1960 Chevrolet Biscayne

Description

If you want a show-winning magazine cover car that's totally sorted and ready to cruise, this 1960 Chevrolet Biscayne 2-door is ready to rock. Comprehensively upgraded from a bare-bones six-cylinder car, it's now a fantastic resto-mod that's ready for your next cross-country trip.

It was restored in 2006, and starting with a clean, original car was the key to getting such spectacular results. Hailing from someplace friendly to vintage sheetmetal, it needed no major surgery to get back into shape. It was stripped bare, a few bumps and bruises were repaired, then it was covered in a few coats of brilliant Royal Blue Poly, which, remarkably, is the car's original color. It got a full frame-off restoration (you can see just how clean it really is in the chassis photos), and they did go the extra mile to get those long quarter panels straight and smooth and to ensure that all the wonderful details of the 1960 Chevrolet design were crisp and sharp. The wrap-around windshield is in excellent condition, and the sleek roof line makes it look fast just standing still. There's still plenty of bright trim, including delicate stainless outlining the tailfins and handsome chrome bumpers that tuck in tight to the bodywork. The crossed-flag emblems are a reminder that this car is packing some horsepower and those little gunsight ornaments atop the front fenders are very, very cool. There aren't many cars that can compete with this one on sheer eyeball appeal.

The interior is as understated as the bodywork is extroverted. The original seats were reupholstered in handsome blue and gray cloth and vinyl, and the entire point of the build was to keep an OEM flavor. Everything looks fairly stock, but when you look closely, there are a lot of features that make this an awesome road trip machine. An accessory tach mounted on the steering column fits the era, while auxiliary gauges in the dash are modern Auto Meter units that look like they were born there. Vintage Air A/C was added, along with a Hurst shifter and cue ball knob for the 4-speed manual transmission underneath. The dash and steering wheel were nicely restored to stock specs, there are new carpets on the floor, and an AM/FM/cassette stereo radio slots neatly into the original dash opening and even uses the original knobs. Open the massive trunk and you'll find a reproduction mat and a full-sized spare.

The original six-cylinder engine was dumped in favor of a rebuilt 283 cubic inch V8 with a whole bunch of upgrades. Lots of billet aluminum gives it a high-tech look, with machined valve covers that use vintage Chevrolet script. The engine itself is bathed in Chevy Orange paint, and there are aluminum heads, a chrome Edelbrock intake manifold, and a 4-barrel carburetor to build horsepower. With a mild cam, it makes enough horsepower to be entertaining but at the same time, it was designed to be a superior long-distance cruiser, so it's still pretty mild. A power steering setup was added, along with power front disc brakes, and the side-exit exhaust system still sounds like a burly V8 but doesn't get annoying on long highway trips. 17-inch American Racing Hopster wheels give it a slick, modern vibe and are fitted with 245/40/18 Toyo radials that fill those big wheel wells.

Nicely finished and totally sorted, this famous Biscayne is everything the magazine editors hoped it would be. Call today!