Website Profile: Jims59.com

Here's a place to spend your coffee break. Or maybe an entire afternoon! Jims59.com outlines - in tremendous detail - the restoration of a low-mile `59 Impala that had been stored for 35 years. The restoration photos include many shots of the car in various states of assembly; Jim also discusses methodically what type of work needed to be done to each corner and each panel. The car was so nice that he ended up only repainting the blue portion of the car; the white paint was perfect. This section of the website can be used by `59 enthusiast to see exactly what their own `59 might look like underneath the grit and grime. This car is beautiful!

Aside from the restoration, Jims59.com also provides some vintage photos of `59s going back 25+ years. Also a nice feature to the site is his section on Vintage Schwinn Bicycles. Make sure to stop by his site today and check it out!

KDC

`59 Biscayne Project For Sale on eBay

This Biscayne was auctioned on eBay. It's typical - possibly on the nice end - of what you'll find when looking for a `59 project car. A person can still find a solid low-mile edition of a `59 if they put some work into it. This particular car is described as a long-time family owned car (1964), and still wears its original Code 970 Gothic Gold / Satin Beige two-tone paint. One thing I find interesting about this car is that the "Biscayne" logo is on the front fenders above the spear trim. While I'm not positive, I would conclude that this indicates an early production vehicle since many of the print ads for the Biscaynes show the logos ahead of the doors. This car's VIN would also substantiate that theory, as it's low-numbered. My Biscayne has the logo just ahead of the tail lights instead, and it does not appear to have been moved. I have now seen `59 Biscaynes with logos in both places.

Adding to the desirable nature of this car is that it's from North Dakota. The Dakotas historically are good places to find classic cars, as they have dry climates and were not states that used salt on the roads in the winter time. Granted, this car has some rust, but I've seen `59s in wrecking yards that are so rusty they are falling in on themselves. This car isn't even close to that, and appears by all the pictures in the listing that it's mostly complete and solid.

When it was all said and done, the car got $2150 for a final bid. I would say that is reasonable for a two-door sedan project currently!

Print Ad - `59 Chevy Bel Air & Canoe

Deja Vu...

The `59 Chevy & boat connection is back in this scenic ad! Color Code is 989 - Satin Beige / Cameo Coral two-tone. Small "V" on the hood denotes the 283 V8. I don't see a life preserver in sight for any of the five family members. Glad to see however that Mom thought of scarves for her and little Greta. Surely Dad and Mom will save all three children when their overloaded canoe flips in the middle of the water!

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).

Print Ad - Mrs. Arthur Murray and her `59 Chevy

The Jet Set knew how to dance, and certain knew what car to rent. Here's "Mrs. Arthur Murray" - aka Kathryn - posing in front of her rented small block `59 Chevy for a Hertz ad.

For those who might not be familiar with her husband Arthur Murray, the man practically invented the dance studio franchise. They co-hosted The Arthur Murray Dance Party" on TV through the fifties. They even appeared on "Disco Fever" in the seventies, when Arthur would have been near 80 years old. He died in 1991.

Featured in the ad is the flat top four door "Sports Sedan" in color code 903A - Aspen Green. Simple "V" on the hood denotes the 283 V8!

`59 Chevy Print Ad - Impala Sport Sedan

"What would you want with more car than this?" I don't know...a garage long enough to fit it would be nice. This print ad depicts the Impala "Sport Sedan," which is better known as "The Flat Top" (and for good reason).

As supplies of `59 2-door hardtops have dried up, people have started to look at the more desirable versions of the 4-door cars, which include this one. Frankly I've seen some pretty righteous customs built from these flat tops; if you lower them even two inches and paint them in a two-tone scheme, they look as long as an aircraft carrier. Guaranteed there's about as much room in one as well. The pillarless design is classic. If you've never driven a hardtop car, it's tough to describe the feeling with all the windows down at 60mph. Think of convertible without the sun beating down on your neck. I've owned several hardtops in my life, and would love to own another. But having even a `59 sedan like I do is almost as much fun without breaking the bank.

Looks like this particular car is painted two-tone Code #962 - Frost Blue body with the darker Harbor Blue on the top and rear decklid. It appears to have the "V" emblem with crossed flags on the hood, which denotes a 348 V8 engine. There is no radio antenna(e) or side view mirror, nor does the car have the optional "spinner" hubcaps. Junior Ahab in the back seat is pining for a boat ride, but Mom's got Capt. Ahab all to herself for awhile. Mom's wearing jeans...was that even legal in 1959? The hat is the same color as Junior Ahab, showing that she cares enough to wear the same color.

