Here's one I bet most of you haven't seen... It's Dale Lochmiller's '58 Chevrolet. Dale started on the car as soon as he snagged it off the showroom floor in late 1957. He was content on building a clean and simple custom suited for daily driving and... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
Man,116 is moving for a 2 ton plus sled. I bet he had a lot of hot rodders scratching their heads when he blew past them! HRP
Very Kool! and Very Quick for that time frame. Had a 58 impala ragtop back in the day, fun car, another great memory. John
One of my favorite custom '58 Impalas. Love the grill with those little faceted rectangles from a '59 Buick. Gotta wonder if that low front and crazy rake is part of the reason the front bumper's crooked?...
its hard to look at that pic... the front bumper alignment is driving me crazy ;-p I just wanna fix it- I feel like I married this car- been restoring this 58 impala for the last couple years now for a guy in North Branch Mn. Total frame off- did all the metal work/ bodywork/ paint etc- its in storage until spring when I'm done teaching and then I'll finish it up. Everything else seemed easy until you get to all of the little stuff at the end... Never really liked these cars that much until now- I guess you get attached a little- i would love to come across a nice 2dr wagon- I love seeing them as Kustoms- Tuck
The 58 with the 54 grill is my favorite Chevy custom ever. The grill corrects the most boring part of the whole car. I had Biscayne when I was in college, but it didn't look like that. It came from Buffalo and among my friends it was widely regarded as the the worst car in North America. The floor was so rusty there was no place to attach the gas pedal, but it was a strong and dead reliable 283. I wish I had it back.
One more thing. Those cars weighed under 3500, not 4500 as the original post reported. Even most Buicks were under 4500 back in the day. but it's still an impressively fast car.
I bought one in 1990 in Dallas for 1800.00.I sold a Benz down there and found this gem with a sign in its dust covered window parked on a side street.I used to buy cars in the area of where I sold something as I could make money driving it back to Omaha,versus being out a plane ticket.That '58 was pretty damn quick for a tired old gal.I stopped in KC to spend the night,and someone left a note on my windshield and after a phone call and a gaze through the KC Star,I was headed back to the Big O in a 70 Monte Carlo.
Ive had that cover hanging on my walls forever...its the 58 (aside) from the American Graffitti car that got me into 58s...I started to clone it but with most issues with divorce and losing my job...had to sell it...But, I love seeing articles like this and knowing that some of these guys actually built cars like this and ran them unlike now a days they barely leave the garages or do laps around the block and actually clock miles racing them...
Here's my version of the 58, had it in 1962, 348 with 409 innards, 4 speed and 4.11 gears... no it wouldn't go over 100 with those gears but off the line... great...
When I was learning how to drive my aunt had the cheap model post car with a 283 and a 3 on the tree,for a 15 year old kid that car seemed quick. HRP
'58 is still one of the best looking Chevrolet's ever made. I've wanted one every since I saw American Graffiti.
That' d be mid 11s on modern tires...The fastest SS/S 409s were running around 112 at Indy in '62. They'd be a little faster at Pomona or Lions, but something smells here... Edit: Just looked it up, Strickler ran 115.68 in a '62 409 A/S at Pomona in '63. The fastest Z-11s were running 119, they were 300lbs lighter than this car, and had cold air through the cowl. Stop and think about this for a minute...
Anybody know if this red is a factory color or custom mix? I would love to paint my '32 this color if anyone has the code.
There were half-mile drags in Riverside. My '57 Chrysler will be a similar build, with an 11:1 392, roller cam, 555 heads, and a Tremec TKO. It might be kinda quick but I don't imagine it will run anywhere near 116 in the quarter mile.
very good point on the 1/2 mile drags, that would explain it. Not saying its impossible that this car ran 116 mph 1/4s in 1963, but considering the best racers in the country, using the same basic engine, with open factory backing, were running slower in Bel Air bubble-tops, which are probably lighter than a '58 Impala full of T&R, you gotta look at some numbers printed in a magazine with some healthy scepticism. Cool car, nonetheless. I just looked at the underhood photo, and I see the corner of a chromed exhaust manifold. So now, we are starting with a 20/25 hp handicap against the examples I posted. At this point I gotta say, the 116 mph claim defies any sort of logic.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^ exactly put. anywhere near this speed was FAST for that kinda car. thats way too much horsepower (if there is such a thing) for that kinda car too. think about this though.... 400-somethin' HP. the 2013 mustangs have around 350-370 and up. thats pretty close, but still its more, in 63', in a 1958 chevy hardtop. this is ONE KOOL KUSTOM.
I love the nose down stance on the 58 Impalas. They almost always turn out cool no matter what the modification.