I was a kid in Detroit at this time. I remember that at 7am the side street was packed with cars taking their owners to work. No foreign cars. Hey buy American AND support your neighborhood. Cool
Yes there wer many great body styles during the 50's and 60's era, but build quality and materials used improved greatly later on in the 90's to current.
In the early '60s I got a pink Corgi Toy version of a 1959 Chevrolet and it immediately became my favorite of the model cars that I had. It made me pay more attention to the real '59 Chevys still being driving around. I still have it. I kept it in as good shape as possible and never intentionally banged it into anything to scratch it.
North Tarrytown N.Y. assembly plant. 1896- 1996. My father was a nurse who worked here from 1961-1969. He told me that he had a golf cart. If someone got injured, he would get a phone call. He would use the cart and drive to the area in the plant to assess the injury and take necessary action. I remember him telling me that most of the injuries were cuts and impacts. He said that he would "stitch the guys up right at their work stations" or "put a splint on" then most would go right back to work. We had a Chevy when I was growing up that he knew was assembled in Tarrytown. These are photos from a LIFE magazine article, I wish I could see them all.
@Dan Jackson Chevy’s 283 was a magnificent little motor that you can actually get great gas mileage. The one in our 64 impala only had one rebuild because it was left outside without a hood and had gotten rain in it. In most cases reliability depends on how you hard you are on your vehicle.
@Dan Jackson damn son you don’t have to hate so much on a simple comment, of course they weren’t made as good as cars now a days but they sure did look a lot better then these ugly trucks and cars
That was absolutely wonderful. I loved the color images-seeing those 1959 masterpieces assembled. Thank you for putting that together with the beautiful voice of Dinah Shore.
bought my first new car,.. a 1959 convertible, 4 speed on the floor, with a optional 348 engine rated at 250HP...it was a beautiful beige. a timeless design.
My first car in 1969 was a 59 Chevy Impala 283 great car for $100 dollars. :) as I watched this I was wondering if my 59 was in one of the photos, that would be cool, some 50 years later to see your first car being made!
This one made me cry. My dear father owned the 1959 Chevrolet Parkwood station wagon. It was a beautiful blue. He had that thing until a year before he passed away. It still ran beautifully. It would still have been in perfect shape, but it was crashed into by a truck carrying fertilizer. Of all things! But I miss that old car. And it was so easy to work on - all that room under the hood. You felt so safe in it and it was so well made. Haven't ridden in anything better since. And by the way, I'm just about 5 ft tall and learned to drive on that great big car! Thank you so much for this video!
The man doing the commentary around 2:30 was a Canadian named Joel Aldred. He was a Squadron Leader in Lancaster bombers in WW II. He started with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation after the war and became the voice of many big, American TV shows including The Jack Benny Show and Bonanza. I met him about 10 years ago. He lived to be about 95.
thanks for sharing one photo looked like the tarrytown ny plant with the railcar in the background. 59's are cool looking 66's are my favorite i drag race 2 of them
Amazing what we once built in this country. I suspect the buildings shown in the pictures are derelict and abandoned now if they still stand at all. Today it seems all we can do it take in laundry and turn out hamburgers.
You sure got that right! Having grown up around manufacturing and living in a General Motors family, what I see now is disgusting. I am so sick and tired of looking at ugly rec centers, parks, classrooms, and pregnancy clinics. I wish they would all close and turn into parking lots, just like our beloved factories did.
It still is, as a Canadian your economy completely trumps us. Military expenditures for Canada in 2015-2016 are 14.42244 billion USD, the US allocated 580.3 BILLION USD....... So yah, how many nuclear-powered super aircraft carrier`s do you have about 8 of the bloody things.......
Yes I fully agree with you! I had family that lived in Detroit and work at the auto plants there. Things really started turning bad during the late 60's and it never got any better up until now, sadly.