The ad makes reference to "New bigger brakes with better cooling for safer stopping." They're not kidding...brakes on the `58 Chevy were junk with not near enough stopping power. `59s changed all that, thankfully.

Click on the picture to see a larger version of this ad!

`59 Chevy Styling

Recently I was going through a stash of magazines that had been sitting in my parents' attic since the mid-1980s. One of the magazines was an issue of LIFE that outlined "The Ten Most Beautiful Cars" and "The Ten Ugliest." Guess where the `59 Chevy showed up?

In the 1980s they thought `59s were ugly!

The lines of a `59 Chevy share nothing with any other car. Even the `60 Chevy is considerably different to the `59. The body is formed in overhanging fins and curves that give one the feeling of speed, even if the car is parked (an intentional design treatment). In the early 1960s people customized these cars with different body treatments; one doesn't have to go to all that trouble, since the car already looks like a custom.

The population, even today, seems split on the styling issue, although as the years go on I seem to get more thumbs up for mine than blank stares; some folks who grew up watching these things cruise the streets are not nearly as enamored with them as people who have grown up around nondescript import sedans. I sort of fall in the middle; `59 Chevys were still regulars on the road when I was growing up, but back in the day they looked kind of freaky. My first recollection was a `59 El Camino sitting in my neighborhood sitting in the weeds. The styling has grown on me as I have gotten older, and as contemporary automotive styling has become less interesting.

Another article I came across from the 1980s says "1959 - Did Chevy Go Too Far?" Back then I think the population still swayed towards seeing the `59 as an overboard example of the 1950s. It is because `57 Chevys ruled the car shows, and to many it was the only worthy example of Chevrolet from that decade. As the years have gone by the supply of `57s dried up; they've also been customized in so many different ways that it's hard to think of any unique job one could do with the car now. Invariably this is leading classic car buyers to look for alternatives. The `58 and `59 are the next in line. Their suspension design is 'fairly' modern, they can hold a ton of people, and there are as many of them left in the world as their older brethren. Time has come when people realize the `57 Chevy Bel Air is no longer affordable in any form, and that other models and years could very well bring as much enjoyment as "The Hot One."

Last month I opened a custom car magazine to see no fewer than FOUR `59 Chevys. Prior to that I saw TWO in another magazine. It appears that public impression of the `59 Chevy has started swaying towards the positive. So what does that mean overall?

Now they don't think `59s are ugly anymore!

Kurt D. Clark
Originally written January, 2003 / Edited and updated for this blog

`59 Driver's Ed Picture

"Your Chevrolet dealer helps make driving safer."

Came across this great looking ad a while back, when I was buying old magazines at Goodwill (click on the pic to see it larger). It depicts the sparsely appointed Biscayne sedan; from the outside we can't determine if it is the Biscayne Utility (no back seat) or the standard Biscayne. Either way, the driver was not given much in the way of comfort or convenience. This was all car and no frills. Color is Highland Green DDL-42495. Notice the lack of sideview mirrors; it's likely that the car also lacks seatbelts, as at least in Washington State they weren't required until 1964.

How nice it would have been to have a `59 Chevy Driver's Ed car, instead of in my case a wimpy Volkswagen Dasher. And when they wanted to pull out the big power, they rolled the Dodge Aspen out of the garage for our freeway test. Having this car would have been much more fun, and possibly safer given the amount of metal each one took to build.

`59 Chevy Wagon Commercial

From an era when commercials were positive and always a bit goofy comes this gem! The spit-polish American Fifties Family always smiles and always drives Chevys. If you don't you're one of those "weird beatniks who lives above the bookstore."

Check out the kid's front teeth and space-age stylish Mom!

Don’t Fear The Four Door

In the days of yore, long preceding the electronically fuel injected pod mobiles that frequent our great nation’s mall parking lots, cars had personality to burn (no wait; "burn" and "cars" shouldn’t be in the same sentence—I stand corrected). One could be assured that each year a manufacturer released a new car it would be either original or more bulbous (sometimes both). Each year was distinguishable from the next, mainly because the Big Three shuffled trim and rounded squares annually.

And because of this great epiphany in automotive style, those concerned with image could pick and choose. If the swingin’ bachelor wanted the chicks to dig his car, man, why he put $99 down on a two-door with a big V8. Family men, unfortunately, were relegated to the side of the showroom displaying the four doors and the wagons. Sure, he still got the big V8; that camping trip was coming up and the Airstream was a-waitin’ Well, you all know where these cars ended up: the two-door ended up wrapped around a phone pole, and the four-door ended up wrapped in a cocoon of a garage—only to be sold 30 years later with 45,000 miles and paint shiny enough to redirect boats in fog.

