60 years ago at Lions drag strip, you could find 100 of those cars with 348 335 hp and 4 speed running every time the strip was open. They ran them 4 abreast. All left at the same time, all got to the finish at the same time (except for the ones that blew the transmission).
I LOVE your car. I started working at the local small town Chevrolet dealership in mid 1959 at the age of 15yrs old . I still remember new 1959 models coming in on the transports. Much later during my second attempt at college, my daily driver was a 1959 Bel Air two door with your color combination......my favorite ever. Have fun.
Yours is a super clean wagon! A pair of my favorite '59 El Camino factory pics. Most of us have seen these, but I love 'em.
Cool and unique car. Loads of style, even the dash was great. Learned to drive in a '59 Brookwood wagon. Can recall rear end getting a little loose over 75 M.P.H. Effect of the fins?
I graduated in 60 and there were 59 and 60 Impalas everywhere with 4 spds solids and tripower. Go to Madera drags and there would be at least a dozen running.
Oh my! Great to see your car completed and also congrats to the photographer, really looks like a vintage marketing photo. Let's see more!
I’m sorry but I’ve only been around since ‘72 but 1959 and 60 years just sounds wrong. A 40 Ford or something, yeah they can be 60.... but 1959.
Fantastic job on a beautiful car! I may be a little biased though. Here is one I did a few years ago.
That first photo could be one of my family's pictures. 59 wagon was our first car, just old trucks till then. I was 9 years old, my father let me drive it home from town one day. When I got to the turn to our farm, let off the gas..........but the thing didn't slow down! I was gonna turn anyway, father had to grab the wheel and keep her straight till I got stopped. Then we backed up and tried again.
Hello, Nice build from the beginning. I like what you have done to that 59 wagon. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1959-kingswood-build.1092639/ My wife’s family had one back in 59-60 for their family cruising/camping vehicle. Your car looks more luxurious with the full caps and a little spartan with the small dog dish caps. But, one has to decide which set, is what you want. It is a process and I went through the same thing many years ago. You did a great job of keeping the stock look of that 59 Chevy wagon. It looks like it rolled off of the factory assembly line. Now, for the road trips…go for it and have fun. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vintage-shots-from-days-gone-by.428585/page-4743#post-12214825 https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vintage-shots-from-days-gone-by.428585/page-4909#post-12315803 As far as the reply to @choffman41 Great recollection of the scene in 1959 at Lions Dragstrip. Those 335 hp, 348 4- speed, Impalas were just all over the place. It was difficult to get any wins in our 58 Impala with only 280 hp in our 348. We could see the difficulty as more of these 1959 Impalas continued to show up. We did get a few wins against those that were asleep at the line or missed a shift with the “new” 4 speed on the floor. But, it was rare. Jnaki Here is one of the most consistent winners at Lions in 1959, the black 59 Chevy Impala. He is going against one of the 315 hp 58 Biscaynes in a LeMans Style intermission race. He lost… because that 58 Biscayne was one of the only 315 HP, rare, factory optioned, 348s from 1958 and that guy was lightning fast. Despite 20 more horsepower, there was no way to catch the Biscayne. Lions 1959 This is what we had to do to win against those 335 hp 4 speed Impalas. (Catch them sleeping or a mistake happening.) That was not a good scenario. We were overpowered every time… It was time to build something for the Gas Coupe and Sedan Class. (or add a cam, lifters, C&O Stick Hydro and 4:56 Positraction gears. That evened up some handicapped power…but now we were in the Gas Coupe/Sedan Class.) 1959 One of the rare days we actually won the class, despite the misspelling, it was my brother in his 1958 Chevy Impala winning the A/Stock class. Lions staging area :31 AND :48 1959 Chevy 335 HP 4 SPEED Impala sightings...
True, but in the Northeast, we've seen many station wagons morph into trucks. Painters were easy to spot, ladders roped to the roof, paint drips on the tailgate.
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