1959 was the year that the Impala became its own model rather than a sub-model under the Bel Air line of Chevys. This 1959 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe is listed on eBay with heavy bidding and a current bid price of, gulp.. $34,000! Wow! This car is located in Los Angeles, California.
1959 is also when the Impala received a transformation that turned it into one of the most recognizable and unique designs to ever come out of Detroit. At the same time that Cadillac had the monster tail fins on their cars this Chevy went with a hair-parted-in-the-middle look with the flat fins. Gorgeous. A coworker of mine had almost this same car back in the early-1980s but it wasn’t in quite this same condition. Who would have known back then that these cars would be worth so much?! Not many of us knew that, I’m guessing. The famous “cat eye” tail lights went away for the 1960 model year.
The seller says that this “is a completely original unmolested blue on blue 1959 Chevy Impala Super Sport Coupe in original paint, original interior, factory numbers matching 348, and even a dealers contract.” Hagerty is very bullish on these cars, giving this one a #3 good value of $40,300! I never, ever would have guessed such a number for this car. From the seller: it’s hard “to find a time capsule like this one. 1 piece CA bumpers. This is a california car since new, built at the LA assembly plant sold new down in Costa Mesa, CA and has been here since new.” They have provided a couple of underside photos and it does look good under there, unlike my friend’s car looked when it was just 21 years old.
Believe it or not, the interior “is all original and is in excellent shape for being 59 years old (this is the 1959 interior still in this car never been redone or replaced) All lights and guages [sic] work on the car.” It’s hard to believe that the seats have lasted for almost 60 years and they still look almost like new. The back seat does look like new!
I’m bummed that this engine doesn’t appear to be all original but obviously it isn’t hurting the value at all. It’s strange to see an alternator on this engine and the aftermarket parts would go away the first weekend if I were a bidder on this one. This is Chevy’s 348 cubic-inch V8 topped by who knows what carburetor, that isn’t mentioned at all but it could have had between 250 and 320 hp with a single carb. I’m guessing that this wasn’t a six-pack car. They say that it “Runs and drives excellent. Has its original numbers matching 348 engine that runs excellent, no smoking, no knocking with its original powerglide tranny that shifts great. Power steering, and upgraded front disc brakes.” Are any of you fans of the 1959 redesign or do you prefer the ’57s, ’58s, or ’61 Impalas?
For me, 1959 is the one that got away. I’ve owned an Impala from every year between 1958 and 1969 except 1959. In some cases, like 1963, there were several.
For 34K this one will too. It just seems kinda steep given the needed work to make it top notch.
In 1968, I worked all summer to earn $300 to buy a black 2 door sport coupe with the racing flags. It was black with red interior, all original. 348, 4 barrel, dual exhaust. Wish I still had it! 16, young and dumb!😐
Look at the cars in the background of the photos, lots of nice stuff.
Check the sellers other items for sale. He almost always has at least 1/2 dozen classic cars for sale. He finds good stuff and seems to set the reserves high, I’d be surprised if many of his cars don’t wind up overseas.
It’s been a while, but several cars he’s previously listed on eBay have been highlighted on this site.
Steve R
’59 Cadillac fins get all the pub but the Chevys were actually more flamboyant and radical. The General has always been capable of producing some totally off the wall but ultimately enduring styles. This is definitely one of them. Nice find.
I love the 59’s. The El Camino was the only auto that year that I would pick over an Impala.
This is, for some of us, the absolute pinnacle of design for the Impala, including myself. It looks like it is cruising effortlessly down Route 1 just sitting there. I am not at all surprised by the heavy bidding. The Hardtops almost appear as if there is no top. Look at those C Pillars! A masterpiece in design!
Iconic design, one of my favourites.
I wonder if they are attempting to pull a fast one about the gauges. I have never had a clock that lasted more than a few years. It wasn’t that the clock failed, but the points that make the connection to rewind the mainspring would oxidize and the clock wouldn’t wind.
Bob
When I was a kid I thought that these were down right ugly, now I think they are art on wheels. It’s funny how are tastes change over time.
My absolute favorite Chevrolet ever ! Will be interesting to watch where the auction ends.
