Way back in 2009, in CC’s prior incarnation, I found a red ’59 Chevy Biscayne sitting at the curb in my neighborhood, just two blocks from where my cluster of rentals are. And now in 2022, it’s back, this time in the driveway of one of my rentals.
It’s a small world after all...
This is how it looked back in 2009. No, it hasn’t changed much, which is a good thing, as I rather like it just how it is: in decent shape but a bit ratty, and with an attitude.
I had a new tenant move into “Big Pink” there across the street last fall, and it turns out he’s a car guy. He told me about the immaculate ’59 Ford he previously had, and how he was looking for another car from that era. A few months later he told me he found a ’59 Chevy to buy out in Veneta, to the west of Eugene. A red Biscayne, actually. And then I told him about the one that used to live in this neighborhood, so he looked it up on CC and said “That’s the same car I’m buying!”
Wonderful! We need us some more genuine vintage iron around here, as they’re getting a bit scarcer. And what’s better than a bat-shit crazy bat-winged ’59 Chevy?
What other car would inspire this? No, it’s not a wrong-way driver. This was then-Phillip (now Pippa) Garner’s first major collaboration with the Ant Farm, flipping the body of this ’59 Biscayne front to rear. It must have raised some eyebrows in San Francisco traffic. This was shot on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Maybe I should talk Gideon into flipping the body of his front-to-back? I’d offer to help…And a four door would make it easier to get into the driver’s seat.
I’d love to take to it for a spin, ass-backwards. I wonder how the view is over those wings?
This is no Camry. And I’m proud to have it back in the ‘hood.
Here’s my full CC on this car:
Curbside Classic: 1959 Chevrolet Biscayne – The Original Art Car
That’s a pretty wild sled right there. I even love the 1970’s jacked up rear/rake to it. Id have to ditch the rusty wheels and get some blackwall tires. Black steelies with dog dish caps. Or keep the 70s look going with some grey slot mags.
Wonder whats under the hood, as Im sure that floor shift isnt stock.
Great article! Wheel update;)
If there was ever a classic example of my theory of how high volume normalizes bad styling, it’s the ’59 Chevy.
I still find it hard to believe someone signed off on building such a crazy-looking car (from the rear view, anyway). I mean, there’s been plenty of batty-looking cars before and since, but none I can think of that were this ultra-mainstream, expected to sell 1.5 million a year.
I would say it’s a tie between a 59 Chevy and a 59 Buick. Depending upon your mood, the Buick can look quite menacing. And now that I think of it, the 59 Buick front end/grille looks like it might have ” inspired ” the 61 Plymouth front end/grille.
I’m not sure I’d call it a ‘panic’, but the 1957 Forward Look cars with their big tail-fins from Chrysler really caught GM off-guard. There was nothing they could do about the new cars for 1958, but there was a crash program to get something similar into GM showrooms for 1959, and this was the result.
And the 1959 Buick wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. There was a CC once with some clay mock-ups of ’59 Buicks with a third, dorsal fin in the middle of the trunk lid…
It looks like it would be right at home in Havana. But I am glad it exists.
Wow, bet that backwards Chevy would cause some commotion!
It did, and it was understandable. I vaguely recall that the biggest issue with the backwards ’59 Chevy was it appeared that someone was driving the wrong way which, at the very least, would be disorienting to other drivers.
I think the cops pulled the guy over in short order. Don’t know if he got a ticket, but I’m sure they let him know not to be doing it, again.
1959 was the only year the lowly Biscayne shared its taillights with the Impala.
Although not as popular as its upscale siblings, these were fairly common back in the day. Basic, full-size, 6 cylinder transportation for those desiring an inexpensive, but reliable new car. Maybe equipped with Powerglide and an AM radio, but nothing else. 312,000 Biscaynes were sold for 1959, a number about equal to the number of Camrys sold today. Not too shabby.
For most of my life, I have admired the near-perfect stylings of Chevrolet. The quality wasn’t always there, or the materials were often iffy, but the styling was often spot on.
The exception is 1959 and 1960. Honest to god, I can’t explain what happened. Read it all, looked at the photos every which way, but I cannot imagine what caused these Chevy stylists to do that. 1960 was an attempt to fix 1959, without success, but 1959 – geesh.
