Classic movie lovers may already recognize this car. A young couple gets pounced and pounded in the original Mad Max movie while driving their `59 Chevy four-door sedan through The Outback. The car was essentially turned to scrap while the cameras rolled. I own this movie on both laser disc and DVD. It's hard to watch when you love a `59 like I do. Mad Max Movies states that the car "was on the way to ruin" at the time of filming. For years I have accepted that this `59 was a goner no matter what...until I received an email from Ken James, a previous owner of this very car.
As he tells it, this `59 was actually a decent ride:
"Back in 1977, after catching a train from Melbourne to Sydney to visit my parents, I quickly grew to hate trains and intended to buy a car to make the trip back to Melbourne. A very quick look in the newspaper and I found a Chevrolet advertised for sale on that weekend only. I telephoned the owner who informed me that the car was too big for him in the city and he wants to get rid of it. 2 hours later I was standing there looking at a '59 Impala 4-Door. It was the original Grey in colour and appeared to be in immaculate condition. A deal was struck and I purchased the car on the spot for $120.Truly sad. If we put this into context with time, it's no surprise that it was destroyed since `59s weren't as well loved as they are now. Incidentally I created a t-shirt based on a screen capture of this car. It's available through the Chevy59.com Store.
Back in Melbourne I soon realised the enormous cost of fuel to keep this beast running! Even though I really loved the Chev, I decided it was time to get a more economical car and traded it in on a Holden. I was given $250 for the trade-in. It wasn't until a week later when friends told me I could have sold the Chev for at least $1000 as they are rare in Australia. I returned to the car yard to purchase the Chev back again only to be told that a Movie production company had bought it. Because I worked in television at the time it wasn't hard for me to find out who was making a movie with a '59 Chev in it. I contacted the company only to be told the car had been destroyed! It was used in the movie 'Mad Max' and had been painted in a flame job and was chopped up by axe wielding Bikers!!!
And contrary to reports, the car was in very good condition when I traded it in. A sad ending for a beautiful car, but at least it's demise has been immortalised on film for the world to see."