Nice to see they upgraded the brake master cylinder to a dual circuit too !
Looks like a Holley carb, probly 4 barrel
Oops…auction is over…Wonder if he got a giant offer or …..(?)
Never owned one but knew a couple of them. Only a couple of down-sides to them. Never was that sold on the pinched frames. Big concern though was the W engine. If you ever had to have machine work done on them you needed an old-school shop with the proper plates to machine the cylinder bores correctly.
I do like them none-the-less.
I’m not a GM guy, but that is a beautiful car…wow!
While many talk of great design this was first year Ford full size outsold their competitors full size in a long while.
Staid mom and poppa did not like this radical look that much.
THEY drove even worse than they looked.
But the name impala with the tri-power predessor to 409 is a strong draw.
Yes I note not tri-pwr but those units complete are outhere and not expensive.
The tin stock valve covers were leakprone, due to warpage causing double gaskets.
I loved the look of the 59s, those cat eye taillights were so cool. We had a guy back in the 60s that had a red & white one and man was it sharp. My sister bought a 60 Impala gold but it just didn’t seem as nice as the 59s.
Neat car. Blocked off heater core but hey, who needs heat in sunny CA? And the carb looks like a Holley 4100 series.
I was a kid in the back facing seat of a wagon in the early 60’s. To kill time, since they were so easy to recognize front or rear, I would count ’59 Chevys, and there were hundreds. They must have sold really well in the South. By the late 60’s they seemed non existent.
Could put a lot of “shine” coon hounds, and two passel of kids inside, the cavernous trunk.
In fact in laws slept inside and three young ones slept in trunk on overnight stops from Washington to relatives in upper peninsula of Michian and back road trip in 1960.
Of course back then upper Michigan was more like Appalachia than Appalachia hill folk were.
My grandfather had a 59 in red and black. Somewhere there’s a photo of all the grand kids sitting in that huge trunk. Sold it and bought a Corvair. Go figure.
’58 Impalas are not their own model? Really asking, not googling. I thought the Impala model started in he 58 model year.
You sir would be correct !! I as well had no idea they made them in 57. LOL
Most of my life I thought the 59’s were the ugliest friggin cars to ever come out of Detroit. Now that I’ve “matured” a bit, I really like them and appreciate the design a lot more. I would be happy to have this one in my driveway.
I hate growing up.
I agree with the majority here, for me, the ’59 Chevy was the nicest Chevy ever. Much more so than the ’57. So many neat one year things. ’58, too odd, ’60, too plain, ’59, just right. So many were junked, they pulled the motor for that Nova project, and scrapped the body. These tail lights turned up in many a man cave on the wall. Nobody in their wildest dreams thought a 2 door ’59 Chevy would bring this kind of money someday, or obviously, we would have saved more of them. To us at the time, it was just an old Chevy.
My cousin had a two or three year old 1959 convertible, white with white top and red interior. 348 4 bbl with four speed and positraction. He wrecked the front end at least twice.
His insurance went way up and he began decades of driving junk.
I was always told when looking at a ’59 Chevy to check underneath the fins. Most body shops just didn’t bother painting under there.
You can see if it was a quality job or not.
The fin situation on the ’59 GM cars was always a fascinating subject to me.
The more upright the fins were the more expensive the car was.
The Cadillac fins were vertical. The Buick fins were diagonal and the Chevy fins were horizontal.
I love 59-60 full size Chevys. I’ve never had a 59, but I have had 60’s.
In 1958, my father got a job where he received a new Chevy company car every year. Always 4 door Biscaynes. His first was a brown 58, the second was a green 59. I’ll never forget that 59. As a kid, I ran into one of those fins and got a cut above my eye, that needed stitches.
Looks like someone got themselves a pretty nice 59. I was surprised too see how good the floors look, normally they’re the first thing to go on 59-60’s.
My favorite of all Chevys was the “61 hardtop…Beautiful.
The 348 ci engines, as well as the 409s, were prone to “explosions” if driven too hard. Took far less to blow one of those engines as compared to the the Ford 390/406 or Chrysler’s 383 and 392 Hemi.
