Why are there sum old cars missing ?

I've got to believe that the price spike in '58 Impalas (especially coupes), has got to be due in part to "American Graffiti".

 

I remember in High School (Early 70's), our buddy drove a really clean 59 Buick. With all of our tri-5 Chevy's, GTO's, and Impalas....we thought he was really weird. Seriously, we thought he was driving his Granny's car. We gave him **** constantly

 

Your probably right .Its kinda like the 57-58 Plymouth 2 door hardtops prices and "Christine" ...

 

My dad had a '57 Turnpike Cruiser 'vert Pace Car. Itr was originally pale yellow with all the lettering but it was sideswiped in '59 and he had it painted black when they fixed it. He traded it in 1961 or 62 for a used dodge pulp wood truck and a used falcon.

At the time he and my mom were living in a 2 man pup tent on the sawmill with that cruiser parked out front. lol

 

Finked has a 57 Caddy . I hear Bill Hines has 2 or 3.

 

Along that line of thought the 'gas crisis' in the mid seventies didn't help, lots of the cars the OP mentioned weren't antiques or cl***ics at the time, they were just 15 year old used cars that got 12 miles per gallon. They got traded in for Pintos and Vegas and then they got crushed.

 

part of it is simply the numbers. 1958 was a very low production year due to the recession. Fewer cars sold, fewer available today.

part of it is the styling. 1958 was the most outrageous year for chrome and trim. You all know how much it costs to restore chrome and stainless. Couple that with the one-year body style and parts availability problems. The cost of restoring the high end models of 1958 is astronomical.

Could it be that the cars of 1958 are reminders of the "bad times" experienced then? Maybe those that were part of 1958 don't wish to remember 1958.

Trivia: Rambler was the biggest selling brand in 1958. Only time ever. If you think about what Rambler was...simplistic cars that were built to appeal to the working man...and the fact that they were affordably priced, that may explain the success of Rambler in 1958.

 

That movie was 300 yrs ago! 58's were CHEAP when the movie was current

 

I have talked about the 58 Impala, And the Turn Pike Cruiser. But those were bought by our old man. To me today I would like to have a 58 OLDS Holiady coupe

 

58 Chevrolets were SUCH a disapointment ... after the 57 Chevy.
Most folks thought that the 4 headlight treatment was UGLY.

Same goes for the 58 Ford ... at the time. Ford had a really big stock of 57 Fords on the dealers lots at the end of the 57 run. They pushed dealers into stocking the 57's because FORD was close to making more Fords than Chevrolet. When the 58 models came out ... a lot of folks flocked to the Ford dealers and picked up the 57 Fords. A lot of Chevrolet folks even went and got the 57 Ford ... because they disliked the 58 with it's new, unusual styling.

I think the 57 Ford is about the prettiest Ford made after WWII.

 

Mopars have always seemed to have rust problems. Every brand has had rust problems at one time or another though. mid to late 70's fords come to mind.

 

True. When I bought my '57 BelAir convertible for $1000 (in 1978), I could have bought a '58 Impala hardtop 283 PG car that was in better shape from the same guy for $200. In fact, now that I think about it, the '58 even had a "Positraction" emblem on the dashboard; the center section would go for way more than $200 today.

 

Most cars go through a period where they are just "old cars". Nothing special, so they get used up as dailies, winter drivers, and sent to the junk yard to be recylced. The attrition is part of the reason a lot of cars become valuable. In the antique world some of the more valuable items were give aways that very few people saved, hence the rareness factor.

I won't tell you some of the "junkers" I cut up to build racecars or demo cars. Guess I was doing my part to raise the value of the survivors. lol

 

That makes me think of the complete (and nice) '57 BelAir hardtop that a guy two blocks from where I grew up destroyed in 1970 when he turned it into a stock car.

 

There was also a steelworkers strike in 1959, the longest in history, that closed almost every steel mill in the country for 116 days and affected auto production that year: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_strike_of_1959 Ford's own steel plant remained open; their workers belonged to the UAW. I've read that the strike was a factor in Ford's outselling of Chevy that year; but I don't know how accurate that is.


Bigger sizes, controversial styling, complicated and often unreliable technology, lower production numbers, used more gas, more rust prone, strike, recession; all can be cited as reasons for low survivor rates of 1958-61 models. Besides the 1957 Chevy's iconic shape, you could argue that its simple reliable mechanicals kept them on the road long after the others were s****ped; because it was fairly cheap to operate.

I personally like the 1962-67 models, especially GM's, much better than any 1958-61 model.

 

Man I think I have owned one of each

 

One Year Styling killed a lot of cars.
Through the 50's-60's one year only bodies were faced with salvage yards. did the parts interchange, If not they probably got parted out and s****ped, the remaining cars died a slow death.
With models changing every year sometimes the designers screwed up and the design trapped water and those years rusted badly, think about the 70's if an off brand car was rusted out who saved it.
Styling was also a key point, 55-57 Chevy's everyone saved, the other years or makes?? only if it was in good shape, even then it was never considered a "collector" car thru the 70's and got driven until it died then s****ped.
late 70's early 80's first gen camaros and early mustangs were $500 high school kid cars, these were popular models, relate that to a late 50's pontiac/buick/mopar etc, what chance did they have to survive? only if they were rust free and complete and driving.

