Ralph Carlson Blog

1959 Chevy Impala Convertible

The hottest family car ever purchased by my father was a sharp black 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible. This one looks great in red but our black one was super.  I know that we bought it during 1959 but I don’t remember taking it to the prom. What I remember most is driving to the Art Institute in Kansas City during summer breaks home from school with the top down and Stevie Wonder on the radio. It was a pretty classy set of wheels that I am afraid I didn’t appropriately appreciate in my youth. All I remember is how hard it was to get the top to latch. I also drove it to Fort Leonard Wood when I was stationed there. Somehow it disappeared by the time I got back from the Army and my father bought me a car. More about that car later.

Here are a couple of youtube reminiscences. The first is Dinah Shore and her backup singers singing the praises of Chevrolet. “Its the one.” The second is a loving caress of an imperial blue four door sedan. Looking back from this era of dull cars all of which look alike, the flamboyance and flair of the late 50’s is amazing. To imagine that the best selling car of the time had those incredible horizontal fins sweeping out from the trunk seems impossible today.   And yet today’s folklore is that the 50’s were boring. Maybe some aspects were boring but we had real cars.

Just another in the series of Carlson cars past. Like this. And this.

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