Chevy High Performance – November 2019

NOVEMBER 2019 II CHEVY HIGH PERFORMANCE 31

SLIDIN’ THING

Ben’s take on the B-body

quattroporte goes like this: “The

build process went pretty quick, so

there weren’t a lot of shenanigans

to speak of. The main things that I

really want to show with [the Impala]

is that it doesn’t take a lot of money

to build a really nice car, just time

and attention to detail and that we

all need to start getting our kids and

younger people involved in building

things like this so that they can feel

what it is to take something that may

look like junk in the beginning and

make something worth showing off

in the end.” He did the work on his

Impala at Ben Bland Customs.

In the beginning the plan was

different. Ben bought the big Imp

with the idea that he would part

it out, but quickly surmised it was

much too nice to do that. It had lain

unmolested in a barn for nearly 30

years. It was in pieces. “All the trim and

small components were in the trunk.

We started tearing the car down to

the frame on March 15 and had the

car done for the Midwest Dragfest in

Sedalia, Missouri, on June 1, stealing

weekends and after-work hours.”

According to Ben, “about

85-percent of it was built off Amazon

convenience, just to see if we could,

and every piece of the car has been

rebuilt or replaced. Working with great

friends and close relatives [Hudson

Bland, Kail Bledsoe, Gary Smith,

Thomas Hartline, and Leroy Ross,

among them].” He said the best part

was “getting my three boys involved in

creating a beautiful car and hopefully

build the passion that I have!”