Learn more about the development of the 1958 Chevrolet Impala and what differentiated it from other vehicles (including the Bel Air) in the Chevrolet Lineup.
My grandfather bought a new top of the line Chevy or Olds 4 door every year. He tried to buy a 58 4 door Impala. No such thing. He had to buy this car as a 2 door. Coolest car he ever owned.
1958 Impala's , were a one year body that you either loved or hated. They are a challenge to restore with so many trim parts, interior pieces ect that are difficult to source. As a matter of record there were 17,000 convertibles produced in 1958, not fifty five. I took my first ride in a 1963 Impala in 1964 and thirty five years later I finally found my own . I have a huge love of all Late Greats, (1958-1964). My '63 Impala SS is a Azura Aqua, 327 4spd, A/C, AM-FM Radio car. It is a dream to drive and takes me back to my first ride back in the day.
That's more than a little discrepancy between convertible numbers. Don't know on these myself as well as I do on other cars out there but for an informational video thats way far off
According to several websites I’ve checked, there were 55,000+ ‘58 Impala convertibles produced, so my guess is Adam just forgot to say “thousand”. One website claims that the only full-size convertibles Chevy produced that year were all Impalas. There is definitely some conflicting info out there, though. I saw a sales ad for a classic ‘58 Impala convertible that said 17,000 were made, which might be the source for your comment. Cheers!
@@skinnerhound2660 this all makes more sense. Can now see where his brain fart came from. Hey it happens. Usually pretty accurate and informative. Always something to learn everyday
I have a 58 Bel Air, Adam you’ll love this serial number 100004! It’s getting restored these days. Always thought the Bel Air was a cleaner design than the impala.
I have the 1968 Impala my mom ordered new. It has 62k on it and still looks new! Us kids weren't allowed to wear our shoes in her car; she put them in the trunk!
Never been a fan of the '57, but love the '58. One of my grandfathers had a dark blue 1958 Delray 4-door. Plain as could be, but a handsome car nonetheless.
I am 81 years young, and have a history with 1958 Chevrolets! First was in high school, where I took drivers education using 3 different '58 Chevs - all six bangers! And later, I ended up teaching drivers ed in those same cars. Moving on in life, I had a gril friend with a '58 Cheverolet, and a best friend with a black '58 4-door hardtop with the 348cu inch V8. Awesome looking cars back in the day! And lets not forget the '58 Pontiac, although similar in design, was unique in other ways.
I took 3 years restoring an Impala back in the mid 1980's . Involved a lot of work but the finished effort was worth it. Enjoyed it for several years and sold it. My next project was a 1961 convertable.
I am continually impressed by your knowledge of older cars. I particularly remember the 1958 Impala. I accompanied my father when we visited the Chevy showroom at 88th street in Bay Ridge to see the new Impala (and pehaps trade in our stodgy '54 4 door 210). I loved the quad headlights and parking lights, the "sports car look" steering wheel and the triple tailights, and a V-8! It broke my heart when we didn't buy it but, well, it's a fond memory. Thanks to you for your conjuring them.
In 1958, my dad's grandfather bought a brand new Impala hardtop. The color was the shrimp pink exterior with the pink interior. It didn't have rear skirts. The grandfather didn't put many miles on it as he'd keep it running smoothly and the exterior and interior in excellent condition. The grandfather passed away sometime in the late 70s before I was born, but the Impala was still in the home's garage. Throughout the 80s and 90s, my dad would sometimes take the Impala out for a drive while visiting his grandmother, and sometimes I'd go with him. He'd also occasionally check on the engine and chassis and wash and polish the exterior. My great grandmother eventually passed away in 2002 at the age of 101, causing the Impala to be part of her estate. The nickname we'd call the Impala was "The Old Chevy". It had such a smooth ride without much noise and a very comfy, firm interior.
I thought, even as a kid in the late fifties, that the '58 Chevy was the best looking of the GM choices that year. My best friend's parents had a '58 Bel Air with the underdash a/c. Rode in it a lot. Great video!
@@edwardpate6128 To me, the worst part about the '58 Pontiac (and my parents were die-hard Pontiac people) was the overdone, overchromed dash. The '59 followed the theme but my parents' '60 Bonneville had a beautiful dashboard and that 'Cord' coffin nose...
when introduced in 1958 I was 6 and a budding car freak and I remember seeing the first one in our little town- - it blew me away. A few years later my Uncle bought one with the 348, he dragged raced with his 55! In the mid 60s he taught me to drive in a 64 ss 327 auto convertible. I purchased a 1968 impala with a 427 L72 4 speed in 1969. thanks for your vids!
My dad had a 1961 Impala four door hardtop with the 348 and the Turboglide. He yanked them both out so fast and dropped a 350 engine and turbo 350 transmission in it. WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT!
I missed the beauty of these old cars for years the 58 impala, wasn't till my dad got a 58 impala wagon the more I looked at it, the more beautiful it was restoring it ! Love the 58 now !