Four doors have long lived as the "tolerated" alternative to the two door. Their lines, at least in the Sixties and Seventies, tended to be more conservative and mainstream than their twice doored contemporaries. Given that, most Rodders and gearheads have walked away from perfectly good four doors (me included), because the lines weren’t right, or chicks didn’t dig `em. It’s true, there have been a few who have taken four doors to the slack jawed extreme by jacking them way into space with air shocks and making them try to be something they aren’t. On the other end, there have been people who have taken four doors and made them into some of the most beautiful street rods and some of the fastest "sleepers" on the street. I know this from experience, as I have been slaughtered in street races with at least two four doors—a 401-powered AMC Matador, and `61 Falcon (yeah, I know; I had bad reflexes and he had a good first gear).

Here’s some background on a few four doors that are worthy of our discussion:

1. `62 Chev Impala Hardtop; a former neighbor owned this four door while going to Seattle’s Lincoln High School in the late sixties. As soon as he bought it, he pulled the 283 and dropped in a 350-horse 327 purchased directly from a Chevy dealer. That Corvette motor was backed by a 3-speed manual transmission that he could fix in a matter of minutes (because he had fixed it so many times). He told me that there were only a few cars who could really match him when the car was in its prime. He spent some time drag racing down by Shilshole Bay when the police used to turn the other cheek to street racing. When someone got in a head-on accident with a racer, he and the `62 moved on to the working world.
2. `74 AMC 401 Matador - We raced. He won. I cried. My friends laughed. I went looking for a 429.
3. Any Police car from the Seventies; There is something ethereal about driving a car that powerful and that heavy duty. The mid-Seventies Chevy Nova was a fairly small car with huge front and rear sway bars, and a Z28 motor under the hood. How cool is that? My personal fave is the `78 440-powered Dodge Coronet. The last big-block pursuit vehicle, this bad boy would clock you all day and then bring the badge home for grits every night. There’s still a few of these Jurassic Justicemobiles around. Most are strapped with ailing cooling systems and weak motors from years of thrashing, but they are still a piece of American History that hold their value better than most four doors. Did you know that Oldsmobile's 4-4-2 was a police package that meant "four door, four barrel, dual exhaust? There’s justice for you!
4. My `65 Chev Impala; this four door hardtop is only worthy of discussion because of its incessant undependability. An ex-rental car, it was a beater with only 66,000 miles. As soon as I fixed the lumpy idle, the radiator gave out. As soon as I replaced the radiator, the fuel pump took a dive. As soon as I repaired the fuel pump (and was pulling it out of the driveway), the car dropped a u-joint in the street. As soon as I fixed that, the transmission started making crummy noises. After I replaced that, the "NEW" transmission also started making crummy noises. The radio never worked, the front suspension was shot, the power steering took more effort with than without a belt on the pump, the windshield looked like it had been sandblasted (direct sunlight? Forget it; just pull over and wait for the clouds—or hang a head out the window). The parts replacement didn't end until I replaced the whole car with an even older pickup.
5. 1940 Chev Special Deluxe; just try to find an affordable two door `40. Go on; I dare ya.

Number 5 reminds that a huge advantage to choosing a four door as a Classic project is PRICE. Four doors, in many cases, cost half as much as two doors. Case in point--a friend once purchased a `70 Plymouth Satellite four door with 78,000 miles and beautiful Buttercup Yellow paint. The previous owner had maintained it as a stock and factory-correct sedan and it showed. A two door version of this car would go for over $7000 currently; this car was purchased for less than $2000. My friend still gets his fair share of thumbs up when he's cruising around, and gets 18mpg to boot! And think about this: with four door hardtops, the styling and the lines are clean enough to make high school cheerleaders wish their boyfriends had one. Four doors also make great sleepers. Trust me; I know from experience. Big motors fit under the hood of a four door Chevelle just like a two door. With quiet exhaust and generic wheels with black wall tires, this car could rule the roost and still look like it belongs to Aunt Percy.

So, in closing, don’t fear the four door. The result of building one often is the same as a two door; you end up with all that wonderful styling and plenty of room. Also, your car will be much more admirable than current four doors, which look like faceless nameless little beans. Fear beans; fear beans very much.