 

The strange thing is everything from 1973-90 is Gone also. I know its all O/T and I don't care to own it. But it's kinda strange that they are all gone.

 

I stayed in the closet for a long time about my love for 58 Impalas.Didn't want to catch hell from my buddies,those 55-57 sheeple.
Wasn't all that many years ago that my little town had 4 or 5 early 50s Mopars still running,driven every day by old guys.Usually on their 3rd paintjob,completely stock,seemed to see them everywhere.Maybe they were all cheapskate scientist types,but their cars just kept on running.When one would come up for sale,it usually went cheap.I just couldn't do it,they reminded me of pocket protectors.
Going back a few years,my dad,who owned a service station in the late 30s,didn't believe my stories about how popular 32 Fords were..His opinion was that the 32 was one of the ****tiest cars Ford ever built.He also was still making jokes about V8-60 cars for the rest of his life.

 

i have old stock car mags that show tons of 55-57 chevys/ fords that where cut up ,also got to think of how many derby cars where built out of those big late 50s early 60s cars...even today the big cars of the mid 70s are getting used up...
my dad paid $150.for my 53 ford in 1976,it was setting in a salvage yard,complete all it needed was a tune up and brakes to get it running..it wasnt a popular car like a 55 chevy...and it very well could have been crushed ...i watched my dad and grandpa crush alot of great cars in the 70s...

 

I would think around 42-45 anything is hard to find.

 

I wonder this also. However, when I was 14 or so, my neighbor across the street had 55-57 buicks. Had 6 of em and they all ran. He was old and told me none of his kids or grandkids wanted them. He tried to talk me into taking them but they weren't cool enough for me.(dumb ***) I kick myself everytime I think about them. Same thing with my next door neighbor. He had 5 64-67 plymouths. Same story. Wish I had them all now. Hindsight is a *****. peace

 

I got my license in '67. All I wanted was a OHV V-8. Preferabaly a 2 door post car. Along came a '58 delray 283 PG 2 dr. 35,000 miles, black with one blue fender, rust bucket, almost runs. $35.00 That's right. thirty five dollars, cash. Sold.

Nobody wanted 58's at all. I converted to stick, 3 speed. Changed the 3.08's to a 3.70. rattle canned the blue fender black. Painted the steelies white. blackwalls.

Found a convertible Impala that had an engine fire and the owner GAVE me the interior and seats before the car got s****ped. It all almost fit perfectly.


58's were not cool in 67. Mine got rear ended bad and the rusty body fell apart and saved my life by pushing the seat thru the floor. Pulled the motor and trans and pumpkin and pushed it to the junk yard.

Across the street neighbor wanted to give me a bullet nose stude, grandma car, I said no.
Next door neighbor wanted to give me a 47 Chevy 2 dr, I said no, i want a V-8.
A relative had a nice 41 pylmouth 4 dr, free also, I said no, no flatheads for me.

 

I can vouch for '60 Plymouths being rust buckets, but not for them being ugly.

58-61 is my favorite period in automotive design, but I think they're few and far between because people love plain, boring ****. That's why all new cars are tan, grey, white and black.

I also think it's interesting that nearly all cars from 1973 to the early 90's have all but disappeared. I'm kinda glad they did, but it is odd how little of those cars are still around.

 

Yes, I was going to say the same thing, especially Pintos and Vegas. I know they are off-topic, but I had a lot of fun in those cars(think engine swaps) in the eighties, and they are GONE. I have seen more duece roadsters than V-8 Vegas in the last 10 years!

 

You can thank s****pers and pollution credits for the waning inventory of 70's/80's/90's cars. Most currently are not viewed as having real value and hence are "disposable".

When you see the ads for donating your vehicle for various foundations, they "sell" them to industry for pollution credits - whether they run, are rotted, etc - they get the same "value". Very much like the drive funded last year by the government.

I feel there is sort of a "false pretense" that these cars will get another lease on life and since they are going to a "good" cause, people will let them go.

 

Some states even make an ins***ution out of it. My 30 year old commuter car still has to p*** emissions every 2 years. Now you can't buy factory emission parts for a car that old, so one of these days...I'm going to have to move.

 

The AVERAGE size American car today will bring over 300 dollars " accross the scale "
I have a few friends who have ADS on Craigslist ... buying junkers ...
They pay 200/250 all day long. I have bought a few lately myself ... but I will not buy one without the papers.
MOST of the s**** guys do not care about the paperwork.

I killed a old Buick wagon ... ( 70's O/T ) for 430 dollars last week. I paid $100. Hated to kill the old wagon but ... over 300 dollar profit means I would do it again ... in a minute

 

Awesome '57

 

Lots of good explanations here .Thanks for the imput ...