Winged Project: 1959 Chevrolet Impala Convertible
Maybe my eyes are deceiving me but this bat-winged 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible looks like it’s sagging in its middle. And if it’s not, it probably should be. And the seller reminds us, “If you’re looking at ad you know there (sic) rare and hard to find in any condition and bringing a premium“. Hmmm… OK, I’ll look a little more closely as I surely wouldn’t want to make a snap judgment. Located in Greensboro, North Carolina, this at-one-time stand-out Chevy is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $55,100 (Huh!?) with the reserve not yet met. Larry D surfaced this tip for us.
Rust, rust, and more rust is one way to describe this literal ragtop, it even has some crubbage hanging underneath that was probably part of the floor pan at one time. The seller advises, “Needs full floors and rust repair” – I’m down with that! Some of the trim is still in place, other parts have gone missing and this Impala’s maw is wearing a tubular grille that was probably a J.C. Whitney catalog item long ago. Back to that sagging matter, these ’59s were X-frame cars with no side perimeter rails, the combination of that, plus the settling that occurs with old convertibles, could contribute to declining overall integrity.
The seller tells us that this Chevy was at one time powered by a 348 CI “W-head” V8 but is now engineless, so it’s a youstabee. Often, what a car once possessed under the hood is considered a value enhancer but I don’t see it that way. Either it has its special engine, or it doesn’t. Sure, it would get points for a date-correct replacement but that’s about it. An automatic transmission was originally installed, which likely means a Powerglide, but Chevy’s short-lived Turboglide was available in ’59 too.
The interior speaks for itself. Park it outside, lose the convertible top and this is what happens. It was undoubtedly a looker in its day, but that was many moons ago. I’d say it’s a write-off in need of an entire redo. The good news is that the upholstery, door panels, carpet, etc. are mostly all available on a reproduction basis. An underside peek will tell you that floor repair is job #1 however!
So, a rare bird? Not really, there were 72K Impala convertibles built in ’59, though there’s no telling how many still exist. And, does that justify a current bid of $55,100 for one of the saddest that I’ve encountered? There are thirteen bidders angling for this ’59 ragtop (literally) and I’m having a really difficult time squaring that. It’s doubtful that I wouldn’t give this Chevy a second look, how about you?
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Comments
Bet I could guess who made that bid. That’s as much junk on wheels as I’ve seen in quite a while.
Dude are you kidding me? Just look at those WWW tires, that represents a huge investment already. Let’s say that the reserve is just 75,000.00 and it only costs another hundred grand for a 90 point restoration, you could get a trophy at a car show!!!
This car will never be worth the money that you put into it. I bought a 1957 Chevy
convertible with a Cont. Kit and original
283 Fuile a frame off restored beautiful car
for 85,000 about 5 years ago. You can get
something much better for that much money
Wonder what you could drive away from any dealer for $55,000?
Jim, I had a good laugh this morning at “crubbage”. Thanks for that.
Watched a YouTube video the other day about a vintage car auction in the US. Some gentleman had 100’s of cars on his farm and passed away, so they were being auctioned off. A 59/60 Impala convertible that needed a complete restoration, and was in just as bad if not worse shape than this example, went for $86,0000.00. Mind boggling
Look up Mr Goodpliers on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean. A lot of cars were going for huge money
More dollars than sense Jamie.
Couldn’t agree more. Just a pi$$ing match these days with people buying classic cars. No longer an entry level to get into the hobby anymore. All about money
Was that guy a farmer in Fargo South Dakota?
I’d like some of what the bidder is smokin’ … he’s bidding on rust …
At least the whitewalls are nice.
Should be $551.00, scrap price if your lucky.
He knows what he has, no low ball offers, his loss is your gain,
easy restoration, ran when parked, stored indoors, not many left, hahahaha Am I missing any ?
Never raced Lol
Great patina!
If your a real car guy you will find this very interesting.. I am a positive type of man.. I work in the Healthcare field and staying positive is a must. The car hobby is changing.. demographics are changing.. post Covid our world is changed forever.. so many great car guys are now in the big car lot in the sky..Do some research guys.. drag strips are closing down all across USA..more and more “hot rods” are hitting the market.. they are not being handed down to kids .. the hot rod market is not increasing as it once was. ..what car markets are increasing? Low Riders, and tuners..80’s cars are on the rise.. don’t take my word for it..but do some research do some digging.. during the last Super bowl you did not see a hot rod at half time.. we saw the “Mother ship”.. a 59 Convertible .. the owner is not a 80 year old man he owned Lamborghini’s Ferrari’s Porsche’s and now has the Mothership a 59 Impala..the low rider scene is crossing demographics, I was recently in London and saw a 48 Aerosedan lowered and it was driven and owned by a local London man (not hispanic)… Like it or not, it’s a scene that has a huge growing population and guess what? It’s growing faster then hot rods.. I love hot rods so don’t hate me, just a factoid that any “Car guy” should be aware of.. even the peterson museum in Los Angeles has a low rider section and believe me it’s growing..
Years ago I was at a gas station (obviously YEARS ago) when a young man pulled up to the other side of the pump in what I at first thought was my old 63 Impala. It had been “low ridered” with the hydraulics and the tiny tires.
