Having the right stance is everything with a cruiser.

If we jump into our way back machine to the year 1962, we would surely be impressed by Chevrolet’s second year bubbletop. If luck was on our side, we would also bump into a high-school senior named Len Evans who was a real fan of the car. “The Impala really attracted my attention, because of the roof lines creating the bubbletop.” But, like many car guys at that age, the dream was just that, a dream.

But like many dreams, if we jump ahead several years – in Len’s case, 35 to be exact, sometimes those dreams will come back to haunt you. It was in 1997, when he found himself attending a local car show in Cumming, Georgia. He didn’t wake up that morning and decide that this would be the day he bought a car, but as luck would have it, there was one car there that not only tug at his heart, but made him realize that he needed to finally fulfill his dream. “When I was at the show, I saw a red-on-red 1961 bubbletop entered in the show. That car brought back so many good memories that I decided to look for one to purchase.” Fortunately, Len is a patient man, because it would be another five years until his dream would actually become a reality. Len told us, “About five years later, I was informed about a gentleman in north Georgia who had a ’61 Impala for sale.” Len had waited long enough, so made the trek north, and told us that when he first saw the car, it was love at first sight. He purchased the car immediately, and took it home. Len says that the car was in fair condition, but it was in need of lot of TLC.

Check out the smoothed, one-piece bumper.

The car was already the painted the way you see it, but Len thought he should change it. He told us, “I thought I would paint the car red, but my significant other loved the Teal Green metallic color, and even said it was a chick magnet.” Len heeded the advice, and even admits that he learned that she was correct.

But, an unfortunate side effect of buying a car already painted, is when people ask what color it is, it is nearly impossible to give them a definite answer. That problem reared its ugly head when the paint experienced some blistering. When Len noticed the flaws, he took the car to Dave Gerber of DJ’s Auto Painting in Conyers, Georgia, who was able to match the paint, and fix the blisters.

The same small-block Chevy 350 cubic-inch engine is under the hood as when Len bought the car. It runs well enough that it is still in service. But, Len did make a couple of changes, “I added a serpentine belt system, changed the camshaft, and installed an Edelbrock intake and four-barrel carburetor.” This car is built for cruising, so a race engine is not required. Since it is a cruiser, a 700R transmission is residing between the engine and stock rearend. Len tells us that he did add disc brakes to the front of the car, and if you like the rolling stock on this capable cruiser, they’re 18 and 20-inch Junk Yard Dogs made by Boyd Coddington wheels.

When driving a cruiser, the ultimate goal is not to fry the tires and impress onlookers, stance is everything. In order to get the car’s stance just where he wanted it, he enlisted Bradley Speed and Marine of Cumming, Georgia, to add an Air Ride suspension, and now he cruises low and slow.

Inside, the car uses the original dash, but does benefit from an upgrade of new hardware and gauges. He also kept bench seat so his significant other can slide over a little closer while they ride around town. The interior is however covered in leather, and patterned after the 1964 Impala interior. Finally, keeping cool is not only a priority for the engine, but Len wanted the occupants to be comfortable, so he added a Vintage Air A/C system to make this cool ride even cooler.

It might have take Len what seems a lifetime to finally realize his dream, but now that he is cruising in comfort, we’re sure he agrees that it was worth the wait.