In early 1963, Chevrolet stylists worked up this proposal for the 1965 Impala SS, and some of its elements found their way to the production car.
A native Detroiter, Irvin “Irv” Walter Rybicki (1921-2001) joined the styling staff at General Motors in 1945, learning the ropes under Bill Mitchell, Ned Nickles, and Frank Hershey. He was appointed assistant chief stylist at Pontiac in 1953, then took the same position at Oldsmobile in 1956, where he was soon promoted to chief stylist. In 1977 he rose to the very top styling post at GM, becoming vice president of design upon Mitchell’s retirement. But through most of the 1960s, he headed the Chevrolet styling studio, when the division produced many of its most memorable cars.
In the spring of 1963, Chevrolet stylists developed this proposal for the 1965 Impala SS, which progressed to a full-size fiberglass studio model with a detailed interior. Obviously, its most striking featuure must be the distinctive three-element headlamps. While they could never meet the rigid and prescriptive U.S. lighting standards of the time, they certainly make a statement. We don’t know the full engineering story behind these lighting units, but we wish we did.
We also took note of the racy, nearly circular wheel openings front and rear as well as the air intake, probably simulated, in the rear quarter panel. Rybicki later recalled in an interview with Dave Crippen for the University of Michigan oral history project (read it here) that the elevated front bumper, which didn’t align with the frame, required considerable collaboration with Chevrolet chassis engineers to execute properly.
On the left side of the fiberglass studio model, the rear quarter panel air intake has been replaced by a vent in the front fender. Of course, neither of the intake gadgets made it to the production version, nor did the circular wheel openings or the wild triple-element headlamp units. But the overall shape, including the roofline, daylight opening, and coke-bottle effect over the rear wheel arch, are clearly evident (below) in the Impala Sport Coupe as it appeared in the showrooms for the 1965 model year.
There is something about the driver’s side profile view that reminds me of the 1971 Buick Riviera – maybe the way the Chevy front fender line comes to a fairly sharp point, and the way the belt line kicks up over the rear wheel, which is certainly more pronounced on the Riviera.
Nice article – thanks for posting.
That 1963 proposed design reminds me of a mid 70’s AMC Matador coupe.
That is not meant as a compliment !
You can also see where they got the idea for the grille wrapping around the edge of the front fenders for the ’66 Chevelle.