1959 Chevrolet Impala
1959 CHEVROLET IMPALA BACKGROUND
Chevy’s seminal Tri-Fives (1955-57) were followed up by the one-year-only ’58 Impala, but for the 1959 model year, a whole new platform was being built with a new X-frame chassis, and revised suspension and all-new bodywork that lowered the roofline 3 inches and the body by 2 inches. The 1959 Chevrolet Impala also shared its body shell with the lower-end Buicks and Oldmobiles. The styling was toned down slightly for the 1960 model year, which would be the final year of the second-generation. Of course, the 1959 bodywork is swoopy and doopy and you either love it or you hate it. Yet the 1959 Chevrolet Impala remains popular 50+ years later not despite its polarizing Batman-styling, but because of it.
1959 Chevrolet Impala Convertible
1959 Chevrolet Impala 2-door Hardtop
1959 Chevrolet Impala INTERIORS
1959 Chevrolet Impala ENGINES
1959 CHEVROLET IMPALA ENGINE OPTIONS
For the 1959 model year, 3 engines were available, the standard 235ci stovebolt six, the 283 small block V8 in a 185hp 2-barrel, and a 270hp 4-barrel, and the big block 348 making 315hp.
ABOVE & BELOW: Pictured here is the W-series Big Block 348ci V8. The 348 and the later 409 share architecture and look very similar. They are easily distinguished from small block V8s by their oddly-shaped valve covers, with three bumps along their bottom side, with sort of an “M”-shape to them, compared to the straight-sided small block valve covers.