Wrong. These were junk at 100,000 miles even without the rust. In the 1970s they were $50jalopies and demolition derby cars. Today’s examples are rare and valuable because so few survived. They were painstakingly restored at several times their assessed value. And they are carefully trailered to events and driven only short distances on sunny days. In a frontal offset collision with a 2009 Chevy Malibu... the 1959 Impala was completely destroyed in an IIHS safety test.
I agree. But honestly, they weren't built as well as cars are now for dependability, long life, and safety. But as its been said, they were selling us dreams back. And the public loved fawning after and obtaining these sheet metal dreams.
@@fleetwin1 surrending all of your ambitions just because he singled you out and made you feel bad for liking an older automobile. Don't pretend it isn't common to be insulted constantly for not liking Tesla's and modern SUVs. Anything past 2010 and people freak out. They are bunch of naive idiots, I drove these automobiles when they were brand new, not 1999 brand new I mean 1954 brand new (the first year of my first car). I have all my facts and experience of 70 automobiles from 1906 to 1970, I laugh when I see comments like these because I literally know all there is about them. I've driven a Ford LTD 1968, a Ford Thunderbird 1975, Cadillac 1961, Buick 1958, Nash 1941, Oldsmobile sedan 1906, Chevrolet Royal mail roadster 1913, Hudson sedan 1930, I spent one day in 1956 with a friend were we switched between all his Mustangs all brightly colored to 1950's paints such as Alpine blue to Matador red irid. He had one extremely wealthily painted by a talented Craftsman (most likely born around the 1870s) who painted one Champagne gold with a two tone of dark iridescent (metallic) sky blue. White wall tires and Cadillac hubcaps. It was prettier than a Imperial 1964 in that elegant signet Royal ruby color/hue. Now that people have tried driving these automobiles 40/50/60 years after their release, I'd like to give them the offer of driving them when they are brand new, instead of taking piles of beautiful now turned rusted ruined junk, and calling that a comparison to current cars.
These fabulous cars were brand new when I was born & I remember when the 1959 Chevrolets were everywhere. My first car was a 59 2-dr Impala in 1977. Exciting car.
Wow! Excellent retrospective! I have ton of respect for any guys who worked on these mass production lines, regardless of which company. They had a really tough job, especially since these lines could never stop moving, unless they broke down or in an emergency.
Yes it was a tough job but the pay was good,It started at 100 dollars a week which for 1957/was a very livable wage, if you were transferred to the night shift it was 105 dollars a week. Unless the “ line” broke down it did not stop, you had about 5 feet to complete your “ operation” one of my jobs was to put the rear shocks on the 1958 model think about it, 500 cars a shift, two shocks per car that’s 1,000 shocks a shift, I’m not making this up and the shocks had to be in an open position ,I was 19 years old when I got home I was barely able to eat dinner I was so tired I hit the sack and slept like death warmed over. But it was a good time of my life. I had my youth.
@@vitosanto3874 if a shift is 8 hours work thats every 50 seconds one schock...i believe you felt a sleep instant,you did a good job.I wish i can travel in time and visit your workplace of that time.I like old usa cars.In the 90s i had a impala sport coupe 59,now i have a bel air 56 convertible,good cars built by good man👌take care,grtz from Belgium
@@peterducodil9890 Thanks for the compliment, you are spot on with your estimate of timing to install the shocks,it took about two minutes to install both the rear shocks.Its hard to. Imagine that it could be done in that short period of time,and remember the line is moving. When you are first assigned the operation you can’t imagine how it can be done ,but after a week or so you don’t even think about it, you just do it. Add to the mix the constant noise of all the air powered impact hand tools. Sparks flying from the welding ,smoke in the air,guys yelling ,but as I said before the pay was good and after about a year or so of seniority your job was secure from a lay-off.
