TRIPPIN' ON DIESEL

JAKE BAILEY'S DURAMAX-SWAPPED IMPALA

-  JOHN MATA JR.

Jake Bailey reached a crossroad one day. He had a 1967 Chevy Impala, a cool car with endless possibilities, but he wanted to do something dramatically different with it.

Normally, you'd see builders turn a '67 Impala into a rip-roaring muscle car, a clean lowrider, or even just a simple restomod. Jake weighed all those options out but ultimately decided to go another route instead.

While the exterior of Jake's Impala looks like an unassuming project car, it's what's lurking under the hood that really makes this Chevy different than the rest.

"I wanted to build the ultimate road trip vehicle," Jake says. "A 1960s American land yacht with a modern diesel engine just sounded like a fun combo to run with."

With a solid plan of action, Jake was ready to start the process of diesel swapping his classic '67 Chevy. Robert Rowley was recruited to assist with the swap, and what he was given to work with was a bit of a rogue diesel mill.