I was inspired to write after finding this dilapidated 1958 Chevrolet Delray for sale on eBay. I then searched the web for more surviving ’58 Delray 4-doors. Not too many around.
When I see a car like this, I try to imagine the story behind it–why did this particular example survive, while nearly all the others of its type vanished long ago?
This Chevy, located in or near Gallup, New Mexico certainly benefited from the high desert climate, where rain is sparse and road salt non-existent.
This is Gallup, New Mexico. Everything looks brown and sandy–not too many trees. I have an aunt who lives in Albuquerque (140 miles east). Like me, she grew up and lived for a long time in New Jersey where everything is green during the warmer months. She’s used to New Mexico now. On her rare trips back to NJ, she suffers from what she calls “green overload” because in suburban and rural areas all the trees and lawns that surround you are lush and verdant green. We on the eastern seaboard think that’s “normal”.
Delray was the entry-level offering from Chevrolet, and 95,000 4-doors were built, but nearly all of them are gone now. In collector car circles, the 1955-57 “Tri-Fives” became iconic, and the ’58s were kind of skipped over (except for Impalas). The 1959-64s attracted a sizeable following, but a lot of them were adopted by lowrider culture and made into really loco “scrapes” that bounced up and down violently through the use of hydraulics.
These basic, once-common models are the ones that interest me the most because I feel they are genuinely authentic and nostalgic–truly representative of what most people at the time actually lived with and drove. I call them “real cars”. They have a beauty all their own. But trying to find one in unspoiled or unaltered condition–not so easy.
When you compare the ’58 Chevrolet to previous models, you can see why this newest Chevrolet was so popular with the car buying public. The styling was all-new, there was more room, and the ride was much improved. There was newness combined with traditional Chevrolet virtues. Thus, the ’58 was once again the #1 selling car in the USA–1.2 million units. And that #1 success would continue for many years to come.
Among GM’s Monster ’58s, I like the Buick and Oldsmobile best. They look more alert and shinier than the rather “doughy” Chevy. Nicer front ends and taillights too. I guess that was part of the plan: If you want something that looks more elaborate and upscale, you have to pay for it.
So I speculate about the original owner of this car–a bottom-of-the-line ’58 Chevrolet sedan: six cylinder, manual transmission, but with two-tone paint. He (I’m going to use he for argument’s sake) got a solid, dependable car for a low price. Route 66 passes through Gallup, so I’m sure this car frequently traveled along that iconic highway. A ’58 Chevy driver getting his kicks on Route Six-Six.
I don’t know if this Chevy has overdrive, but if so I imagine the owner cruising down those long desert straights, the six cylinder engine pulling smoothly at a lower RPM, and saving a lot of gas and engine wear in the process.
Here’s the Blue Flame Six (also called the Hi-Thrift Six) covered in gritty desert sand.
My ’59 Chevy has the same engine. I’m impressed by how smooth and quiet it is. I just had a tune-up, and it idles in DRIVE as smoothly as a modern engine with electronic ignition and fuel injection. Doesn’t burn any oil either. Chevy’s six had silent hydraulic value lifters, not the mechanical lifters of Ford and Plymouth sixes which tended to clatter.
As you travel the back roads of America, you find all this old, abandoned, derelict stuff. Could be cars, buildings, farm implements–all kinds of what we might call “junk”. Quite a bit of it is historical and interesting. And you know that eventually, probably–the forces of time will consume it all. It will be hauled away or it will decompose back to the Earth itself. But often it takes years, decades, centuries even. In the meantime, it just sits there–a silent witness to lives once lived, hopes and dreams that have come and gone.
Anyway, I found another Delray 4-door online. This one is actually on the road, but with a fair amount of wear and patina. It’s located in Colorado Springs, and the picture above almost looks as if it were taken in the late 60s/early 70s.
Here are two photos taken by Richard Spiegelman in 1992, posted on flickr. Who knows if these two cars still survive:
Lastly (below), here’s the best recent one I found, condition wise. It was featured on the website Bring a Trailer:
This example has a V-8 engine and manual transmission. It sold for $7000 in 2019.
Here’s the 1958 Delray dashboard (equipped with Powerglide transmission); it’s a pleasing one-year-only design. My ’59 Chevy Biscayne has that same steering wheel, but the center horn button is styled a little differently.
People who bought 1958 Chevrolets new probably thought they were getting a car that would stay in style for several model years, since the ’58 Chevy was so completely fresh and new. Boy, were they in for a shock when the ’59s came out! What a radical change, and in so short a time. The ’59 Chevy was “All New All Over Again!” It was (and still is) a polarizing design, with some people loving it, others hating it. But nevertheless, it was “Shaped to the new American taste” with “a lean, clean silhouette, crisp new contours, [and] beautifully restrained accents…more spaciousness and comfort” (according to Chevrolet advertising). All that plus an improving economy boosted model year sales to 1.48 million–and Chevy retained the top spot in the industry.
