It was the start of an epic journey, but with a couple of turns that led to dead ends. For ’58, Chevrolet rolled out the all-new Impala — officially the Bel Air Impala — and created a legendary model that would persevere until 2020 (with breaks in the ’80s and ’90s). This all-new flagship rode on an X-frame chassis, shared with Chevrolet’s entire full-size line. It was a fairly avant-garde design at the time, allowing cars to hug the road closer than a body-on-frame arrangement. Ultimately, though, it was a dead end as Chevrolet pivoted to perimeter frames in ’65, then eventually, unit-body.
The ’58 Impala’s top-of-the-line engine was the new Mk I big-block displacing 348 cu.in. and, by mid-’61, the 409 cubic inches that the Beach Boys harmonized about. The Mk I big-block was designed to provide effortless low- and midrange performance, particularly when outfitted with power-demanding accessories like an automatic transmission, an A/C compressor, and a compressor for the optional air suspension. But the “W-engine” too was a technological dead end, surpassed by the ’65 Mk IV and its free-breathing porcupine heads.
Photo: Hemmings Auctions
So with all of this baked-in obsolescence, not to mention living in the shadow cast by the ’57 Chevrolet, the ’58 Impala must be a car that collectors have avoided like potholes or tight parking spaces, right? Wrong. The ’58 is as iconic among Chevrolet enthusiasts as the ’57 is to the rest of the population. It was a one-year only model with a style all of its own: more massive looking than the Tri-Five cars and not as flamboyant as the ’59s or the slightly more toned down ’60s. The “baby Cadillac” nickname that these cars earned when new was apt, because they did bear a resemblance to GM’s top models.
In the name of exclusivity, the sporty Impala was available only as a sport coupe or a convertible. Naturally, convertibles draw a premium today, as do 348-powered cars — particularly with triple two-barrel carburetors. (A ’58 Impala with a fuel-injected 283 would also be a high-dollar, high-demand car but we’re focusing on the 348 here.) As of this writing, the Impala convertible with a three two-barrel 348 pictured here was up for bid on Hemmings Auctions. The car was restored, and the seller pointed out that the three-carb 348 wasn’t original to the car — it had rolled out of the factory with a 283. This bit of honesty is a good thing because it isn’t difficult to turn a small-block car into a big-block car as the VIN numbers only differentiate between six cylinders and V-8s.
Photo: Hemmings Auctions
At Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach sale in 2022, a Rio Red ’58 convertible with a three-two-barrel-topped 348 changed hands for $275,000. Lest you think the market for every 1950s American car has been flat for the past decade, that same Impala convertible sold for $105,000 at Mecum’s Dallas sale in 2014. Classic.com estimates that the average value of a 1958 Impala is $79,594 — that lumps convertibles and sport coupes together. The highest price recorded recently was that Rio Red example sold at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach and the lowest was a scruffy-looking sport coupe with a non-original three-two-barrel 348 that sold on an online auction for $16,000 in 2021.
Chevrolet’s X-frame full-size cars might not have stood the test of time when new, but they’ve thrived as collector cars. Will market values wane as the baton is passed from one generation to the next? Possibly. But there’s still interest in these cars among Gen Xers (the writer of this article included), so for the foreseeable future the ’58 Impala will remain a great collector car to buy and hold onto.
Photo: Hemmings Auctions
Average 1958 Chevrolet Impala values according to Classic.com:
- 2023 $75,600
- 2022 $75,573
- 2021 $69,162
- 2020 $59,332
- 2019 $52,518
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