The Rest Of Ken Szekretar's Cars (from the '60s)

Although one of Ken Szekretar's cars has been previously

featured on this blog (his '51 Ford, on the Dec. 5, 2010 post),

he had several other notable drives back in the day.

Of particular interest was this 1958 Chevy Impala 2-door hardtop.

The car was nosed and decked, painted a metallic silver-blue,

wore '57 Plymouth wheel covers, and sat on a "rake."

 

The engine was production 348 cuber with

three carbs, a mild cam and solid lifters.

A year or so later, Ken bought a 1960 Corvette;

it was basically pretty stock when he got it.

 

 Ken added a Fuelie cam and solid lifters, four-barrel carb, and

Fuelie heads to the engine. Power went through a 4-speed tranny

Ken next worked on the body, shaving unnecessary chrome,

removing the front bumpers, and reworking the grille opening

into a rolled pan effect. New paint was a dark metallic blue.

Frosted white plexigrass lenses were used in the opening

under the headlights for the parking lights and turn signals.

 

The Rest Of Ken's Cool Cars ('58 Impala)

One of the guys in a local gas station loved my red '55 Chevy convertible and offered to trade me his '58 Impala so I took him up on his offer. I started by dechroming the hood and deck and repainting the car (white again) with the center of the side moulding deep red. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

I made up red plexiglas tail light lenses in the rear and added shims under the rear coil springs to put the car on a slight rake. It had a 348 cubic-inch engine with a four-barrel carb and dual exhausts when I got it, and automatic transmission.

I removed the lower center section of the front bumper and replaced the grille with a single chrome bar to continue that "slim" look in front. The parking/directional lenses were replaced with frosted white plexiglas.

I believe I only had this car from mid 1964 to early 1965 but I can't remember who I sold it to. It was replaced with a green '55 Chevy two-door sedan (see future blog entry). Hey! Check out the 1964 NY "World's Fair" license plate in the photo below.

I don't exactly remember all that I did to the engine; I do remember driving into Brooklyn to pick up an engine block from someone, that I installed in this car, and I believe that was a 409 block. I remember the heads had been reworked; I think it had oversized valves and larger ports.