The 58 Impala has a special place in my heart, as a ten year old boy I have fond memories of riding in it all the time with my late uncle who I miss so much. It was painted Colonial Cream & Arctic White top, he had Glass Packs installed behind the 348, it sounded so sweet. I almost never see a 58 Chevy anywhere anymore, not even at car shows. Thanks for this video Adam.
Another '59 fan here! From the first time I noticed one as a child, when it was a ten or eleven year old car, I thought that those fins were just perfect. '60s are OK, but those '59 tail lights are much cooler than the three round lights.
The '58 Impala 2dr hardtop bears a striking resemblance from the front end to the down slope of the roof / rear window to the 1958 Cadillac Coupe De Ville . as to your remarks regarding the air ride system - I owned a 1960 Fleetwood which had the rubber bag air suspension system that was inflated by an air pump that ran in tandem with the power steering pump. This parade float handled very nicely especially when you consider that this was in 1972 on bias ply tires.
My all time favorite automobile, the Chevrolet Impala! The 59 and 63 are my two favorite years for the old schools. Fender skirts and bumper guards are a must.. and I prefer the coupes but I appreciate the four doors as well. I love them all though. 1958-1970 are the best years. GM quality went down after 70. The 94-96 Impala SS's are also my favorites as well.
I once had a '58 Bel Air in which many exciting and wonderful things happened. This has nothing to do with Impalas but I wish I could tell you the wonders a 20 year old kid could discover in an old Chev with a 283. It started with a cross continent drive...
Collectible Auto mag had a story on GM 1st puffy '59s: "refrosting the old cake", workers felt. With boss Harley Earl off in Europe, they mutinied with new designs that he then felt he had to accept - doing some tweaking for show.
I love every Chevy of the 50s, but the 58 Impala will always be my favorite. The 59 is close, as are the 55 and 56, but nothing lights up my day like getting to see a 58. Part of it is certainly their relative rarity compared to other model years.
I was 8 in 1958, my mother was working for a dealership in Idaho Falls. A salesman took us for a ride in a red coupe after the car was unveiled I believe it was late September. Riding in the back looking over his shoulder I remember the speedometer going to 110+ had never been in a new car.
When I was twelve, around 1966, my brother bought a 58 Chevy two door black with custom added wide gold stripes. It had the 348 with three two barrels. He gave me a ride home from school and opened up the extra two carbs and it howled. When we got home I said to my Dad "that car will really fly with all three carbs opened up" I hadn't learned yet that you dob't have to tell everything that you know. Lol
Has anyone read about how the 1958 chevy impala/bel air was the most expensive car ever for gm to produce? I'd love to hear your take on that. I love the engineering behind the turbo glide, I think it was way ahead of its time and greatly overlooked.
"Most expensive"? Probably. Given the context that the all new for 1958 GM A-body (all Pontiacs, all Chevrolets - except for Corvette and the trucks) became a one model year only body shell(s), yes - I'd agree that it was a very expensive and extravagant thing for GM to do. Not "most expensive" to produce, but only because of its short lifespan. The rush to remain competitive given the 1957 Chrysler products, was a groundswell from GM Styling. The accountants must have been apoplectic.
I love the styling of the 58s. I remember my dad, who worked in the body shop of a Chevrolet dealer at the time, telling me the X frame on that year was horrendous to work on and fix when these cars were in a mild accident. He said the frame would buckle easily, making them very costly to fix if they were fixable at all. He was glad that feature only lasted that one model year.
It seems to me that the 58 Chevies and Pontiacs were just scaled back versions of 57 Oldsmobies and Buicks, designed as a temporary stop gap for GM to catch up with Chrysler designs by 1959. It would be interesting to see what GM had originally had in mind for the 58 and 59 model years before Chrysler blew them out of the water in 57. Ironically, it caused GM to design the 58 Chevy because any facelifted 57 would have been dead on arrival, yet this temporary Chevy turned out to be one of the most beautiful Chevies ever built..IMO..a must have for any serious car collector along with the unique and voluptuous styling of the 1960 Buick.
Hi Adam, This was a very intelligent, well-researched, coherent lesson on marketing logic - very well done. Thanks once again for posting, and the GM Show Car photos were really wild! Jr Massachusetts
The x body was very dangerous in a crash , imagine a side crash..... Anyway I love the 58' design and 59' and 61' , 62'.My dad had a 58' Pontiac Starchief 4 door and I loved it.
I always liked the sculptural quality of the 58's. The Impala took it to the next level, with over-the-top, yet tasteful, accents. My one complaint is that the wagons only allowed room for one taillight - I felt robbed!
Early 58 Impala convertibles tended to have frame failures. First warning was when doors could not be opened, sometimes complete folding in the middle. I’ve seen one being towed behind a wrecker in Deadwood in the summer of 58.
Over the years, including when they were introduced, I was indifferent to the 1958 GM autos. In the last decade or so, I have come to really appreciate the two door versions of the GM 1958's; especially the Impala. Thanks for this video. Another trip down memory lane for me. PS My first car was a 1965 Impala, with a 327 and good old Powerglide.
I have never liked the 1958 Pontiac, Oldsmobile or Buick. I really liked the 1958 Cadillac, but I have never liked the 1959. I love the 1960 though. I do miss the big changes year to year. I understand why it’s no longer done, but it was fun while it lasted.
