I had a 1966 Chevrolet Impala when I started teaching 40 years ago this month. It's no wonder, grandpa and dad were fairly devoted to their Chevrolet's. They were popular cars in those days and Chevy sold a million of them in 65.
Mine was white with red interior and looked like a state patrol car. One night we got a flashing light from the fire department and pulled over our friends. Now they would lock you up for those antics.
It had the famous 283 cubic inch V8 engine and 3 on the tree as we called it, a manual 3 speed transmission with the shifter on the steering wheel post. I remember buying it from Barry Chevrolet in West Union, Ohio, they have been out of business for several years now.
It turned out the car had been wrecked and repaired and that was why it was such a "bargain." It would head for the ditch and it took two hands to keep it on the road. You would have thought we would have noticed that before we signed the papers?We found a frame shop to straighten the frame and after that man got done with it, it drove as well as any car I ever owned.
I ended up selling it to one of my former students, he always liked that car when he was in my class and he drove it for years and years after I was done with it.
Chevy still sells the Impala and we will get one for a rental sometimes. Of course you would hardly recognize the car after 45 years of changes. I guess after selling 7 million of them it's a hard nameplate to drop.
That 55 Chevy Bel Aire two door post or sedan was still one of my favorites.
Ed
The old Chevys just keep getting more popular as time goes by. Your Impala was the big brother to my little Chevy II. 3 on the tree and six in a row. Kind of fun to step back into the sixties every time I fire it up.
ReplyDeleteMy little brother had one of those but he put a big V8 and big wide tires on the back to try and keep it between the ditches!
ReplyDeleteMy dad always drove Pontiac's. When I was 16 and looking at my first car dad went with me to a car lot. They had 2 '64 Impalas for around $700 each, bu† Dad thought I should spend the extra $100 for the '65 GTO. Couldn't argue with that!
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have $700 so my first car was a yellow and rusty 59 Chevy 2 door Biscayne, 6 cylinder 3 on the tree. It would do 105 flat out and I had the speeding ticket to prove it.
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