Car Talk I & II

[AET]

Ahh, another person here that I have more in common with than phones!

here's my '58  one of these days she'll be restored to her original beauty.  soon as i get done with all the phones

[foots]

here's my '58  one of these days she'll be restored to her original beauty.  soon as i get done with all the phones

Bwanna, that '58 would look awfully great with some slotted mags, Mickey Thompson Indy Profile tires,  a black diamond tuck vinyl interior, and a warmed up 348 or 409 under the hood. I really like 4 door '58s.

[jsowers]

Also being a product of 1958, I think both those Chevys are great cars. I would like to vote for keeping them original and stock. "Her original beauty" as you say. Bwanna that dark beige and white combination is great. I've enjoyed old cars since they weren't old cars. I grew up seeing these cars on the road and have appreciated them all my life. To the point of tearing out every old car ad I saw in old Life, Look and Holiday magazines.

The cars of 1958 were really unique, especially the cars from GM. When I was young, I remember my friend Lucille (who's now 90 and still driving) had a white 1958 Olds 88. The huge taillights always looked like the light fixtures in a church to me. Mr. and Mrs. Link had a green 1958 Buick Roadmaster. Mom says I could identify a Buick at three years old. I called them "Booicks." Those two cars were adorned with more chrome than most any cars before or since.

Here's something I always enjoy seeing, a Golden Jubilee promo from GM for their cars for 1958. The jazzy music has that 1950s commercial jingle sound to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFWVCvyQP9g

[Dennis Markham]

Great stories Jonathan, as always.  Thanks for the link to the GM video.  After watching that I looked at this one about Buddy Holly's 1958 Impala:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mppMPqfe1FY&feature=related

This discusses what was talked about on another topic about whether or not to restore something, in this case Buddy's 1958 Impala.  Worth watching.

[foots]

The Golden Jubilee appeared in W. W. and the Dixie Dance Kings made around the mid '70s starring Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, and Ned Beatty.

[Dan/Panther]

The first car I ever owned was a 1958 green Chevy Impala, 348 Tri-Power, with Troubleglide.
Me and my ex wife were at a driv-in, when I noticed the hood started to discolr, the carburetor had caught fire, and was burning the paint from the hood.
My dad bought the car for me in 1966 for $250.00, when it rolled over, I really hit the big time, with a $750.00, 57 Bel Air 2 Door dardtop. 283 4 barrel, with powerglide, that later got changed out for a Muncy 4 speed, engine bored out to 301, Edelbrock manifold, Duntov 3/4 racing cam, Holly double pumper 750  cfm carb  (? Not sure about that), gosh could that car could haul the mail. Canary Yellow, with all black Naugahyde interior. Pioneer 4 track player, and a 45 RPM record changer, with Vibrasonic, and a light bar, teardrop bubble hood, and raised up in the back, no front bumper.
D/P

Here is the only picture I have after the conversion process, a very heavily damaged photo. Makes me sick about the picture, I have another somewhere, of me standing next to the car in 1967. The thing that makes me maddest about tthe photo, it was a polaroid photo.

[bwanna]

that's some iron d/p   what i'd give to have a tri-power.

one of the cool things about the '58's is that was a one year body style.

jonathan, mine is coralburst & cream. i like the two tone combo.

joshua, i like the baby moons. as for the interior i'll replace same as original. it's got a 348 under the hood.

very nice, tom

[bingster]

I've always been called crazy for this, but I prefer the '58 Chevrolet to the '57.  It looks much more substantial and not nearly as cheap.

[Dan/Panther]

That is what I liked about the 57, for some reason it appears smaller than all of the 55 to early 60's Chevy's. I don't know if it was actually lighter than the other models, but pound for pound, when beefed up, not much in that era could put a patch on my 57's butt. that thing flat hauled. Most of the time if I lost it was a Chevelle, or a 67, 68 Camaro, or a Boss 302 Ford Mustang.

D/P

[AET]

My first car, will always be my favorite, 1960 Chevy Bel-Air, 350/holley 950 and a 2 speed powerglide.  Manual everything, God that was a man's car even had a working stock AM tube radio.

Someday, I will have another, but that one is totalled and gone My gym teacher t-boned me in an intersection on my way to work. 

My advice to everybody, install seatbelts, my back's never been the same.

[Dan/Panther]

All that and trains to boot.
D/P

[AET]

I used to live across the tracks from the Amtrack station in Portage.

All that and trains to boot.
D/P

[Dan/Panther]

Tom;
I've finally figured it out.
You seems to have more than passing knowledge, and terminology for the 50's.
You are reincarnated from a 50's hot rodder, that didn't come back from deadmans curve.
D/P

[AET]

Ha, it's ironic you say that.  My mom says that she noticed by the time that I was about 4 years old that I had an eye for all things old-fashioned. 

[Dan]

My first car was a 1969 Rambler with 33,000 miles. The seats didn't fold down to the floor into a bed (nor did I know the older ones did) and I had to show Bob (my first girlfriend's dad) that they couldn't. Then I could go on a date.

That was a fun little car, got 28 mpg in the city. I really wanted a '65 Mustang Convertible. Ended up with a hard top, which I still have to this very day (30 years later). Dad talked me into the hard top. ORIGINAL with 60k miles, 289 , 225 GT engine. Now it has around 67,000 miles.
Still I wasn"t happy, Dad knew it, and I bought a '65 Impala Conv. for $600, put about $800 into it (they call these "frame-on" restorations today"). Still have the Impala today also. Dad and I restored her, and I'll keep the car till I die, since I lost dad when he was only 47 in 1983.  The Impala is twice the car the 'stang is. I was 16 with three cars, but I bought them all with my own $$$$$

I could talk cars all day with you guys, since I have had a passion for them since I was 6 or 7, while my phone passion is only a few years old.