Back When a Car Was a Car

I stumbled onto this old Chevy Impala in my travels around Stratford yesterday. It is a 1958 model so next year will be 60 years old. This one is dolled up about as much as you can get. It even has fender skirts which I haven’t seen on cars in many years. What I like about this classic car is the owner has not modified it in any way that I could see. If I see an old car that has been hot rodded out, I just pass it by. Not interested. One personal reason I am fond of this car is my family had a 1958 Chevy but the most basic model you could get – a Biscayne. I am not even sure it had a radio. It was grey in colour and four doors. I loved that vehicle but was only seven when it arrived on our farm. It was our family’s second brand new car, the first being a 1953 Ford. Starting in 1953, and for the rest of their lives, my parents bought a new car every few years.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Author: Jim Hagarty

I am a 72-year-old retired journalist, busy recovering from a lifelong career as an unretired journalist. This year marks a half century of my scratching out little fables about life. My interests include genealogy, humour and music. I live in a little blue shack in Canada and spend most of my time trying to stay out of trouble. I am not that good at it. I also spent years teaching journalism. Poor state of journalism today: My fault. I have a family I don't deserve, a dog that adores me, and two cars the junk yard refuses to accept. My prized possessions include my old guitar and a razor my Dad gave me when I was 14 and which I still use when I bother to shave. Oh, and my great-great-grandfather's blackthorn stick he brought from Ireland in the 1850s. I have only one opinion but it is a good one: People take too many showers.