The W engines were just as strong as any other engine of the era. Plenty of 348’s and 409’s were driven hard and survived. Junior Johnson won the 1960 Daytona 500, driving a 348 powered 59 Chevy, and W motors dominated the NHRA Stock and Super Stock, classes from 60-63. Don Nicholson won Stock Eliminator at the 61 Winternationals, in the 409’s very first race.
Thousands of W engines were sold for marine use, where they were subjected to hours of continuous, high load operation. 348’s and 409’s were very popular for marine use, because of their power and reliability.
409’s only had 2 bolt mains, but would still handle 6000+ rpm. Rockers and rocker arms are probably the weakest part of the 409, but like most parts, they’d last indefinitely with regular maintenance (i.e. proper adjustment).
Thanks for writing your response. As you stated, the W engines were reliable, and when properly tuned, made tons of power.
Bob
I love the look of the ’59 Impala 2 dr hardtops, converts, and El Caminos. The ’60s almost as much. However the sedans, not so much. The long trunk is what sets the look on these cars (at least to me). I’ve always felt a ’59 Belair or Biscayne 4 dr sedan was low down on the beauty scale.
Ugliest Chevy EVER built!
The reason they are so rare today. By the mid 60′(’64-’68)s these were being scrapped as fast as people could drive them into the junkyards. The resale value of them by then was in the Edsel range. My dad bought one new and three years later sold it for $500.00, only $300.00 more than he got out of the 10 year old Ford he sold to buy the Chevrolet. He never bought a Chevrolet or new car again. More likely today to run across a ’50 Studebaker than a ’59 Chevrolet.
The RCMP in Canada, had more than one accident with the 1959 Chevrolet’s. It seems that in a “high speed” chase the fins made the rear end unstable, lift and caused several rollovers.
Took my driver’s license test in a 59 Chevy. I did detailing for a body shop while in high school that a 59 El Camino was their shop truck and a good friend that now has passed had a beautiful red 59 Impala convertible, 348 with three deuces. This was in 64 and 65, those were great times to be a teenager!
i never liked the 58 thru 60 impalas.. i had a 58 nice car with the leather interior but was a barge.. my best friends brother bought a new 59 hardtop with the 348 single carb.. he washed that car (exterior, interior and under the hood) every weekend.. we would tell him he was going to wash the paint off of it… ha ha ha ha
A 1959 Belair was my first car. It was a 348 chi with a 3 on the tree. That thing was fast! People would tell me that because of the fins the car would get loose at highway speeds. I had it over 80mph. Several times and never experienced that problem. I like this car but $34k is way more than l’d consider.
The 59 did lift at highway speeds, you could tell by driving behind it. You may not have felt it but it was a reality. They slowly changed the design. That doesn’t change how I feel about it because I love the 59’s. Not much on the 61 though, it was the answer to the 59 fins lifting the car. Now 62 -64 was was a nice design change and am still in love them. By the way, I love 4 door cars but recognize the
beautiful styling of a 2 door.
Completely original unmolested…..I could tell you who had their hands all over er’….but that wouldn’t be nice…….
Wasn’t this the era when everyone’s parents left the plastic seat covers on? That would explain the amazing condition of the seats.
I still remember the awful feeling of the hot plastic on my legs in the summer when I wore shorts.
Always one of my favorite rides, so much so I bought a ’59 El Camino back in ’94 and still have today, also bought another in ’99 and drove it ten years then sold it so I could buy my A body Buick Ragtop. I passed on a beautiful ’59 Impala back about 1991 that was totally restored Dark Green and the light green interior, it would have put this car listed to shame. The guy was asking $14k at the time. The one thing I see this Impala has was the optional padded dash, which if you look at pics carefully were always buckled and trashed after a few short years in the sun.
Back in the 70,s I needed a car real bad as I totaled a 1968 Plymouth Fury in a tree. LOL I was hard pressed for money but needed transportation to, from work. There was a 4 door 1958 Chevy in the grass aside of a guys house for $50.00. All it needed was a battery and new fuel line. It had duel exhaust with the 348 C I engine and 4 barrel carb. I forget the mileage but I drove that car for quite a while. That 348 engine never left me down or the powerglide tranny. A rock solid engine in its day.