At the time, Gurney was in the thick of his Formula 1 career. He believed that the Impala SS, with just a few choice modifications, could successfully take on the Jaguar sedans competing in British saloon races of the time—saloon being the British word for sedan and not some pub crawl.
This was the first year Chevrolet offered the 409 in the Imp—rated at 360 hp and 409 lb-ft of torque using a single four-barrel carburetor— and for the most part it was left alone. Local high-performance guru Bill Thomas and Bill Fowler just tore the engine down, inspected it, returned all clearances to stock spec, and then reinstalled it in front of the car’s aluminum four-speed gearbox. “Even the jets in the stock four-barrel carburetor were left untouched,” wrote…
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Super Cars (Digital) - 1 Issue, Juillet 2017