The kid saw me looking at the car and he made it do the dance, or whatever you call the gyrations, and he ended the show by slamming the car onto the concrete with a loud bang.
He got out and gave me the arrogant “Yeah, I’m bad!” look.
I looked at him and said “Now what could that car have possibly done to you that you would want to do that to the poor car?”
His look faded a little bit, but he never said a word.
Sounds like east LA or North Hollywood …
Looked it up on Ebay so I could blow up the pics to full screen. The side view made me think about how beautiful this car was when it was new. Would be nice to have the money to buy and restore it but I don’t have the money or the time at my age. Brings back a memory though. A girl at my high school’s mother all ways got a new Chevy convertible as soon as a new model came out. She would pick up her daughter after school in it. Some of us car guys would hang out around where she would come to look at her car. I remember seeing her brand new 59 dark blue Impala convertible when I saw it for the first time. I graduated in 59 so that was the last one I saw her in. OK, I confess, she and her daughter were also why some of us waited to see her.
When I was 14 I bought a 1957 Morris Minor for $40. The guy also was selling a 1959 Impala convertible that was running and really nice that I could have had for $10 more.
I don’t as tempted, but I just never cared for the cats eyes taillights.
I still don’t like them, so, for that reason alone, I’ve always preferred the full sized 1960 Chevys.
Funny, that tail light assembly is the very reason I had one in 1969. 348, Turboglide.
Paid $200.
I have a built 1958 348 I’ll let go to the buyer for $20,000 canadian.
It’s truly a shame to have a beautiful car like that get that bad. Only difference in that and a big trash can it doesn’t have two handles and a lid.
Actually it does.
The guy who’s bidding $55K for this hunk of junk needs his head examined. When his wife gets a look at what he spent $55K on she’s liable to be having an estate sale. No female jury would convict her either.
Crubbage selling at high price per pound.
Is “crubbage” the conjunction of CRap-RUBBish and garBAGE”?
Carnut, I appreciate your position and perspective above regarding hot rods. However, I disagree with your ideas regarding the current and future of hot rods. I truly believe you are seeing the hot rod market evolve, from what was the norm to a new perspective. Low rider cars have been around for generations, and they will continue to ebb and flow in and out of the market place. Regarding drag strips shutting down, the hey days of the 60s, and 70s, are long gone and have been in decline since those eras, with higher insurance rates, pushing many out of business, along with the value of these hotrods exceeding the risk of placing them on a strip and possible accidents. Old hotrods are not being handed down to kids, do to extreme value these old muscle cars will fetch in the modern market place. It makes no sense to hand down a 50k car or higher to a 16 year old who can barley walk in this snowflake generation to trash and crash within a very short period of time. These cars have become part of the “The New Investment” portfolio especially when Wall Street is absorbing economic hits from high inflation or poor profit quarters. AS I mentioned above, the hotrod market has matured or evolved into BANK!
I had an 82 El Camino that I didn’t really go overboard on. It had a 78 X code Corvette engine in it. Not really being a Corvette kinda guy I had no idea what that meant.
Turns out that it means it was balanced and blueprinted at the factory according to the company that rebuilt it.
On the chassis dyno I had access to, we were putting 375hp at the rear wheels.
A neighbor lady asked me if I was selling it. I asked her why she would want a vehicle like that and she said that her son was turning 16 and she wanted it for his birthday.
I asked her if she loved her son?
Of course she does.
“Do you want him to be 17?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then you better not give a 16 year old this car.”
Possibly, people are realizing that anything high performance doesn’t make a good first car. No matter how good they do on their video games.
Bought both of my kids the biggest barge I could find for their first car. Buick Electra and Pontiac Grand Prix. I wanted ’em to survive the wreck that I figured was inevitable. I was right, they both wrecked ’em. My total investment…$825. (I made ’em buy their own insurance!)
“When the crash is inevitable, hit the softest, cheapest thing you can find as slowly as possible!”
Stuff like you mentioned Danny is happening all over the car world. Started in 1958 our local autocross club lasted until last year when the insurance companies wouldn’t provide coverage for small car events. Sad.
Well after 45 years in the business, I agree with carnut, the demographics are changing, and the market reflects this, there is a definite investment angle driving purchases today, and has been for last several years, many buyers can swing $50 or $80k easily for a project that bring a profit, however the above example is not one of them.
A little bit of information since this about 59 Chev. Few years ago on I believe 60 minutes had crash test on TV people saying buy your kid’s first car big old cars On the crash test they had 59 Chev 2 door in video test compared to newer cars and results showed you’re safer in new cars with safety features than old cars. . I was totally surprised by those results. You could probably get on you tube and check for yourself.
I knew about that, but my kids were driving to school in a very urban area. I know that doesn’t keep them from doing something stupid (I sure did when I was a kid, in a 54 Desoto!!), but when you’ve only got a limited amount of money to spend you do the best you can.
Yes, you can find that video still. It was actually a (reported) very low mileage four door 59 Impala or bel air. It crumpled pretty badly, but I’m sure the insurance industry would have known how to exploit the weakness of that car. Also, I’m not sure of this, but I don’t think that sedans had the “X” frame reinforcement like convertibles did. No doubt, late model cars are safer than any 59 model car but don’t have the style.
hahahahahahahahahahaha…