The ‘58 Impala, code name “Moby Dick”, was one of those whims that probably never should have happened. While on my “find a Boss and a Z/28 quest”, I kept seeing these cool looking Impalas that I wasn’t really familiar with. I’d always been a tri-five guy but there was something about the ‘58’s that really caught my eye.
I sent a few pics to a friend and car nut in Selah who said, “yeah, just like American Graffiti” – in fact, I know someone in Selah who’s looking to sell one. Huh? Really?
So upon getting back home I got in touch with the gal who had had this white 348 ‘58 Impala for years, was looking to sell as it was just too big for her to drive, but it had been tied up in a legal battle for 7 years already over disputed ownership. I took it out for a spin and it had the usual creaks and groans of a 60+ year-old car, but was pretty cool and still had the old diamond plastic over the original seats.
I pestered her for a year and one day, on a Friday, got a call that the courts had ruled in her favor and it was titled in her name – the following Monday I showed up with the money and Moby Dick became mine. First stop was the shop of a mechanic friend who pointed out a ton of stuff to fix, so I promptly ordered all the suspension and power steering rebuild parts, tranny and engine seal kits, carb rebuild kit, wheel bearings/weals, pinion seals, body mounts, etc. And, they promptly arrived and sat in boxes on a shelf for over 4 years while I focused on other cars and honey-do home remodel stuff.
Finally the day came that I decided to dive into it, and the one week job ended up taking well over a year, as is usually the case with my projects. Full new front suspension, rear suspension bushings, totally new power steering system, rust repair in the battery tray and spare tire storage area, body mounts, transmission seal/new vacuum modulator, engine seals, carb rebuild, detailing galore, completely redid the interior, the list goes on and on.
Since it was never driven, was really not my “muscle car” preference, anyway, I ended up selling it after all that work.
