1960 Chevrolet Impala
Yesterday, an American era ended. Detroit News:
Production of the Chevrolet Impala will cease Thursday after six decades, making the Impala yet another Detroit sedan to be laid to rest as buyers switch to crossovers, SUVs and pickups.
Introduced in 1958 and produced continuously except for gaps in the 1980s and 1990s, the final Impala will roll down the line at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly. Seen by many as emblematic of the all-American car, more than 16.8 million have been sold globally (not including the 1994-96 Impala SS, which was counted as a Chevy Caprice).
Impala enthusiasts around the country are sad to see the nameplate hit its expiration date and cherish even more the Impalas they have found and made their own.
Typical Americans of my generation grew up riding in our father’s full-sized American sedans, of which the Chevrolet was the paradigm example. My father proudly came home in 1960 with a new Chevrolet Bel-Air. The Impala was a slightly higher-priced, gussied-up version of the same car, and my father was decidedly resistant to opportunities to spend more money unnecessarily for image and prestige.
Europeans drove smaller, often sportier and more sophisticated automobiles. But, back then, we Americans reveled in our roomier cars fitted with bench seats and bigger engines. We had yet to learn anything about cornering and handling. And the notion that importation from the European Old World should be looked upon as evidence of superior styling and sophistication was, back then, confined to the extreme top-end American haute bourgeoisie. Most Americans considered American-made to be the best in the world and sneered at European cars as foreign junk.
How our perspectives would change after a decade or so!
Anon
You could say that the 1960 Impala left a big impression on me. My buddy and I back in 1960 were riding his scooter and he was a kinda careless and aggressive driver. A red 1960 Impala was in front of us and the driver hit the brakes hard and my buddy hit his rear bumper, I went over my buddies head and had my hands out for a hard landing and my left hand hit the point of the left fin on the Impala making a rather large hole in my hand that need stitches and left a large upside down “Y” shaped scar. I was impaled by the Impala.
JDZ
Ouch!
gbear
I had a 1967 “chello chebby chimpala w/ 3 on the tree. It was a fun car to drive, even in Bklyn NY.
gwbnyc
high school pal had that ‘60- red&white herringbone seats.
Saul
In 1961 a friend had a 58 Impala 350 with a three speed manual transmission. He bet me he could bury the speedometer in 2nd (120 mph). He won. I have no idea what the RPM was but I do know that at 120 mph when he shifted to 3rd and gave it full throttle there was a lot left in the engine. We were probably doing 140mph when he eased back down to 80.
Ron B. Liebermann
It wasn’t Chevy that killed the Impala. It was the design department. For some reason, GM has decided to make the lamest cars in the world. It’s almost as if they don’t want to sell any cars. Who knows? Maybe they are going to make them so ugly and expensive that nobody will own cars anymore.
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