kirbyklekter
Well-known member
Interesting about Impala's first year
The 1958 Impala as we know it, was supposed to debut in 1957, as a totally different trimline. BelAir was flagship model from '53-57. It was to yield to the new nameplate Impala in 57. The Impala was so different in almost every way and the re-tooling of the plants to make this car were not in place ,far behind where they should be.
So GM had to run the 57 BelAir in place of the '58. The Impala had rounded fins in the back. It had coil springs suspension front and rear. A bigger 348 turbo jet V8. was in addition to the 283 engine. Like the '57i/2 model you could get fuel injection. Not sure if the 409 was offered as it was in '59.
I do think it was a good thing they ran the 57 Bel Air as the flagship trim, it was extremely popular, had the most understated fins of the model year.The half year model 57 had metallic paint options,fuel injection,twin antennas for the tube radio and custom seat covers from the factory.My family bought an aqua blue 2 dr. hardtop with a white top and the power pack 283 4bbl carb and a little higher rise on the intake 4bbl carb. Years ago I bought one the same as our family car was and fixed it up, drove for 5 years and sold it to my brothers best bud.
He had it for a week, went honky tonkin with friends. Lost control of the car in his neighborhood, flew through the fence at the neighbors and put the car down in the deep end of their pool after snapping their diving board in two and dragging the pool slide in with them. I get a visit from police at 4am asking if I owned the car, then gave me the bad news. What a waste of a beautiful car!
I do like the engines in the newer cars, so much more refined. They start up faster, run smoother and will last longer than the old school machinery,just a little pricier. A German mechanic who worked at Mercedes Benz in the 50's said they all had respect for American car manufacturers back then.They were really impressed with Olds,Buick and Cadillac,and all the inovation going forward with these cars.
The 1958 Impala as we know it, was supposed to debut in 1957, as a totally different trimline. BelAir was flagship model from '53-57. It was to yield to the new nameplate Impala in 57. The Impala was so different in almost every way and the re-tooling of the plants to make this car were not in place ,far behind where they should be.
So GM had to run the 57 BelAir in place of the '58. The Impala had rounded fins in the back. It had coil springs suspension front and rear. A bigger 348 turbo jet V8. was in addition to the 283 engine. Like the '57i/2 model you could get fuel injection. Not sure if the 409 was offered as it was in '59.
I do think it was a good thing they ran the 57 Bel Air as the flagship trim, it was extremely popular, had the most understated fins of the model year.The half year model 57 had metallic paint options,fuel injection,twin antennas for the tube radio and custom seat covers from the factory.My family bought an aqua blue 2 dr. hardtop with a white top and the power pack 283 4bbl carb and a little higher rise on the intake 4bbl carb. Years ago I bought one the same as our family car was and fixed it up, drove for 5 years and sold it to my brothers best bud.
He had it for a week, went honky tonkin with friends. Lost control of the car in his neighborhood, flew through the fence at the neighbors and put the car down in the deep end of their pool after snapping their diving board in two and dragging the pool slide in with them. I get a visit from police at 4am asking if I owned the car, then gave me the bad news. What a waste of a beautiful car!
I do like the engines in the newer cars, so much more refined. They start up faster, run smoother and will last longer than the old school machinery,just a little pricier. A German mechanic who worked at Mercedes Benz in the 50's said they all had respect for American car manufacturers back then.They were really impressed with Olds,Buick and Cadillac,and all the inovation going forward with these cars.