Agreed on “what were they thinking?” regarding design.
Come to think of it, ’59 brought out some weird designs in the GM lineup. I would include Ford as well.
My high school friend had a ’59 Impala 4 door flattop hardtop, given to him by a doting Aunt who could no longer drive.
6 cylinder engine, Powerglide, power steering, factory A/C. White exterior that made the fins resemble angel wings, buckskin brown cloth and vinyl seats.
Compared to my ’67 Corvair Monza, at the time I couldn’t comprehend how he could pilot this long, wide monsta between 2 parked cars on either side of the street.
He and I made rude fun of this “Old Lady’s Car”. He traded it in on a Vega hatchback upon our high school graduation; saying he wanted a reliable car for the 65 mile ride to LSU in Baton Rouge. (Man, was he ever surprised & disappointed!)
Today I would dearly love to have this car, in the one owner condition it was in 1972.
While the lower-tier, six-window 4-door sedans are rather ungainly, the look is improved by the lower roof of the upper-range ‘flat-top’ hardtop versions with their Studebaker-like wraparound rear window. There are still those goofy batwings, but at least the overall appearance is somewhat more cohesive.
Plus, there’s that rear window visor, a feature that was carried over onto the Corvair 4-door. If nothing else, those rear window visors helped shield the backs of the rear seat occupants’ necks a bit from the sun.
Some of you have seen this already, but if you want to see a 56,000 mile original example in nice shape, here it is. (The color is “Cameo Coral”)
I notice that the Biscayne featured in this post has a bright metal drip rail along the roofline; all other ’59 Biscaynes I’ve ever seen have a painted one.
It does look better with the drip rail trim. Enough to make you think the Bel Air was overdone. Different assembly plant, perhaps? Or maybe it was an option (at extra cost).
Given it’s age, looks rather well. Hope it can be restored to some glory.
My 4th grade teacher in military school, Mrs Luton traded her 1954 Chevrolet for a new 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne, beige in color. We thought it was the “cats meow”. She could put 5 boys in the back seat, three up front (I call shotgun!) for outings. It did have an AM radio! It rode like a boat on gentle waters, floating down the road. Knowing her thriftiness she probably ordered the six cylinder.
Vancouver BC has a ’60 Biscayne (or Bel Air) presently roaming the streets. These are rarer than a Aventador and cooler too.
Mention of a ’60 Chevy always conjures up images of Bob Seger and his iconic song.
The guy who wrote, “This Land is Your Land?” He drove one?
That’s Pete Seeger. A ’60 Chevy is in the lyrics to Bob Seger’s 1976 song Night Moves.
‘Workin’ on mysteries, without any clues’ – a memorable lyric. 🙂
Looks just like my first car, except that this one has an all-steel body while mine was 50% rust in 1966.
As it happens, backwards driving was a favorite activity when all the gang was in the car. We’d turn on the wipers and go around and around a cul-de-sac backwards. I don’t remember how this hobby started, but it was fun.
Great to see this one still on the road—and with a devoted owner. In Great Lakes winter salt country, the car would’ve looked worse by the late ’60s, I swear.
I can’t bash the styling, because I remember these as ubiquitous. Same with ’59 Ford and Chevy/Ford 1960s as well.
In 1959, everyone *knew* who Pat Boone’s TV sponsor was:
Was the only 4 door hardtop the flattop? An image search shows the 6 windows are all sedans with framed glass. I guess the C bodies got the 6 window hardtops exclusively.
It looks like someone swiped the “Biscayne” emblem off the front left fender, if that was what was there before in the front of the side moulding. Awesome this is still roaming the streets over sixty years after leaving the factory. Who needs inner door cards anyway?!
It would be great to learn how many miles this car has travelled. We may never know.
Love that you have a house called Big Pink. I hope it’s in the rental agreement that the album gets played at least annually, in tribute. 🙂
Time to dig out some vinyl out of the basement.
Nice old batwing we only got the fourdoor locally assembled and Bel Airs no Biscaynes and very few if any had the six 283 manual was the standard model not even the automatic made it here, of course now every trim option under the sun has showed up used but RHD originals are the ones sought after now, ironic really once upon a time it was the cars we couldnt get that commanded the big money.