Bike rack for a 1964 Impala?

[Turtlesixfour]

Anyone know of a bike rack I can attach to the trunk of my '64 Impala? Looked at the Allen one at Walmart and it has a curved bar that may fit over the trunk spear. Anybody else out there drive an old car and run into similar problems? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Henry morgan]

I might be missing something.. cause I had a 63 impala.. but the truck alone on one of there cars will 8 or 12 peeps
ha ha... you can stick 4 bikes in there.. if you just break them down a bit.. i would not put a bike rack on this kind of car..

but I am strange.. I just mailed off my bike to cali .. and my rental car will only hold 3 suit cases it said.. so I will toss bike in
in parts.. and put it together with I hit the beach with it..

 

[Turtlesixfour]

I was thinking about using the trunk but I have to carry a lot of stuff in it when I go to car shows out of town. Tent, chairs, cooler, jack stands, jack, tools etc. It's a 26" bike also. Maybe if I take off the front wheel and fold down the apes it may fit.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

will the Saris Bones work? I just bought one, and it's an amazing design. Originally designed to fit over trunks with large spoilers.

 

[Henry morgan]

I put a rack on my mini copper with out thinking about it... and was I really sorry with the rack messed up the car
and it was made for the car... anyways .. I would try fitting the bike inside trunk 1st.. are you using a floor jack or
bottle jack... see if there is anyway .. to cut back the size or what your taking .. end of the day do what ever works for you
but I would not put another rack on a car or truck unless its a hitch type..

 

[Meeba]

how bout a roof rack? i think they might make them removable too? trunk mount might mess up your four. if not get a hitch setup?

 

[wheelbender6]

I like Meeba's idea. Since your impala has rain gutters, a roof rack will not be very expensive. On my corvette (years ago), I added a trailer hitch and used a hitch mounted bike rack. The hitch mounted rack would protect all that great chrome trim on your Chevy.

 

[jackdaw]

+1 on the hitch rack idea.

 

[Henry morgan]

if your showing the car... and the hitch takes away from it...build a bike a rat bomb .. or nice bike...
make the rack and bike match the car...

 

[deorman]

Buy or rent for occasion a cheap little box trailer for your other stuff and put nothing but spare fluids and rubber for the car and a couple of bikes in the trunk.

 

[dogdart]

I used an old WalMart rack on my '62 with no problem

 

[chepe13]

Trade it in for a 64 Impala wagon

 

[Turtlesixfour]

A hitch isn't going to happen. And even though I like wagons I don't want to start from scratch. May just put it in the trunk and load the back seat to the max. A roof rack isn't an option neither because I'm painting the roof and rims to match. Thanks for all of the input.

 

[ozzmonaut]

I had a 74 Chrysler New Yorker. I got an old generic bike rack from goodwill, then went to the army surplus and replaced the webbed straps with much longer ones so that the rubber coated hooks could latch to the frontmost part of the trunk. The lower straps went on the bottom portion of the trunk. I never had an issue and it never messed up the paint which was original and very nice.

 

[Turtlesixfour]

I had a 74 Chrysler New Yorker. I got an old generic bike rack from goodwill, then went to the army surplus and replaced the webbed straps with much longer ones so that the rubber coated hooks could latch to the frontmost part of the trunk. The lower straps went on the bottom portion of the trunk. I never had an issue and it never messed up the paint which was original and very nice.

That's a good idea! Figured the straps might be too short for a big car. Now to figure out something for the bottom strap or straps. The center of the bumper has a license plate panel that is much thinner than the bumper.

 

[wheelbender6]

Sounds like Turtle needs a folding ratrod bike the he can toss in the trunk.

 

[Henry morgan]

if you break down the bike... put he frame on the package tray in the trunk.. and the wheels where ever you can ...
pull the goose and bars.. cost you extra 5 min to break down .and set up again .. but would be worth the time at least for me..

 

[Turtlesixfour]

if you break down the bike... put he frame on the package tray in the trunk.. and the wheels where ever you can ...
pull the goose and bars.. cost you extra 5 min to break down .and set up again .. but would be worth the time at least for me..

I believe that this is the way to go! Gonna give it a try. @wheelbender that would be too easy! Haha!

 

[Rustinkerer]

Yeah, anything's gonna be tough on a 64 trunk, 62s and 63s have a fairly flat decklid. 64s have that big ridge down the middle, folks. Personally, I think one of those wiry chrome looking roof racks, like you see on VW's would be kinda cool.... -Adam

 

[deorman]

Just be careful of just tossing a bike in the trunk whole. The way I recall 64' Impala bodywork, the trunk lid could probably fold a non-folding bicycle. :mrgreen: