Check out this 1968 Chevrolet Impala, which is truly a high-tech vintage.
In the competitive tuning world where enthusiasts and manufacturers alike churn out impressive installs, automotive professionals can't drive just any car. Their rides have to outdo other cars on the show circuit while displaying product. When choosing his new vehicle, Cristiano Federico, owner of ATW Imports in Brazil, took this into consideration. His final choice turned out to not actually be new, but after complete restoration, customization and ICEing, no one can deny that his 1968 Impala looks fantastic.
Not surprisingly, the V8 rocked the International Automobile show at So Paulo, Brazil, where it was first unveiled to the public. "This car provokes a big muvuca [Brazilian slang for a messy jumble of people] wherever it goes," installer Carlos Martins, the Sorriso (Smile), reveals. Martins not only installed the A/V system, but also influenced the entire interior because it was transformed to accommodate the A/V equipment. Everything took place at the ATW shop.
The RestorationBefore letting Martins get to work, Federico needed to get the Impala in good working order. For the restoration, he sent it to Premium Garage. "We did all disassembling and re-assembling work," says Nello Bini Jnior, the Nelinho, owner of the shop where the car received repairs and replacement chassis parts before the light transformation of the 8-cylinder 350-cubic-inch engine. "We made an engine upgrade that increased the power from 190hp to approximately 250hp," he affirms. "This exhaust system helps increase the power and has a very interesting sound," says Jnior. Premium Garage also prepped the installation of the retro-look Auto Meter instrument gauges. Suspensound installed the air suspension. "We used air cushions and an Air Lift compressor with 1/2" hoses," explains Carlos Valadares, the Pipo, owner of the company.
The body received a special paint job by Artmix. "Cristiano was at the SEMA show in the United States last year and decided that the car would have to have the same colors as one of the cars he saw there," comments Martins. "It took us several months just to find the right paint shade." You can imagine how much work the process required. "Cristiano wanted transparent orange, but that would not have been as cool, so we developed a paint job with more than 20 layers," explains Bruno Theil from Artmix. "We applied the metallic base of silver, layers of orange and the super-thick glitter, which, because of the thickness, requires a layer of isolating varnish, then more orange and a varnish to finish." In all, the Impala received more than 20 coats.
Multimedia StationAfter all this work, finally an impatient Martins could do his part-and, boy, did he do it well. With the help of ATW employee Eduardo and friend Frank, Martins revolutionized the interior of the Impala with a 5.1-channel multimedia system. All the equipment hails from Alpine, a line represented by ATW. "The wiring, the battery terminals and the mega-capacitors are from Tsunami, also represented by the company," Martins comments. The range of products carried by the importer also includes the wheels and steering wheel, both from Colorado Custom.
The dashboard holds the Alpine DVD player, CD/MP3 player, the processor display and 5.1 decoder. Martins built fully-enclosed kick panels to hold a pair of midbass drivers in an effort to optimize the response of the speakers. A pair of 5 1/4" 2-way components accented by black-painted fiberglass inlays resides to the sides on the front fascia of the dash. Just above the instrument cluster on the top of the dash is a 4" 2-way component set used for decoded center channel information. To finish out the surround sound, an SPX-137R 5 1/4" component set was installed in the rear posts. "I did the project to play flat. The idea is to touch the equalizer the least possible," explains Martins. "Because of that, we calculate the volume of each compartment, resulting the kick panels with 12 liters (0.42ft3), the sealed central channel with 8 liters (0.28ft3) and the surround and panel with 3.5 liters (0.12ft3) each."
Since the order of the day was visual extravaganza, 15" subwoofers were inverted into the rear deck instead of being hidden inside the gigantic trunk. The two magnets tilt inward behind the rear passenger seats. Their two separate boxes contain 67 liters (2.36ft3) of air space each and feature 4" ports. In the trunk, only the crossovers, 2-farad capacitors and aftermarket batteries consume the cargo space. They are covered with an acrylic window emblazoned with the ATW Motorsports logo. Blue illumination passes through to glow into the trunk.
With DVD, MP3 and CD capabilities, the system really plays with clarity in the highs, consistency in the lows and good sound definition overall. This is for the music lovers. For video lovers, seven screens throughout the interior keep them diverted. Besides the one in the dash, there are two in the headliner, another one between the seats and three more installed in a motorized platform behind the center channels. "Since this is supposed to be a show car, we used our creativity," jokes Martins. For exhibition at shows and special events, an eighth screen is mounted on the rear bumper.
Almost the entire interior, including the headliner, dash and doors, received a wrap of beige leather. In the dash, a black-painted fiberglass mask finishes the gauges. The Chevy Blazer seats preserve the spotless style of the Impala-a combination of technology and vintage visuals in harmony with the exterior. Given the exceptional install, Cristiano seems hesitant to push his new toy to the limits. Although it had been finished for over a month at the time of this writing, the odometer had still not registered its first mile driven.
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