My first car was an "58 Impala two door hardtop. It was a 283 3 on the column. Only thing I did to it was put '63 chevy wheel covers on it. It cost me a whopping $375 in 1965.
Love a mild Kustom 58 CHev and the Pontiac there is great, I suffer from Tri5 overload as there have always been many here in rodding and mostly pretty stock bodied so boring..... they make great door slammer race cars.
Well, you could see this one coming from a mile off. The roofline on the58 is just the tits! Keep 'em comin', fellers! Onward to '59! (don't forget the El Camino's)!
I have to admit I love Mox Miller's car too! Anything with genuine Halibrand Sportmags just makes my mind go numb and my knees go weak.
Maybe not a famous custom, except for a generation of Driver's Ed students: From Signal 30; about the only civilian car in the movie that isn't a fatal wreck. Shaved handles, hood, and front fenders, Appletons, some sort of Eiffel Tower pinstriping on the hood, and no grille or parklights. Cop has the kid test his headlights and high beams; good thing he didn't ask about the turn signals...
I bought a '58 in Dallas back in the early 90s.White,Tri-Power,she was a beauty,but some evil bastage gave me more than she was worth....I was holding out for a Pontiac and ended up with neither.
Yes Mike.....What about a Nice '58 Ragtop? I'd love to see more....especially those sneaky little Lakes Plugs coming out of the Front Wheel Wells........Centurioni9
1958 from Illinois that has been a Custom since new. Shown at the Chicago World of Wheels in the early 1960's. This 58 was street raced, shown and has a great story behind it.
Liked the paint design a little better on the first version. Always had a soft spot for 58's and have owned a couple. The first was an original Belair daily driver. My most recent was a Biscayne that I smoothed out a little, added some Belair roof trim, 50 Pontiac taillights, a 54 Chevy grille and a custom interior. Great cars that were fun and very comfortable to drive.
I totally would have picked this car... as it probably is my favorite '58 ever to see the road... BUT, that car is kind of like family to me as Lee is a good pal. It would have been insestuous.
Don Delgado's Impala was already sporting cleanly frenched headlights and other mods when it appeared at the Sacramento Autorama in early 1959. Drag times were a reported 101 MPH.
Everything Lee Pratt touches is perfect. I first heard his name as a kid when his Buick was in Street Rodder. It was so different than what everyone else was doing it blew me away!
I love 58 chevys started with the American graffiti car and then the next door neighbor brought home a gold 58 sealed the deal the only thing I don't like about a 58 is the way the upper grille trim doesn't line up with the bumper on the sides of the fenders ive wondered why the guys that built customs out of them haven't tried to even that gap out theres not a chevy car built from 55-60 that I wouldn't like to own
Love those 58's. Always turns my head when i see one on the street. But i don't like them enough to want to have one. Personal preferance
Thanks Ryan, this is close to my heart. Now that I am coming home I hope to be able to have some good pics and backyard tech to post up.
I got a 58 im gonna start working on here in a month or so, this is my buddys dads car, his dad bought it and mildly customized it in the early to mid 60s, tube grille, nosed decked, 2x4s on the motor, it was a pretty bitchen, its too bad its gotten as bad as it has. we are using a donor 4 door for the chassis and cowl and floors. It basically had bad storage and had been vandilized and lots of parts stolen including the doors, damn theifs! so its now safe and will be saved. JEFF
Ok, so here is my contribution. I have 58 Chevy 4 door del Ray (Similar to the Byscayne I had in High school) 3 speed/OD with 235. My ideas were done in MSPaint. Although I have a 3D style one I will post later. The first Couple were initial thoughts with Candy Tangerine or Candy Jade Green. Looking for a late 50s Kustom with a modern twist. I plan to put it on a 2006 or newer trailblazer Chassis with all the amenities. Got the idea of the 50s show cars with TVs and Such. So I plan to cram as much stuff from a top of the line totaled trailblazer as I can integrate without making it look like a 58 with a modern interior. (ie lots of hidden goodies). heated seats, 6" Screen under the 6x9 dash speaker and other goodies. So it will be fun to drive, kool to show and still have a inliner. 4200 I6 with 350 to 400 horse. The plan is is to make it a traveling vehicle that I can tow an old Shasta Camper with and be able to, if god for bid it breaks down on vacation, just take it to a shop to have it worked on. Also a daily driver with decent Gas mileage. I sorted through the wiring schematics already. It is a hell of a thing to take the trailblazer harness with 30 pages and convert it to the 58s with 2 pages, lol. Can't wait to actually lay them out in front of me and piece them together. Now I also want to build a 2 door later down the road and that one will be all old school to include a 6-71 supercharged 409 or 496. link to my facebook page with thought and ideas for my 58. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150106789173458.278385.701323457&type=1&l=e8b6fdf935 Not sure if I should stick with scallops or panel paint. The exhaust tips will be Tailgunner B52 for the Jet age look, wide whites and wires. Paint is a spin off of Scion color that looks black until the light hits it and lights up deep red and Gun Metal Gray. The roof for sure will be panel painted. All work will be done by me. It may take a while but I will throw a progress Topic up to show you when I get started. I need to wait for a house with a garage or rent one first. The Chassis from the Trailblazer EXT needs to be chopped 11.5" I believe. Lucky enough it is a two piece where the Rear frame section slides into the Front so it should be easy. My Dad can weld anything so I will task him with the frame work.
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