This was taken right around Christmas 1960. We had just gotten a new 1961 Chevy Impala convertible (black with red interior) and took a road trip to Florida for the Holidays. I’m five sitting in the back seat ready to roll, with my mom standing at the passenger door. Note my dad’s “winter hub caps” which he changed from the full wheel covers when he had his snow tires mounted
Is this the “CC” effect again?! Did anyone see the Today show this morning?!
Nice car,I was 3,my brother 5 and sister 1 in 1960.I’m not sure what Dad had then but it would be brown or green and nowhere near as cool as this!
The first car I have any memory of was my dad’s ’56 Olds 98 convertible two-tone teal and white.
Identical to this one…
Nice,what a shame they’re overlooked for the Chevy.I saw one at a show and viewers young and old walked straight past to a 55 Chevy.I like everything about this car especially the colour combo
Wonderful car. Wonderful photo. Wonderful fun. Tell us what happened to the car. I hope they kept it until you were old enough to drive!
No, my dad traded cars every two years. this replaced a ’59 Impala and was replaced by a ’63… and so on. My dad had company cars Buicks then Cadillacs. I did end up with a later Impala, but not a convertible and just my luck, it was the first four-door Impala my mom got because us kids were older and didn’t need the safety of the two-door.
What a coincidence! I salivated over the 1961 Impala convertible on the Today Show this AM! By the badging – the crossed flags – it had a 348.
All I had was a Bel-Air two-door sedan. My buddy painted it Camaro Rally Green in the fall of 1969 while I was in basic training in the USAF!
That car was one rusted-out piece of junk – 235 stick. Rubber mats, but the humps were carpeted! I bought some 1964 Corvair bucket seats, installed them, put in a Foxcraft floor shifter, a friend’s 4-track tape player, colored the gray interior to black, added a ’61 Impala steering wheel & dash padding. painted a Pink Panther character right off the record album sountrack on the dash on the passenger side!
We fixed the rust by acquiring various fenders and body panels and fixed the body reasonably well.
The whole time I owned that car, it had a knocking rod, which finally blew and punched a hole in the block after I left for California, in December, 1969. Sold the car to an associate after my buddy put a 283 in it.
There was an issue with the car – it would quit all of the sudden – we couldn’t fingure out what the problem was, so when I came home on leave in spring, 1970, I felt I couln’t safely risk driving cross-country, hence the decision to sell it.
Another car I do not miss!
I do like the color on that one though.
I’m sorry I missed that Today Show this morning. At one point, in one of my motorcycle phases, I had bought a new Honda and rode it right up to the first snow fall at which point I ran out a bought a $100 Bel Air identical to yours except it was a straight 6, no heat and a nail stuck in the steering column as a turn signal stalk. Got me through the winter until I could ride my Honda again
They really could rust though Ive seen some really rotten Chevies this model wonder why?
You were fortunate in having a mother who didn’t bitch incessantly about her hair getting messed (even under the babushka) when the top was down. We only had one Impala convertible, a ’60, and mom made sure it never happened again.
Lol, it was my mom’s car, she probably put up a stink to get it, we had several convertibles
Fun picture. As if a giant kid is driving the car from the back seat, with his right arm reached out to the steering wheel. (must be the black convertible top, or some bushes in the background.)
Lol, I wasn’t that big. I think I was crouched down with my feet on the seat, probably was told to do that. Sitting, you would have only seen the top of my head.
That’s bushes in the background, you can see a little of the folded top. Doesn’t look like the boot was on
Great picture. How great to have a cool parent who bought a convertible. My parents bought cooler than average cars, but I could never get either of them to do a convertible. I do hope that the “summer tires” were whitewalls, though. 🙂 The poor thing looks a bit drab with those black tires and dog dish caps.
As I think of it, 1961 was an odd year for the low price 3, the poverty-spec versions were just not that attractive while a decked-out hardtop or ragtop could be quite good looking. The gap was probably widest on Fords.
Yeah, my dad always changed the caps with the snow tires, he just wanted to keep the whitewalls and wheel covers looking nice.
My parents always had nice cars, but my mom drew the line when my dad came home with a Corvette. That lasted less then a week, as did the silent treatment my mom gave him
My mother once bought a set of blackwall snow tires for her 72 Cutlass Supreme. They looked awful on that car (which was like 5 months old at the time), especially since she left the front whitewalls on. 5 minutes after having them home, she had buyer’s remorse about not springing for the slight extra cost of the whitewalls. Those damned blackwall snows survived to grace the 74 LeMans as well, but did not look so bad on that car due to being substantially hidden behind fender skirts.