertible, this is one amazing car.

Mike allowed us to fire it up, and as soon as we heard the starter kick in, the engine was running. “My dream is to someday take this car through the country, on Route 66”, Mike said. “It could do it now with no problems if I wanted to.”

“I feel like got to know Gerald through the notes and documentation that he left as he was working on these cars,” Mike said. “He is someone I would have liked to have met.” In a way, Mike has grown to be almost friends with Gerald through what he left behind. It’s amazing what it can mean when two people share the same passion, even if they have never met. That being said, if you share a passion for all things Chevrolet, some of the cars and parts are actually for sale. If you are interested, you can contact them at (360) 434-4594.