Print Ad - Gold `59 Impala Sport Coupe

The dedicated artist at work, along with her slackjaw assistant.

Inspiration comes only when your `59 Chevy is driven into a grove of trees that is merely a darker version of the Gothic Gold and Satin Beige two-tone color code #970 spread across your car. The subject of this picture is surely outside of the ad's borders, because it certainly couldn't be sleeping book guy. Or maybe it is, with the artist twisting his realistic figure into surreal Picassan mockery. "Yes honey, your nose is growing out of the side of your face. Well maybe I'm a bit off dear, but it's so hard to tell when Catcher In The Rye is covering your skull."

Gothic Gold as a color is rarely seen these days. I don't know if it's hard to match or if people just don't want the shade anymore. Maybe it's just too darn close to "Sit-Around Brown." I've seen one `59 in this paint code and it was really striking up close. Two tone schemes like code #970 make it even more dramatic. My Paint Chip Data can give you a close view of the color.

Print Ad - `59 Cadillac Sedan Deville

This Cadillac ad from 1959 just oozes style. It's hard to resist a red `59 Caddy, especially when it has fins the height of my chest and is surrounded by slender fifties models in "Gowns by John Carter."

This car easily rivals my attention for the `59 Chevy. It's not surprising, considering the cars were designed and built in the same era. But the Cadillac just carries itself like the big attention getter it was meant to be. It's funny to think that the `59 Cadillac was once thought of as a rolling joke towards its maker, representing a time when America went fast, drove big, and shot high. Harley Earl was in charge of the GM design studios when this car was drawn up (by the way the `59 Chevy was the last car for which he controlled the design). If you look at the `60 Cadillac, you can see that designers began to trim down the garrish nature of the car after Earl retired; look at where the tail lights are and how the front bumper is designed and you'll see what I mean. 1961 models arrived as both beautiful and a design departure extreme enough to get a couple of designers fired (it didn't look "enough like a Cadillac" for the bosses).

How amazing now that a `59 Cadillac commands a premium in the classic car market not matter how many doors or what condition. If I had the money and the space, there would be one in my driveway, but until that unlikely day I have this advert to keep me happy!

`59 Chevy @ Dick's Drive In

Nice to see that Dick's Drive In Restaurants in Seattle have the smarts to put a `59 Chevy front and center on their food bags!

Print Ad - `59 Chevy Nomad Wagon

Over the years I've received emails from people saying they have or have seen `59 Nomad wagons; some of the folks don't believe they existed, while others have examples in their possession. Most people are familiar with the most famous two-door Nomads built between 1955 and 1957, but have no idea what happened to the model after that time.

Well I'm here to tell you they did exist. In 1958 the Nomad was continued as a four-door wagon at the top end of the trim level equal to the newly introduced Impala. The 1959 Chevrolet Nomad was Model 1735 with a six-cylinder and 1835 with a V8. In place of the I-M-P-A-L-A letters on the side there stood N-O-M-A-D instead. It was the most expensive model for the year, with a price of $3009 that was higher than even the Impala convertible ($2967). The Nomad was highly optioned like the Impala in the way that a Cadillac Escalade can be considered a highly optioned GMC Denali.

In this add you will see the Nomad in paint code 905-A Highland Green. Crossed flags on the hood mark a 348 powered car (not surprising for a high-end wagon). It's also sporting the "California one-piece" front bumper and chrome trim behind the spears along the tops of the front fenders. As a higher end model, it would also have more brightwork along the lower half of the dashboard, and as a Nomad it would have more chrome around the door pillars.

The Brookwood in the lower part of the ad - a Biscayne trimmed two-door wagon now heavily sought after by classic car enthusiasts - is shown in two-tone color code 973 (Roman Red and Snowcrest White). The Bel Air level Parkwood is Harbor Blue code 912-A with "dog dish" hub caps. The Kingswood wagon with Impala level trim is shown in two-tone color code 963 (Crown Sapphire and Snowcrest White).