I personally prefer the ’59 design over the ’58–it’s sleeker, sharper, and much more distinctive than the “loaf of bread” ’58. The Delray name was dropped; 1959’s lowest-priced series was now called Biscayne (the name used for 1958’s “middle-line” models). Finding a nice, original example of one of these ’59 Chevy sedans is also pretty hard to do.
I’ve always found it somewhat disappointing that the main thrust of the old car hobby is toward modifying/customizing/hotrodding rather than original restoration. To me, a ’57 Chevy coupe (or even a sedan) is a beautiful thing just as it is–it doesn’t need all these aftermarket changes. It’s like everyone wants to be a teenage hood, not a “solid citizen” (because that’s not “cool”). Of course, everyone has the right to do whatever they want with their own cars, and I believe people should embrace and follow their passions. I guess it’s just something peculiar to my character, but I find original “real cars” of the past (even with a fair amount of honest wear on them) to be the most interesting of all.
Further CC Reading
Curbside Classic — 1958 Chevrolet Delray Two Door Sedan by Marckyle1964
For Australia, the middle of the Chevrolet passenger car range, the 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne 4 door sedan in RIGHT HAND DRIVE with a 6 cylinder 235 cubic inch engine, three speed manual transmission and unique to Australian GMH assembled examples, a genuine leather interior and 100% Australian wool pile carpet sold as the General Motors – Holden (GMH) top of its passenger car luxury car at nearly three times more than the then working class mass market Holden
GMH sold around 1500 of these RHD ‘58 Chevrolets to wealthy well off Australians. Chevrolet to Australians during the 1950s and 1960s represented pure luxury. Today sadly Chevrolet although still sold in Australia as either Trucks or a Corvette no longer has the same appeal.
It’s was a different time in an Australian 1958 and the few that can recall these facts are getting older by the day.
Yeah they were the GMH range topper but remember that Holdens were the bottom of the market in the GMH ladder they were very cheap middle of the range were Vauxhalls which were much nicer, and yeah no V8 for Aussie until 1960.
Like you, I always found the 58 Chevy fascinating, if only because of its unique 1-year design. I also found it odd that the Del Ray name disappeared after that first year too, though i suppose that was normal then, when the Impala became the new top model in 1959, the old bottom name dropped off and the rest got demoted by one rank.
As one who lives in rust country, it is always a shame to see a rust-free example that is as neglected as this car. I always harbored a desire to buy a car kind of like this and strip it down to its shell as the starting point for moving all of the mechanical and interior components from a clean, low mile old rust bucket from my area. Alas, that is one pipe dream that I have either given up on or gotten smart enough to pass on, take your pick.
JP, having spent the first 40 years of my life in the rust belt, I used to think just like you. But now, having spent the last 20 years in the desert southwest, I see the folly of that thought. A good metalworker can replace any rusty bit of a car with careful and sometimes tedious work. However, the parts that rot out west, especially plastic interior parts, are difficult to source (unless you’re fixing a common old pickup – everything is available to buy for a Ford or Chevy).
If you want to find correct original upholstery, or door cards, or a parcel shelf for a 1958 Del Ray, good luck.
SMS has the upholstery, door cards, etc. I’d take a rust free SW car to restore (and have several times) over a NE rust-bucket any day.
Here’s what caught my eye in this article. Look at the shot of the green & white Delray taken in Colorado Springs. Check out the small house in the left background. I think houses like that are really interesting. I once took an early morning walk around Flagler, Colorado while my family was finishing breakfast at the I-70 Diner and saw several rather decrepit houses like this. Given the stupid housing prices these days one would think that houses like this would be more common… but Americans like BIG. And developers wouldn’t make nearly as much money on a small place as on the McMansions. And there’s zoning regulations too… oh well.
fwiw, I agree with your point about the housing.
Small houses like that still exist, but more often than not they exist in very low-valued areas…just waiting until property values rise and they can be torn down for something more in-line with modern sentiments.
58 Chevs used to be common here only one flavour was assembled locally you got Bel Air badging 283 and tree shift no six or automatics on offer and they sold well after the 57 that failed to attract customers. I like seeing RHD originals on black/silver plates,
This interesting car isn’t worth half the asking price but it’s clearly a fairly easy to resurrect car and a good driver once done .
-Nate
I have a soft spot for ’58 Chevys. When I was around 5 or 6 we had a blue ’58 Bel Air 4 door sedan, and we lived in a small city about 500 miles north of Vancouver. The rest of the family lived in various suburbs of Vancouver, so I spent many hours in the back of that ’58 with my little brother as we travelled back and forth.
