Silver Blue '62

Wayne & Linda Grovatt, NJ

During our recent attendance at the 34th Annual International Convention in Rocky Hill , Connecticut we were greeted by Robert Snowden as we have been accustomed to over the many years we have attended Late Great Chevy Conventions. During our reminiscing of past conventions, Bob asked how many years it had been since our silver blue ‘62 was featured in the club magazine. After jogging the old memory it was believed that our ‘62 was featured in the late eighties or early nineties.

After much discussion between us, we decided it was time for the car to be photographed again for a new generation to enjoy it. Upon our arrival home after the convention it was determined by reviewing our back issues that our ‘62 was featured in the November 1988 issue of Late Great Chevy in a feature titled “SILVER BLUE 62”. Approximately twenty years ago!

It was October 3, 1961 when this 1962 Impala Super Sport was ordered from Matt Slapp Chevrolet in Northeast Philly by a seventeen year old named Denny Devlin. For those of you from the Philadelphia tri-state area you will probably remember this popular dealership and their colorful television and radio spots. It is from that memorable day for Denny our story moves to Baltimore, Maryland where our silver blue ‘62 was assembled in Chevrolet’s Baltimore assembly plant the second week of December 1961 which resulted in delivery to Matt Slapp and an excited Denny Devlin two months from the order date. These two months, as Denny will tell you, seemed like an eternity. Denny enjoyed his ’62 tremendously, proven by his ability to sit down and talk for hours about his experiences he had with the car. Denny was the proud owner of this car until August 1982 at which time it was in need of a little more work than Denny wanted to handle so he decided it was time to part with it. It was at this time he sold the ‘62 to a good friend, Mark Mercuri of Burlington, New Jersey. Mark was a fellow Eckler’s Late Great member and owner of his own Anniversary Gold ‘62 Impala Super Sport. Upon acquiring the ‘62, Mark contacted me to tell of his latest acquisition. He indicated that he was probably going to sell the car. At the time I was not in the market for a car since I was restoring a 1955 2-door hardtop. I always liked ‘62 Impalas, and once Mark informed me of the details, I decided to go take look. Upon looking at the car I ended up purchasing it.

Overall, the car was in exceptional shape with very minimal rust which was unbelievable considering the car was a daily driver for the prior twenty years in the northeast. My ‘55 was put on hold and the three year long restoration of the Impala commenced. Many hours went into the restoration of this car. NOS parts were used as much as possible. Many of the reproduction parts available today were not available in 1982, so scouring swap meets and junk yards was the order of the day. Most of the restoration work was performed by us with the exception of the interior which was done by Jay Rossell of Back In Time Auto Upholstery of Mount Holly, NJ. The bodywork and original RM silver blue lacquer was done by my brother Larry Grovatt. Larry’s services were provided in exchange for my old ‘63 Ford Galaxie convertible which my wife Lynda was driving at the time.

Our ‘62 is powered by the original 300 HP 327ci engine coupled with the optional Borg Warner T-10 four-speed. Other options include power steering, factory tachometer, vacuum trunk opener, rear defogger, accessory seat belts, tissue dispenser, rear seat speaker and hazard flasher. Work was completed on July 20, 1985 after which we have spent many enjoyable hours driving our ‘62. No trailer for this car!

As a follow up to our 1988 feature article we can say not a lot has changed with our 62. During the photo shoot for this feature Jim Knight asked what we have done to the car since he photographed it for the original article in 1988 at the Tarrytown , NY convention. The only thing I could think of was “We have just driven the car.” We have driven the car to many events including conventions in Tarrytown, NY; Reading, PA; Baltimore, MD; Princeton, NJ; Hagerstown, MD and most recently Rocky Hill Connecticut where we were very pleased to have received our Platinum award for 1962 Driven Restored Senior and Best Original Interior. Not too bad for a 23 year old restoration.