By Israel Acosta
This month on Cars Corner we’ll be taking notice of Isabella Bradley, a freshman, and her 1967 Chevy Impala. Isabella found her passion for classic cars internally as she was looking for her first car, so she devoted all her energy to ensuring her first car was an old one. She said her passion rubbed off on her dad enough that he bought a 1980 Corvette to jump-start their new hobby.
In the latter half of 2020, after a few months of looking at various options for herself, Isabella found her ‘67 Impala in a classic “my wife wants in gone” situation. She ended up landing a good deal for an Impala that some would call a desirable year, so she was off to a great start. After towing it home, she drove it into their garage back home to begin restoring it, and that is the only time she has driven it. Although it was brief, the drive into the garage fulfilled every expectation she had for the vibe the car would bring.
Isabella has learned most of what she knows through tinkering with her Impala over the past couple of years, and sometimes having to learn the “hard way”, a thing most of us mechanics do early on in our careers. Her goal with the Impala is to retain the vision that the previous owner had for it; turning the Impala into a mean street racer. She mentioned that she also takes inspiration from lowriders, so she wants to keep a sleek-cruiser appearance with the inclusion of air-ride suspension.
Now that she’s here at McPherson College, she has been able to work on the Impala with the help of her peers to get it running again, revitalizing her enthusiasm for restoration all over again. Soon enough, she will be driving around McPherson looking for a spot to race.