I probably got my love of long road trips from those rides. I can still remember the upholstery cloth with little diamond shapes.
My Dad was always one to keep his cars neat, clean and waxed so it still looked good the last time I saw it in about 1969 after we had moved south. To me, the ’69 Ford sedan that replaced it wasn’t nearly as interesting!
I hope this one is going to a good home.
I agree about loving “honest” survivors. I get a lot of people asking me about how I want to modify my old Mercedes. The answer is that I’ll think about it after I restore all of its stock performance.
Maybe that’s your subject for a future post, but what “modifications” are they suggesting?
I’m still pushing for the fryolator fuel conversion. But I’m guessing that you’re referring to something else.
I remember that as a kid, I noticed how big an advance the 1958 Chevrolet was over our 1957 Chevrolet, which looked “old school” already. To me the 1957 was a junked-up looking 1955.
I did immediately notice that Chevrolet had lifted its parking/turn signal design from the twin jet pods of the B-52 bomber.
Note the advertisement: “Of course, as in every Chevrolet, turn signals are standard”. I bet the heater was optional though.
My older brother once owned one just like this one. Bought it from an elderly woman in Fairfield, Iowa, whose husband had bought it new. This was in the late ’80s or so. Well kept original; not immaculate but very solid still, inside and out. He drove it out to Towson, MD. for my younger brother’s wedding.
I’ve never been a fan of the ’58 precisely because it ruined the formula of the tri-fives that I so admired (and still admire): light, lean, efficient, fast; in my book they were the perfect American car. The ’58s were way too wide for their track, making them look like they suddenly put on a lot of weight after their chassis was designed.
But of course I admire any old survivors, although this one may not survive past being a hulk. But that too is a form of survival.
Those cat eyes tail lights and fins on the 59 Chevy are so iconic.
Of the overdecorated 1958 cars from GM, my preference is for the Chevy, especially the models with less chrome such as the Biscayne and this Delray.
Wonder what would have happened if the auto makers stayed the course with the smaller cars and not made the jump to bigger vehicles and wings. Would that have made a difference to the push from imports in future years? What would Detroit have done if they had a time machine and looked at the future and gone back in time?
For some reason, my dad hated the 1958 Chevrolet. He called it “the tank.” As Paul mentioned, the track of the cars didn’t match the width of the body, making it look awkward. It is also interesting that GM would only produce this body style for one year. I guess it shows just how deep GM’s pockets were at the time.
Not a Chevrolet, but my Dad bought a new ’56 Plymouth after getting his chemistry degree that same year. I doubt it had any options…maybe a heater, but no radio, the flathead 6, and 3 speed manual.
A couple years later, he met my Mother, they got married, my sister and I were born, then he got a job at Hoffman Electronics in El Monte, Ca (we were living in Massachusetts). Mom, my sister and I were deemed too young to make the trip by car (we went via prop plane) but my Dad took the Plymouth all the way across country, by himself, carrying some chemical I neglected to ask him what, not sure why but he couldn’t get it in California apparently (not sure why not) and it was needed for his new job. It also needed to be kept cold with dry ice…which you might have guessed ran out somewhere around Needles, Az. He went to a military base (he got to go to college on the GI bill) and when he explained his situation to the guy at the gate, they quickly found some dry ice for him…they were aghast that he’d carry such a thing. Anyhow he picked us up (not sure where we stayed; we didn’t know anyone in California) and 2 years later when he got a job at Westinghouse and my sister and I were that much older, we all drove with him back to our new home in Pittsburgh in a ’61 Rambler Classic (6). It had an automatic; my Mom was never comfortable shifting a manual even though that’s what she learned on, a ’51 Chrysler Windsor.
He ended up replacing the ’61 with a ’63 Classic, same color…apparently the ’61 was in a bad sandstorm and Dad didn’t think to get it repainted, he was concerned that the body would rot after we moved back to the rust zone.
I’m sure he took 66 both ways…the first house he ever bought (for $5000) was in Glendora, not far from Foothill Blvd, which was also part of 66 back when it was still around.
None of those cars are very common now, though back then I think the ’56 Plymouth was pretty popular and Ramber was probably in it’s heyday. He never bought another Plymouth (though he did have a couple Dodges in a row much later) nor did we own any AMC after the ’63 got T-boned in front of our Motel after we’d just vacated our house in Catonsville preparing to move up to Vermont (the first time)…some guy waved my Dad to turn left in front of him into the Motel entrance on Rte 40 but the guy in the other lane didn’t and plowed into the side of the ’63.
