For every Richard Nixon, there's a Gerald Ford. For every Pete Rose, there's a bookie that goes "cha-ching." Regardless of the arena, one man's poor judgement always seems to lead to another man's good fortune. As Jason Hill can attest, the trick is to be on the receiving end of a great opportunity. "A few years back, a customer came into the shop wanting to swap an LS1 and a six-speed into his Camaro," he recalls. "When he found out how much the labor was going to cost, he asked if I'd take his Impala as a trade. I already had a 1962 Impala at the time, but his car was so much further along that I couldn't pass it up." When luck, timing, and a whole lot of hard work come together, great things can happen.

Although Jason grew up working at his dad's diesel repair shop as a kid, he envisioned following a different path after high school. Sure, cruising and drag racing his 455-powered Trans Am was lots of fun, but Jason felt like he had a different calling in life. "Once I graduated high school, I vowed to never get my hands dirty again. I was out of there," he recalls. Ironically, he experienced boring white-collar work just long enough to realize that his true passion was working with his hands. "I went to college as an art major, and planned on using my graphic design skills to work in the advertising industry. After I got married, I had a few odd jobs here and there, and ended up working on John Deere tractors for a living."

To help plow through the monotony of turning wrenches on farm equipment, Jason started building hot rods on the side. "There was a space in the back of the shop where I could work on my own cars, so after a long day of fixing tractors, I built hot rods afterhours. People who came by started to see what I was working on, and that eventually led to starting up my own shop 21 years ago," Jason says. Over the years, Hill's Hot Rod Shop has built countless custom trucks that have received their fair share of national spotlight. Every now and then, Jason likes to mix things up a bit by busting out a muscle car, and his Impala could just be the shop's finest creation to date.

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Upon taking delivery of the car, Jason determined that a complete change of direction was in order. "The former owner was building it up as a Pro Street car, so it had a 502 big-block in it. Rowdy carbureted big-blocks can be problematic on the street, so I wanted to turn it into a car that I could drive every day and actually trust," Jason explains. To achieve that objective, he enlisted Texas Speed to build a 416ci LS3. Based on a factory block bored to 4.070 inches, it utilizes a forged 4.000-inch crank, steel rods, and 10.9:1 Wiseco pistons. Ported GM LS3 heads provide the airflow, and a 235/249-at-0.050 hydraulic roller camshaft actuates the valves. The big LS cranks out 550 hp, and it's hooked to a GM 4L65E for relaxed freeway cruising.

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Changing directions on a build is never the most efficient means of getting things done, but the good news was that the Impala's factory X-frame had already been completely revamped. The crew at Vulcan Specialties (Lubbock, TX) skillfully modified to factory rails and grafted in an Art Morrison front clip. That meant that the front end was completely modernized with new control arms, spindles, revised geometry, and a beefy sway bar.

Out back, Vulcan built custom tubs as well as a four-link system that swings a Ford 9-inch rearend. To get the Impala to sit so low to the ground, the driveshaft tunnel was raised and the rear framerails were re-arched. Likewise, Firestone airbags situated at each corner drop the stance to a bare minimum on demand. Further augmenting the low-slung profile are Raceline Challenger wheels measuring 20x8.5 up front and 22x12 in the rear. Wilwood six-piston disc brakes peek out from behind the spokes.

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With the chassis and drivetrain sorted out, Jason got crackin' on the sheetmetal. While the body was solid overall, it still needed quite a bit of work to get it up to Jason's standards. "The car wasn't a rust bucket, but it still needed tons of metalwork. We started out by removing the primer, and replacing the rockers and some of the patch panels," says Jason. "From there, we reshaped the rear wheel openings, modified the angle of the lower quarter-panel, tucked in the bumpers, and extended the front edge of the hood. To clean things up a bit, we shaved the door handles, locks, and all the trim. The paint is a custom PPG mix that we call 'Hill's Red. '"

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As the Impala's stunning outer skin started taking shape, Jason knew that its interior had to be equally as impressive. Stitched together by Fisher Trim, the Impala's cabin boasts custom buckets, Dakota Digital gauges, a Raceline steering wheel, Vintage Air A/C, and a JVC stereo with Kicker speakers. JD Glassworks built the custom door panels, center console, package tray, and trunk panels.

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Not long after the paint dried, Jason hauled the Impala to SEMA 2015, where Chevrolet Performance selected it as one of the Top Five Chevys of the show. That's not too shabby at all for a car that just fell in Jason's lap. Granted that benefitting from someone else's misfortune requires both luck and timing, but luck and timing are meaningless unless you have the skill and work ethic to bring a car of this caliber together. At the end of the day, anyone who wants to make the most of their luck better bring a whole lot of skill with them.