Triple Carburetor 348? 1959 Chevrolet Impala
I went looking for Barn Finds coverage of four-door ’59 Impalas and found only one and that was back in 2014 – and that car was submerged in a pond. The two-door hardtops are all over the place and station wagons are well represented but not the four-door body styles like this hardtop. Well, let’s not blow this one off because it has two more doors than generally preferred – maybe there’s something special here. This Impala is located in Poolesville, Maryland and is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $8,750 firm. Thanks to Larry D for this tip!
Known as a “flat-top” thanks to the shape and size of the plateau-sized roof, this Chevy is still wearing its “love them or hate them” distinctive bat wing tail fins. The body is a bit banged up, it has some rusty rockers, missing trim, plenty of surface rust abounding, and some cracked glass. The seller mentions, “I have 2 nice front doors in my RENO Cadillac yard, I can help you with these let’s talk“. Well, that’s nice except that they’re sedan doors, not hardtop doors and simply sawing off the window frames isn’t going to cut it. All’s not lost however as the buyer will get at least one Oldsmobile rally wheel.
Proclaimed is, “Has 348 it’s stuck“. Do you want to keep going? OK, it looks like a standard 250 HP variety that hasn’t turned a lick, when it was unstuck, in a very long time. It’s not specifically stated, but there appears to be an automatic transmission in place, more than likely a Powerglide, but it could be a Turboglide too.
But… the seller has a triple carb set-up, with both the intake manifold and the air cleaner assembly, and it is included in the sale. The carburetors don’t appear to be very complete so whether they’re salvageable or not will have to be determined.
The first thing one will notice upon entering this four-door hardtop is the mostly missing floor. The front seat and the upholstery panels look shot but the instrument panel, including the original radio, still show pretty well. No padded dash here so a split or cracked pad is not a problem but being a steel top, it is starting to lightly rust.
So, prospects? Doubtful at the stated firm price point. The four-door body style, like it or not, just won’t bring the $$$ that a two-door hardtop will muster, that triple carb set up doesn’t look like any great shakes, and the extra doors won’t fit. My assessment? GLWTS, what’s yours?
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Comments
I know someone will say I’m wrong, but I don’t think this car is worth restoring. The amount of metal work required on this jalopy is staggering. And that would be just the beginning. 150K later, you’d have a nice 4-door worth $40,000.
Your right !
You can’t argue with that math. It sure is a piece of art. It’s one of those restos that could be done overtime by a person with the right skills
Rex is right–this car no matter how well you restore it will never be worth big bucks. Big deal; the seller found a tri-carb/intake set-up to install. If I looked I could probably find one too. But the body is in pretty poor shape, and with no floors left, now needs more worth than it will ever be worth. If you’re bent on a 4dr. flat-top `59, buy the very best you can afford for your money. This car is NOT it. No telling who’s rear end he pulled his “firm” price out of. He’s dreaming, not selling anything.
Its True what you say.
I had one of these as my first car in high school, bought it from my brother in 1979. Perfect condition with only 48,000 miles on it. Straight 6 cylinder. Interior was red and seats were red, silver checkered. The headliner was a silver metallic cloth. Always wondered if the headliner was original. I was known as the guy with the “Batmobile”. Loved that car. Sold it to an old man in Cullman, Alabama for $900. Stupid on my part. Been trying to find it ever since.
Seller should post this car on the town of Bedrock Craigslist. Only Fred Flintstone or Barney Rubble would appreciate those floors.
What Rex Kahrs said.
$8750 seems like a lot of scratch for a parts rig and a couple doors that won’t fit. I have seen running, driving ’59 Buick flat tops for less, and they even had floors. Is a Chevy that much more desirable?
no !
Car is almost too rusty to fix. The three duece setup is also a joke, those are not tripower carbs which are different. This is the usual trick, find an intake and throw any three old 2GC Rochester’s on it, and most people won’t find out till after they bought it the end carbs are completely different and the center one mostly different. At least it has the air cleaner that’s the best piece from the whole car. Pass…cool but not worth the effort.
I think the 3 deuce manifold is the only thing of worth there
I hear music… what’s that tune? Oh! it’s: “Beautiful Dreamer”!
I want to see more of the GMC next to it.
If dude is firm on price, on a parts car it will end up as rust spot in a gravel parking lot with him saying I was going to do something with the 59′ and no-one wanted to buy it.
Worth every bit of $87.50.
But…the air cleaner is on it!!! Been a long time since I’ve seen that on a car in this condition.
I had a ’60 4 door sedan Impala that I recently sold for $2,500. It was in far better shape than this.
The guy I sold the ’60 to made it into a decent driver quality car, painted parts of it so it looked decent again, and then flipped it for $10,000. He made a good profit too.
I like the ’59 better than the ’60, & I really like the flat top over the sedan body style, but the difference in value shouldn’t be that drastic.
I think this is a case of the guys wife says he has to sell it so he puts it up at a ridiculous price that she doesn’t know. Then he gets to tell her, “I tried to sell it but no one wanted to buy it.” So he gets to keep it and still do nothing with it since he has wrong and incomplete parts.