We finally made it back to Southern California on one of the few vacations that didn’t somehow involve relatives, 20 years ago. We stopped to see that first house they’d bought and they were gracious enough to let my Mother take a look inside (while my Dad and I tried to look like lawn furniture or trees waiting for her out front. Dad and I had been to California on business trips (though never stopped in Glendora) but my Mom hadn’t been back in 45 years since we left in our ’61, going back on 66.
Not a Chevrolet, but my Dad bought a new ’56 Plymouth after getting his chemistry degree that same year. I doubt it had any options…maybe a heater, but no radio, the flathead 6, and 3 speed manual.
A couple years later, he met my Mother, they got married, my sister and I were born, then he got a job at Hoffman Electronics in El Monte, Ca (we were living in Massachusetts). Mom, my sister and I were deemed too young to make the trip by car (we went via prop plane) but my Dad took the Plymouth all the way across country, by himself, carrying some chemical I neglected to ask him what, not sure why but he couldn’t get it in California apparently (not sure why not) and it was needed for his new job. It also needed to be kept cold with dry ice…which you might have guessed ran out somewhere around Needles, Az. He went to a military base (he got to go to college on the GI bill) and when he explained his situation to the guy at the gate, they quickly found some dry ice for him…they were aghast that he’d carry such a thing. Anyhow he picked us up (not sure where we stayed; we didn’t know anyone in California) and 2 years later when he got a job at Westinghouse and my sister and I were that much older, we all drove with him back to our new home in Pittsburgh in a ’61 Rambler Classic (6). It had an automatic; my Mom was never comfortable shifting a manual even though that’s what she learned on, a ’51 Chrysler Windsor.
He ended up replacing the ’61 with a ’63 Classic, same color…apparently the ’61 was in a bad sandstorm and Dad didn’t think to get it repainted, he was concerned that the body would rot after we moved back to the rust zone.
I’m sure he took 66 both ways…the first house he ever bought (for $5000) was in Glendora, not far from Foothill Blvd, which was also part of 66 back when it was still around.
None of those cars are very common now, though back then I think the ’56 Plymouth was pretty popular and Ramber was probably in it’s heyday. He never bought another Plymouth (though he did have a couple Dodges in a row much later) nor did we own any AMC after the ’63 got T-boned in front of our Motel after we’d just vacated our house in Catonsville preparing to move up to Vermont (the first time)…some guy waved my Dad to turn left in front of him into the Motel entrance on Rte 40 but the guy in the other lane didn’t and plowed into the side of the ’63.
We finally made it back to Southern California on one of the few vacations that didn’t somehow involve relatives, 20 years ago. We stopped to see that first house they’d bought and they were gracious enough to let my Mother take a look inside (while my Dad and I tried to look like lawn furniture or trees waiting for her out front. Dad and I had been to California on business trips (though never stopped in Glendora) but my Mom hadn’t been back in 45 years since we left in our ’61, going back on 66. Dad is gone now, but his last 2 cars were Impalas, the last of which my younger sister took over after my Mom (who’s 94 now) stopped driving a few years back.
The green and white car, with the historic VA plates (and the Hokie window sticker!), reminds me of the cars of my very young youth. First, how the car clearly sits on VA land that you’d recognize if you’re from that part of the world; but second for the fact that my mom’s family were avid fans of Chevrolets of all types and vehicles such as this (although I’m struggling to remember if they actually had a ’58) increasingly littered their property as the cars were owned, driven, and died…the dead ones being parked under one tree or another in perpetuity.
Owing to their commonality, these were the used cars of my young youth. And I suppose when I was born, they were the 3 year old cars that probably were literally everywhere.
The Impala had three tail lamps on each side of the canted fender, lesser models The Bel-Air, Biscayne, and Delray had two each side.
The Impala appears to have a ‘wider’ area of the rear fender to accommodate the individual lamp setup, yet the other series appear to have a smaller area with the lamps in a bezel.
Did Chevrolet actually tool up for separate rear fenders on the Impala than for the lesser models, or is this a optical illusion?
Yes, the Impala had it’s own quarter panels and deck lid as well.
My first “real” car was a 58 Del Ray 4 door: 6 cyl., 3 speed stick. Purchased in 1965 for $375. from a Chevy dealership used car lot. It was half the price of a similar 57. I drove it hard for 4 years and it held up well.
My Dad’s first new car was a two tone 58 Brookwood, 6 with a PG, radio,heater and white walls. Sharp. I remember it fondly and even keep a photo by my bedside. Within 10 years it became a rusted hulk due to road salt, leaky weather stripping and a lack of front fender liners. In discussions with him later in life, he felt let down by it’s build quality and issues with it from day one. Couldn’t compare to his tank like 47 Fleetline with vacuum assisted shifting that still ran great and looked good after 11 years…