As summer draws to a close, I’m saddened to see the days become shorter, but I’m also thankful to see the temperatures begin dropping. This has certainly been one of the hottest summers on record for most of the Northern Hemisphere, with Boston in particular experiencing its warmest average July on record. The nights have been especially warm as well, something helped by what’s known as urban heat island effect, whereby the abundance of concrete, steel, and other building materials radiate the heat they absorb during the daytime at night, thus keeping the city pretty sweltering even under the cover of darkness.
One of those such hot August nights recently led to this unexpected sighting. Especially as it is a 1971, I couldn’t help but think of Neil Diamond’s 1972 live album Hot August Night. Featuring many of his greatest hits, including 1969’s Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show, of which “It was a hot August night” happens to be the opening lyrics to.
Now I may be the last person one would expect to be a Neil Diamond fan, but his music I hold near and dear to my heart. When I was a young child, prior to entering elementary school, my weekdays were spent in the care of my loving grandparents, with a lot of time riding around in the backseat of his Oldsmobile. If he wasn’t listening to the Howie Carr Show or her the Irish Hit Parade, they were playing one of their Neil Diamond cassette tapes.
While this 1971 Chevrolet Impala convertible is no 1990s fullsize Oldsmobile, big old American cars in general are very rare in Boston. As one gets out into more rural areas, sure, they’re here and there in small numbers. Yet as for “interesting” cars I see in the city, they’re usually ’80s or ’90s imports, or one of the growing number of modern ultra-luxury or supercars owned by Boston’s large number of wealthy professionals or international college students.
Rare is also how one should describe the 1971 Impala convertible, as for after all, Chevrolet produced only 4,576 examples among some 427,000 total Impalas. Convertibles, while always somewhat of an exclusive bodystyle, faced a sharp downturn in sales by the 1970s, spurred by the onset of ever-stringent crash-safety and rollover concerns, the growing prevalence of vehicle air conditioning, and general changes in consumer tastes.
The fifth generation Impala convertible lasted just two years, elevated to the premier Caprice line in 1973 through 1975, the final year of fullsize convertibles from GM excluding the Cadillac Eldorado. In the words of Neil, “Pack up the babies, And grab the old ladies, And everyone goes…”
Photographed on Gloucester Street in Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts – August 2019
Note: a rerun of an older post.
Related Reading
The Last Full-Size Convertibles – The End Of An Era (by William Stopford)
Did Air Conditioning Kill The Convertible? (by Aaron Severson)
1982 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible – How The Convertible Came Back (And Why It Never Really Went Away) (by Aaron Severson)
Hot summer nights are the best time for a full size convertible. I had a full size Buick convertible I traded for a new 1976 Eldo conv. Night driving, top down, stars above could not be better. That is why I like the night views of this Chevy. My best memories of my full size convertibles where when I lived in Houston and night drives, top down, to a beach house in Galveston, or later, drives on cool summer night drives on Cape Code.
Of course I would have the top down during days, but especially in hot Houston I would drive top down and AC on.
I am not a fan of large convertibles, except for a slow cruise on a hot summer evening. When I was a kid in the sixties, my uncle had an Impala convertible and he took us for a ride on the highway. We were in the back seat and it was remarkably windy and uncomfortable. That was about my only experience in a large convertible with the top down. I have been in lots of roadsters (MGB, Spitfire, Spite) with the top down, but they have not had the same amount of buffeting. Maybe the front seat of the Impala would have been OK.
I`m hearing ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’ by Meatloaf.
An other song who might fit this convertible is “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts who was a top 10 in 1972.
I always wondered how those boys who worked at Cadillac felt about the 1971 Chevrolet. The Chevy boys basically copied Cadillac from the windshield forward.
I finally made it to Boston during high summer vs spring or fall, and I finally understood why every older apartment building had window a/c’s. Brutally hot.
This generation of pre big bumper years Impalas and Caprices looked sharp, especially in convertible or “Sport Sedan” four door hard tops. Somehow the federalized big bumpers (Post 73?) killed the look, just as bad as a W113 Benz or BMW 2002 with them.
Thanx for the Niel Diamond link =8-) .
I find this land yacht to be beautiful .
I really miss cars like this .
My son taught me long ago : you _CAN_ run the AC in a rag top with the top down and it’s nice ! .
-Nate
As the pics are six years old, one wonders the fate of the car. I do like the red inside.
Love me some Old Chevrolets. Love Big, love convertibles. = Win, win, win In my book.