Kurt Clark

Originally written February 25, 2000 Edited and updated for this blog

Repairing The `59 Driveline

The `59 driveline is a two-piece affair (front and rear shafts) and a carrier bearing in between.


The carrier bearing attaches to the inside of the "X-Frame Tunnel" between the trans and the differential. If you crawl underneath you'll see what I mean; the driveline runs through the frame in that spot. The carrier bearing often fails in one place, right where it attaches to the frame. When it fails the driveline flails around like a big floppy fish when you gun it. This is a common problem with all X-Frame Cars (1958 to 1964), and the carrier bearing is common part to order from your local parts store.

To remove the driveline, first back the rear wheels up onto a pair of ramps and set the parking brake. Block the front wheels once the brake is set, and then put the car in Neutral (I'll explain later). Look for two bolt heads on the underside of the X-Frame; these are the two bolts holding the carrier bearing inside the tunnel, and the holes through which they pass are slotted for adjustment. Remove these bolts completely. In addition, four bolts hold the rear universal joint in the differential yolk. Remove them and pry lightly forward on the driveline to unseat the u-joint from the yolk. Once it's free, just pull slowly on the driveline to remove it from the tunnel. When it's on the ground, look at the attachment point for the carrier bearing (it's upside down "T" with two bolt holes). Chances are the metal around the base is broken or torn (see picture). It's a weak point that has been addressed by the aftermarket, with the use of a billet aluminum support and replaceable bearing. These are available through periodicals like Lowrider Magazine, and are for specialized applications like hoppers or cars equipped with hydraulics. For most purposes however, a trip to your parts store will get you a carrier bearing with a support made of mild steel; this will likely last for many years and is not an expensive item.


Now the tough part. Because this driveline is an intricate press-fit deal, it's best to simply give the whole assembly -- along with your newfound carrier bearing -- to a machine shop and have them do the installation. While they're at it, have them install 3 new u-joints (also a very common Chevy part); that way your driveline is fresh and ready for battle. When you get it back, reverse the process to put it back into the car. At the front, turn the driveline with your hand to line it up with the back of the transmission and then insert the yolk. Since the transmission is in neutral, you can then spin the driveline to line up with the differential yolk. Fresh bolts on the differential yolk and the carrier bearing are also a good idea, since the ones on the car may be circa 1959.

A few years ago I created a PDF on Repairing the `59 Chevy Driveline. It lays out all the necessary tools and procedures involved in working on this important part of the car. Feel free to download this process and try the job yourself. It's not that hard...once you have done it several times ;-) I've done enough of these drivelines to know that they can be a weak spot for the car if left unserviced. It's usually the first thing I do without question when purchasing an X-Frame car. So make sure to grease the front & rear u-joints often, and try to service the one inside the X-Frame at least once per year. If you do that, you'll be driving your `59 till 2059!

Kurt Clark

Originally written October 13, 2001 Edited and updated for this blog

Exhaust, the X-Frame, and You

Before pursuing a hard core exhaust project on the `59 Chevy, it's important to get the big picture and figure out exactly how to accomplish the job. It's not a simple deal using aftermarket stuff. On the contrary, the `58 to `64 Chevrolet requires some finesse in creating an exhaust system that works correctly. It's all about the X-Frame design. Allow me to explain...

One nagging problem I got with Big Daddy was the exhaust; the car had been drag raced for a number years and still had the big-tube racing headers installed. They did a great job breathing, but the shear size and length of the tubes caused multiple problems. Underhood heat was high, undercar clearance minimal, and oil drainplug access was sacrificed. In fact, the drainplug couldn't be removed completely because of a header tube running right in front of the hole!

After working with and around these things for a while, I decided that installing a more factory-type exhaust was the only way I would have a better system. Full size headers wouldn't work well on this car, as it sits 2" lower than stock. The simple act of carrying a passenger has the car scuffing the tarmac all day long. I considered stashing the Big Block in a corner and installing an L-82 350 - that thought lasted all of 10 minutes, because I LOVE Big Block motors and will probably always have one in this car. I considered Block Hugger headers, which have become popular with the Street Rod crowd; these would have been ideal for this application, given their ability to pass pipe in the smallest of places and close to the engine block. They also have an exit point that is closer to the stock small block manifolds that would have been available on the car. But when someone offered me a pair of 454 exhaust manifolds for FREE, I snapped them up and went stock instead.

