Vehicle Description
1958 Chevrolet Impala Convertible
Residing on the African Savannah and confronted with a threat, the
sleek, nimble, and fast Impala will take flight to outrun or
confuse its competitor. Aptly named, the Chevrolet version
introduced in 1958, continued to emulate its animal namesake
through years of design modifications, and power options made
available.
In all its forms, the 1958 Impala is big and confident. As one
person said, it's as though the designer of the car, MacKichan took
every element he liked, and said "if one is good, many is better."
Only offered in sport coupe and convertible body styles for 1958,
the Impala has a pair of fender-top ornaments, double headlamps
with matching double parking lamps, triple tail lamps, six holes in
the steering wheel, eight chrome spears, 10 lines on the rocker
moldings, 12 horizontal lines and 16 vertical chrome accents in
four sets of four. No person who bought one was ever in doubt that
they were getting a heck of a lot of car.
Exterior
Even if you're right in front of it, you're going to notice the
changing-arc fins first, bursting out of the car's flanks at the
reverse C-pillar. They're unmistakable and extraordinary. It's a
big, barrel-shaped car with bulges everywhere, and the fins break
that theme, bumping up out of the trunk cutlines, sweeping forward
well into the passenger compartment, and cutting back into the
quarter panels. A massive side spear runs from bow to stern and
intersects with the fin toppers in a swept forward V form. A large
rocker trim melts into a perfectly arched fender skirted rear with
a front chromed trim piece. 8 vertical trim lines and 2 horizontal
are seen embedded within the blazing and beautifully applied Rio
Red Paint. Don't forget the dual swept back antennas which drips
1950's styling and the continental rear bespoke with metal tire
cover and bump out on the immaculate rear bumper. The egg crate
grille is surrounded by large chrome bumpers and trim, and 8 count
em...8 bezeled light fixtures. All in beautiful presenting
condition. The pristine white convertible top moves with power
assist up and down effortlessly. 14-inch Chevrolet faux knockoff
wheel covers gleam like new, and are wrapped with wide whites.
Interior
There was nothing controversial about the Impala interior, it was
simply one of the best GM ever rolled into a showroom, and it
carried plenty of Motorama styling cues. The most obvious is the
three-tone striped pattern on the cloth seat inserts. These present
with black gray and red alternating cloth striped inserts, and
bright red vinyl bolsters, and are just perfect in condition and
design. Another unique detail are the formed, anodized aluminum
panels on the doors and interior quarters-that was a real nightmare
for Fisher Body because all the body panels had to be an exact
color match. You can imagine with four separate pieces of aluminum,
the anodizing could turn out in all different values-if they didn't
watch it, and they did. The dash has been made even sleeker with
white faced Dakota Digital dash gauges, a 10 CD changer including a
working rear seat speaker. Power windows are all working perfectly,
and an inverted boomerang drilled and emblazoned in the center with
Impala and Chevrolet flags, and a circular horn ring, fronts the
sleek dash. Perfect deep pile red carpet floods the floors and
floats the just perfect seats.
Drivetrain
Opening the hood, a 348ci V8 with tri power carbs (3-2 barrel
carbs) dotting the top jumps out to your eyes, and puts you into a
hypnotic trance... it's that nice. Attached to the back of the
pristine mill is a Turboglide 3-speed automatic transmission. 3.36
gears are on the rear.
Undercarriage
With a meticulous restoration as such you would expect nothing less
than a red tub as nice as the top, sitting within a black
structurally sound rust-free frame, and suspension. This suspension
includes independent coil springs in front and 4 links with coil
springs on the rear. Power disc brakes are now on front and power
drums for the rear. A total stainless-steel exhaust runs from the
orange painted block to the back of the car.
Drive-Ability
Because it's in my wheelhouse I was the chosen one (actually I
butted selflessly to the front of the line, and took her for a
spin. I discovered a smooth cruiser, nice power, good handling. I
need to mention I felt like a million bucks behind the wheel of
this well embellished automobile.
Just a stunningly beautiful build with all surfaces attended to and
preserved. An upgraded dash, disc brakes on front, and the
continental option for the rear, there is literally no more room to
put anything else on this car design wise. A real classic turn the
key and drive away into the sunset.
VIN Decode
F58S156765
F-1800 Series V8 Belair/Impala
58-1958
S-St Louis, Mo Assy Plant
156765-Sequential Unit Number
Trim Tag
STYLE 58 1867-1958 Impala Convertible
BODY S4294-St Louis Body #
TRIM 855- Black, Red, & Gray Cloth
PAINT 923A-Rio Red
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 450 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
