Mike Saskowski hasn’t driven his 1963 Chevrolet Impala to any demolition derbies yet. Someday, though, such a trip might be a nice “come full circle” moment for the Impala fan from Milwaukee, Wis.
Saskowski’s lovely red hardtop apparently attended a demolition derby at least once in its previous life, and it almost turned out to be the end of the line for the Impala. A couple of young fellows from the state of Washington had slapped a lucky number “13” on its doors and were reading the Impala its last rites when fate intervened. A spectator somehow figured out — or was told — that the car was a matching-numbers 409, and before the clueless youngsters could smash the Impala to pieces, the man made a quick offer and ponied up enough money to buy it from them.
The man ultimately planned to bring the car back to its former glory and restore it himself. Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to see the car’s complete comeback, but he’d no doubt be glad at the way it looks today sitting in Saskowski’s driveway.
“It was two teenagers, apparently, who just didn’t know what they had, and they had no idea when a 409 engine is in this car what it would be worth,” chuckles Saskowski, who has photos of the car when it was painted up for the demolition derby. “That was like 30 years ago … The man who got it from the kids started working on restoring it. He had it all disassembled. It took 22 years. He had the frame and drive train all done, but he didn’t get to the body before he died.”
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