Not mine but just wanted to share this cool storey. A member of a local club owns this 58 Impala,Guys name is Bob, I met him a couple of years ago while parked next to him at a show. I asked him about his impala and he had an awesome storey.at the time he had a 58 wagon, While him and his wife were visiting his brother in law and sister inlaw up north his Brother in law told him of a 58 chevy he knew about sitting in a garage. they loaded up and went to look at it. Bob said ther car was built with all options and had the tri-power 348 under the hood. Looking at the data plate the serial #00001. Storey from the owner was it was a retirement gift from GM to his dad who was a GM exectutive who retired in 58.He drove the car for many years untill his death where it sat in the garage untouched for many more years. Bob said the son said he had no interest in it and just wanted to get it out of the garage. He did'nt want to say what he paid for it but he made a low offer , it was accepted and he made his BIL wait there while he drove back to retrieve the check book from his wife. The car went thru a restoration in 96 and remains as it rolled of the assembly line in 58.It is really a nice ride and gets driven on a regular basis.
He said before the financial problems hit GM a few years back they were contacting him about once a year wanting to purchase it for the GM collection and made a few very generous offers but he turned them down and plans to keep this one
if it is "restored" it is not origional---the value of a pristine origional car far exceeds that of a restored car---maybe i'm just jealous ...
"The car went thru a restoration in 96 and remains as it rolled of the assembly line in 58." How can this happen? It is only original once.
If I am correctly informed I believe that it is correct to say it was #1 but that would apply to that particular GM production plant and not all 58 Chevrolet production. So yes it was the first 58 Chevrolet produced at that plant for that production run- but not the first 58 Chevy or even 58 Impala for that matter. Very nice car though. I would have to double check but I think I am right.
I think it means It had a 1000 dollar wash job. Things like brake system were not upgraded to Disk Brakes. It has a generator not an alternator.The worn spots have been repaired,in and out . May be even a complete paint job.
Whew tough crowd... I know take everything with a grain of salt. as to the extent of the restoration we did not discuss that. and remains as it rolled off the assembly line means every step was taken to assure its as it was built with no changes or upgrades. the only fact I can tell you is that the serial number is indeed 00001. This car is well known in this area and so is it's owner who claims to have have contacted someone connected with GM who varified the authenticity of his claim and that he has the documentation. He occasionally makes the cruisin I will be heading to shortly if he is there I can dig deeper and maybe get more info.
The Jalopy Journal