The manifolds I got were from a `71 454 Caprice. Luckily they were "oval port" just like the heads on my `72 402. The collector was all the way towards the back of the manifold, closer to the firewall than the front of the car. If you've ever seen a "ram horn" off a small block, you'll understand that the collector drops straight down the middle of the manifold below the 2 middle exhaust ports. The 454 manifolds exit at the back of the engine, so the point where the exhaust system would begin is not advantageous.

Why is this a problem? Frame clearance primarily. Things aren't always easy with cars that sit on X-Frames. Rather than having parallel rails (which the exhaust would between), the X-Frame meets in the middle and has space for the driveline to run through. Because of the path of the rail toward that middle point, the exhaust system has to make a very tight 180 degree turn from the inside of the rail to the outside. This is accomplished with exhaust pipe that measures 2 1/4" OD or less. I am told that, if a person tries to bend a bigger OD pipe at this tight angle, the result will be a pinched pipe. Another bottleneck is the rear frame area where, according to a veteran exhaust builder, there is only enough room to run 2" OD pipe past the differential. Bottom line is that these cars were not built to run contemporary Big Block Exhaust!

So for me the resulting exhaust is described as follows:

1. 454 Exhaust Manifolds w/2 1/2" collectors
2. 2 1/4" aluminized pipe, turned 180 degrees from inside of frame rail to outside
3. 2 1/2" aluminized pipe, following contour of rail on the outside of frame
4. 24" Cherry Bomb glasspaks, 2 1/2" OD
5. 2 1/2" aluminized pipe, exiting in front of rear wheels
6. 3" aluminized tailpipes, angle cut NASCAR style

The sound is deep and mellow. The exhaust is toned well inside the car at freeway speeds, and cannot be heard by someone even two car lengths away with the windows up. I have seen underhood temperatures drop, and my neighbors are happier now when I fire it up in the morning. I initially experienced a drop in gas mileage, but attributed that to the inefficient nature of the factory exhaust manifold design. Turns out my carburetor on the way out and I got the mpg back when I switched to a fresh carb.

Small block cars are much easier to configure, because the stock path can be utilized stem to stern; Miss Ruby, our `59 Impala, had 2" factory exhaust, quiet factory mufflers, and factory routing all the way out the back. The 350 breathed just fine with this system.

Kurt Clark

Originally written October 02, 2001 Edited and updated for this blog

Finding Your Own `59 Chevy in a `57 Chevy World

Finding a `59 Chevy isn't as easy as finding a Camaro or a `57 Bel Air. It is common to come across the two latter cars as often as you try. `59 Chevys are a different story. Since so few survived the 1960s, the search for that finned wonder car takes more effort and patience.

But the search is worth it, because the result is a car in your driveway that is not often seen or considered by enthusiasts. You too can be a only one at a cruise-in or a car show with a `59, and park it next to the dozens of Camaros and `57 Chevys in attendance. The car generates questions from youngsters, and memories from oldsters, even when it's in less-than-pristin shape. When you drive a `59, you become accustomed to phrases like "my grandma drove one of these until she died," or "is that real?"

Once you've decided that a `59 is right for you, start your search on the Internet. Impalas - two & four door models - will be the most common types for sale since their general value made them attractive restoration projects. Other models - the Biscayne Utility, the Biscayne, the Bel Air, and all wagon models - still show up for sale from time to time, but not in the same numbers as Impalas. If you have the funds, I recommend that you buy a finished vehicle in need of little or no repair; it's a great way to start enjoying your Classic `59 right away. Project cars are still out there, and if that's your thing make sure you buy one with all the parts (especially trim); some stuff is just darn hard to find now.

Here's where to look:

1. The single largest source of information that can be used is Collector Car Trader Online. This website has a international focus, and its searches can be broken down even to into specific area codes or price ranges. Various links within the pages can also provide automotive shipping services etc. With the entry of the proper criteria, one can have access to all the `59s listed with Trader Online throughout the world.
2. Craigslist has emerged as an "up and comer" in finding `59 Chevys. The site interface is simple - sometime #1 seems to lack - and that makes for easy daily searches. Most times the cars that show up in ads here are projects, but there are usually pictures of the cars which helps to determine if they're even worth looking at.
3. Hemmings Motor News online classifieds have also arisen as an excellent source for finding `59 Chevys. Hemmings has been trusted for decades by classic car nuts all over the world, for its ability to put buyers and sellers in touch with each other. How else can you know that someone in Montana is parting out the very car you need to scavenge? That kind of help becomes priceless as these cars get older and tougher to keep roadworthy.
4. Not surprisingly, eBay Motors has at least a handful of `59s for sale each week. It would be worth the money to be in touch with a classic car appraiser and with a car transporter, as both of these individuals will come in handy when the final bid has been made. It's not impossible to get a `59 cross-country, but more complicated than picking it up down the street. Most important thing to know about bidding on a car? "Buyer Beware." Educate yourself, and only bid on cars that are within your reasonable expectations. It's pretty hard to return two tons of Chevy if you don't like it.
   
