Barris is to be congratulated for his restraint, shows he had some good taste. Back in 64 I had a 58 Bel Air tudor hardtop, 348/4 speed. Wish I'd have kept it, can't replace it today.
Bitchin car, reminds me of The chopped 58 convertible built back in the early 90’s by Ron Dunham from Wichita. I can’t find a single picture though... a couple of my favorite 58’s and I know most won’t agree but the first one is the Underdawg built in 65 by Dale Shellenbarger. Next the wonderful Kandy Kart by Dave Stuckey
My cousin had a white 58 droptop, lakes pipes, nosed/decked/tube grille, three speed with a 348, it was low enough that the lakers would throw sparks. That was about 1960, he'd customized a 53 Ford hardtop and swapped in a 283 before that. I ran into him a few years ago and he didn't have any interest in talking about old cars...or much else Fond memories of the one ride I was able to take in that car
I remember @choprods built a pretty dope 58 El Camino back in the day on the HAMB... Rough and never finished, but you could see the shape developing.
From Kustomrama: "A photo of Joe's Impala taken at the World's Fair Auto Show in West-Springfield in October of 1959. Massachusetts is far away from sunny California, so back East, Joe decided to have a top made for the Impala. He took it to a black upholstery guy in Boston. He gave him drawings and told the upholsterer that he wanted the top to look like a 1958 or 1959 Lincoln convertible top with the rear window. Joe wanted a rear window that went up and down as well, but that never happened. Photo courtesy from The Ray Soff Photo Collection."
I remember that 58 Barris Convertible cruising Richard`s Drive In Reastaurant on Memorial Drive in Cambridge Ma,
Photo by Raymond Soff: Caption by Sondre @SuperFleye Kvipt: A photo of Joe Previte's 1958 Chevrolet Impala Convertible custom taken at the World's Fair Auto Show in West-Springfield in October of 1959. He bought the Impala brand new, and according to Ray, "Joe wanted to have one of the first chopped 1958 Chevrolet convertibles around." Joe and two buddies took the car to Juarez, Mexico to have the windshield chopped. After that they continued to California, where he had Barris Kustoms restyle it further. Massachusetts is far away from sunny California, so back East, Joe decided to have a top made for the Impala. He took it to a black upholstery guy in Boston. He gave him drawings and told the upholsterer that he wanted the top to look like a 1958 or 1959 Lincoln convertible top with the rear window. Joe wanted a rear window that went up and down as well, but that never happened. UPDATE: D'oh! . . . My apologies to @Sancho as he beat me to it in post #16 . . . I really need to READ other posts before posting a reply.
One of my faves. I don't know what happened to it, but it was for sale at the Hangin' Dice in Ft Smith in 94/95 right about the time I needed car after my '64 got rear ended. Price was like 7500 or 8200 or something close. Great deal even then, but out way out of my reach fresh out of school and a mountain of debt.
Hello, From a former 58 Impala owner, racer and custom cruising teenager, that Candy Apple version is a nice looking Impala convertible. But, when they took it back home to the East for a custom top, it went to the cuckoo route and ruined everything. It looked like a fat, extra large, down pillow got stepped on and glued to the car. That top on the stock Lincoln convertible top looked awful in design from the factory and it looks worse on the Impala convertible. But, at least, they tried to make it like a lowered Carson Top. The envious item was the tubing grille. Years later, the pop out versions from places like Pep Boys and other accessory shops made it easier to install, but this one mentions being hand made, which the first ones were designed and installed back then. Jnaki As customs go, this one had it well designed until the addition of the top. It was over the top…ha! pun intended. The color was one of those that every custom car person wanted in his/her hot rod/custom car. Tahitian Red or a lighter Candy Apple Red was the color of choice during the 50s into the 60s. We also put on three red taillights with coordinating running lights and brake lights all coming on at once. When the guy in the next lane saw the 6 red taillights, that meant he was behind and will lose the race. Ours were three red stock lenses on each side. The Impala was the right choice for customizing… some did it right and others, well we all have our own ways to look at the world. At the time, money was a factor that ruled most teenagers in their ways of involvement. Note: As the talk of custom Impalas goes, we cannot pass up one of the best from So Cal. Mox Miller’s well documented custom Impala. We saw it at the local shows, but, up close and personal, in his garage was pretty impressive. This, for us, was a custom Impala with details that most would have wanted on their own custom cars of the time. We would have loved to have some of his ideas incorporated into our own black Impala.
The Jalopy Journal