My first car was also a ‘65 Impala coupe in SS trim with the PowerGlide transmission. Unlike the TurboHydramatic, it wouldn’t leave black stripes from a standing start, but at 15 mph and above one could really start feeling the torque. Wish I still owned it.
That -58 Corvette Impala concept looks amazing! This production -58 Impala is also a good looking car, not so in convertible form but that black hardtop is a looker. One would think thye're desirable? Alltho can't remember a youtube video or tv-series involving those.
Every time I see an image of a '58 Chevy it brings up the memory of the '58 Belair that one of my neighbor's had as the family car back in the early '70s. It was black and white and I really must have spent some time riding my bike around their driveway scrutinizing it. I recall the bullet-like taillights and those boomerang-like sweeps around them, plus the patchy body putty above the headlights where there must've been some body cancer! Nice interiors on that era - I vaguely picture their Chevy sported red. We were quite a Chevrolet neighborhood given the father's work car in their driveway was strangely a green metallic '66 Chevy wagon - I remember as a kid thinking that and not the '58 sedan should have been the mom's car! Next door to them was a house with two '64 Impalas, one of which got replaced with a '70 wagon. We had a '65 Belair and the house next to us a '69 Impala.
Great video, thanks Adam! I remember some Chevy's of that era had a distinctive high pitch whine when idling in Park. Anyone know if that might have been the Turboglide? I've never heard of the Turboglide before, didn't know there was another automatic. I thought the first 3 speeds were Turbohydromatics. Liked '58's since the one Ron Howard drove in American Graffiti. Last scene with the Impala and they're firing up the smokey radial on the DC-7 as he walks to the plane. And no security!
An excellent overview of this car, Adam. I have to say I always thought the exteriors of these cars were just plain ugly, but the interiors were absolutely stunning, one of the best of '58.
Growing up in the 80s and 90s all of the neighbors who had a Chevy it was always a Monte Carlo SS 😅great video! I love to learn about cars from this Era.
2:28 My dad said (God rest his soul) that the X-Frame was a _KILLER!_ He said it let the car collapse in T-Bone accident all the way to the center, which was very unsafe for the passengers. I don't know if that accurate, but as a kid, we were kind of afraid of the X-frame GMs.
My dad was a mechanic at a Chevrolet dealership and he didn’t like the suspension system and the turbo glide transmission of the 58 Chevrolet. They were both trouble prone.
Absolutely gorgeous car...if only we had something like this to look forward to these days...back then they only promised to get better. Today they only promise to b cheeper but more expensive
I imagine that one or two accidents occurred when drivers put their fingers into the holes of the steering wheel. Besides that, one of the most wonderful cars of the fifties
Well done. At the end, you had me wondering what the "planned" 1959 would have looked like. I think that there was a great deal of potential for developing out that body design. I would like to think that it would have smoothly made a transition into the 1961 without the incursion of the two winged years '59 and '60.
The 283 cams where a weak spot, mine lasted to 126K miles. The X frame was bad if you got T-Boned, it also had a lot of flex (try opening a door with it up on a jack.) It was light years ahead of my first car a 53 Bel Air. I had a 64 Impala I junked at 160K. Two years later the junkyard owner was still driving it.
I've never been into 50s American cars, always preferred the 70s, but now I'm really starting to appreciate the 50s styling. It wasn't just wacky, it was very considered and stylish.
What a strikingly handsome car. A LOT of strikingly handsome things from the 1958 vintage. Did I mention what year I was born? LOL! Seriously, I like the longer, lower look better, compared to the 567 models, although they're ALL nice!
I know that the 58 body style was controversial, but I always thought it was one of the best Impala designs Chevrolet ever offered. I looks to me like rolling jewelry. Excellent video, I always learn something new from your videos, Adam.
Interesting video! Makes me think of my dad’s first car. He bought a basic 210 57 Chevy two door post sedan with the six and power glide. It was a dog but beautiful in a dark forest green. He sold it less than a year later because he was smitten by the new 58 Impala and bought a new one. Funny to look back now because the 57 is a much better looking car than the portly and baroque 58’s.
GM missed a big opportunity with the Impala more recently. The relative success of the RWD 4 door Charger tells me there would have been a decent market for a similarly designed retro “muscle” Impala. And yes we got an Aussie Caprice but it was not cosmetically what I’m talking about (and not marketed or advertised properly) As far as a front drive sedan goes, leave it to the Japanese, we can’t compete anymore.
I found a 1958 Road Test Magazine in a flea market. It covered all the new 58's. The bottom line was that unless you just had to have bigger size and luxury the 58 Chevy was far and away the best of the 58 models of all brands.
In 1969 at the age of 16, a yellow 58 caught my eye and heart. But, where would I get $400? That sum seemed ASTRONOMICAL to me! My dad went with me to look at it. It was gorgeous AND it was a 283 Powerglide. Unfortunately, cars of that era up here in New Hampshire were really prone to rust. Both from sea air and road salt. Bondo made up a large part of the bodywork and the frame was partially eaten away. The first of many disappointing automotive ventures.