5. Swap Meets will sometimes have complete `59 Chevys or even some project cars. It's almost guaranteed that you will find parts for `59s at the swaps, little stuff like handles, chrome bits, some trim etc.
6. If you're headed to a car show, bring a pen and small pad to write down phone numbers; you never if you'll find a `59 Chevy for sale down the aisle from six Mustangs, four `55 Chevys, seven Camaros, and a `72 Chevelle SS clone.
7. Chevy59.com also has links to several auto dealers in the US that are focused on classic cars These companies often have information on available cars that the Internet doesn't have, and can be contacted to do more than sell you a car. They can often point you towards unbiased classic car appraisals as well for a fee, which really comes in handy when you live in Buffalo NY and your dream car is in Tigard OR. Believe me, it's worth paying someone to check it out, especially if the car is selling somewhere in the five-digit value range and is close to fifty years old.
8. One source that often doesn't pan out in a search for a `59 is the local newspaper classifieds; for some reason, these cars don't get advertised there too much. This is not to say that you won't find your dream car in the local paper, just less likely. Try anyway! What the heck? You may end up with something that the seller just thinks is "another old car."
   

The key element to your search is patience. Don't always jump on the first car you see, just because you're afraid that another one won't come your way. Relax...it will. Don't "settle for one" if you don't like it. Be patient and keep looking. Your search may take a while before you find the right car but - like I said before - the search is worth it.

Now go get that finmobile!

KDC

Originally written October 13, 2001, edited and updated for this blog

Where have all the `59s gone?

When I go to car shows, I see many beautiful `55 to `57 Chevys. Don't get me wrong...I like them nearly as much as the next guy! The lines are clean, the cars are well proportioned, and parts are readily available. But for every fifteen or twenty Chevys I see from "The Hot One" era, I will see ONE `59 Chevy - if I'm lucky.

So where the heck did they all go?

There were over a million of these cars made in 1959, 1.4 million to be more exact; given those numbers, a person should see a lot of them. Even in the seventies I remember seeing them surfing the streets of North Seattle. But unlike the `55 to `57 cars, the`59s didn't survive. A while back a friend of mine picked up TWO `57 Chevys for $600. Try finding TWO `59 Chevys anywhere...well, okay I had two in my driveway at a one time.

But the point is this. Old tin is still out there, as long as it's a `55 to `57 Chevy!

Here's my speculation regarding the `59 survival rate:

1. Look at all the compound curves. What do you see? I see lots of places where dirt, road salt, and grungus can get stuck. The front and rear valances will rot easily, as well as any spot where metal bolts to metal. A very famous place for that is at the headlights; road grit gets thrown up on the back of the headlight buckets, where it gets stuck between the bucket and a panel. My wife's `59 Impala was so bad in that area that it wouldn't hold headlights IN anymore!
2. It is possible that the `59 Chevy (and to a degree the `58 as well) are victims of `57 popularity. When most people think of a classic car, the two that come up in conversation most are an early Mustang or a `57 Chevy. With such demand and such a following, it's no wonder that my friend was able to extract TWO out of a field at the same time. In my formative years,`58 and `59 Chevys were considered less desirable alternatives to the `57 and were thusly thrown away.

Now here's the cold hard truth: A website visitor wrote to say that he saw countless `59s in wrecking yards during the late 1960s. The enticing curves attracted more than longing gazes from pre-soccer Soccer Moms; those curves also invited rust, something most `59 owners will attest to with little arm-twisting. Call a wrecking yard sometime to find a solid headlight bucket for a `59; the ones that remain now all look like swiss cheese. So you can see that - sadly enough - these cars started rusting out early and eventually became part of the earth once more.

Given the unfortunate passage of time that can melt a `59 into rot, we should be thankful that even a handful of these car exist today! Now it's time for each of us to do our American duty and Restore One! A restorer friend once wrote "Do the hobby a favor: Restore or preserve a classic car, build a Hot Rod, ride a Harley Davidson or do something that adds to your life and soul."

KDC

Originally written October 13, 2001, edited and updated for this blog