It was so exciting to watch a brand new car or truck then. Today you see a Lincoln from the back and if you can't see the logo you think it's a hunday or kia. Wtf
My parents owned a white '59 Chevy 4-door with blue interior, in 1964. It crapped out on us somewhere in Indiana, on the way back to TN. I still remember mom and I getting on a bus and seeing it sitting there as we pulled off. I never did find out what went wrong with it... Dad apparently fixed the problem, since we still had it after my sister was born in '65. Damn was that a long time ago. lol
Such an UNSAFE vehicle. View the 59 Chevrolet crashing offset front end with a newer Malibu. The 59 crunches back into the front seat area, devastating design as to safety.
that's real cool, did you buy a new Chevrolet from '57 to '60 ? That must've been exciting. I bet you got a good deal, my dad bought a new '57 Bel Air & ordered it straight from GM because he said it's a better deal & cheaper than buying from the dealer.
Hard working Americans making great cars for their fellow Americans. See the U.S.A. in your new Chevrolet 1959 Impala, a V~8 for the price of a straight 6! Available in a rainbow of durability proven brilliant colors.
This was 40 years before I was born (born in 1999) but I definitely have more appreciation for the cars from the 50’s to the 80’s than I do for the cars that are around currently. Wouldn’t loose a bit of sleep if ALL modern cars disappeared and were scrapped and were replaced with cars from the 50’s to the 70’s. Never really liked modern cars and they’ll never appeal to me since they don’t have any defining styling and are overall bland. They simply will NEVER make cars like these again with the combination of too much corporate greed, government intervention and careless consumers.
Be nice if the classics came back again but only the rich can buy them. Chevrolet was the poor man's Cadillac the working man's car. They were not luxury cars & you shouldn't have to be rich to buy a Chevrolet. America had a thriving middle class back then & now America has returned to the 1930's Rich & poor. You're right we'll never see that again.
Say what you want about build quality, but the styling of this era puts today's cars to shame! Now, every car, regardless of manufacturer, looks like an egg and you can't tell one model year from the next. Yes, as you moved into the 1970's every vehicle seemed to become a land yacht, but at least there was still some uniqueness of style from marque to marque!
Nah 70s cars were just bland cereal boxes that people had to deal with during the Oil Embargo. Today's cars are not even that bad. I've looked at every new model and none of them are close to looking like eggs
@ddellwo Okay, I will say it, those car's build "quality" was sorely lacking! Very few of those cars would make it to 50K miles without MAJOR ENGINE work, unlike cars of today (even the econo-boxes) can easily make it past 100K miles with just routine maintenance!
@@otom20 Yes, the oils back then were terrible and provided little protection, and no friction modifiers at all. Also, the metallurgy was nowhere near as good as now. But, those old cars had character and the styling was great.
Australia imported a few of these, my DAD had two of them and took them out to the trash, back in 1980, and now they are worth over 100K each, in original condition ? Also there were in Original condition at the time he thrown them out with the trah, all they needed was a little love and a polish and a little engine and transmission care and the things would drive, basically new oil's and battery and off you go driving a right hand drive 1959 chevy bel airs with rear indicator on each side of the large wings on the back, they were white and light blue in colour. :)
Yes that's right, I saw a right hand drive '59 Chevy Bel Air in England & I also saw a '60 Chevy Impala 4 dr flattop in England both cars from Australia. I lived in England & I'd love to own a right hand drive '59 or '60 Chevy.
Yeah...Unions wanted robots to take away jobs. Seriously?? BTW,those guys you see on that line had HIGH paying jobs which for most meant a NEW home,wife didn't have to work etc because of Union wages.
Not exactly. I have family working at Honda in Indiana. It Takes 500 people five hours do an 868 different processes to make a Civic roll off every 60 seconds. And there are 238 civics online at one time between five assembly lines. It is also non union and they still make good money.
My entire family (mothers side) worked in auto plants. They were not half as safe as todays cars. But that technology could be easily built into a 59 Impala. But you will not see it. It boils down the profits. To build that car today would put it right outta the price range for most. Why ? Stagnant wages since 1980 brought on wholely by illegals who came here by the millions . How you say? Because the drove & still drive wages down. How? Employers paid them much less because they could get them at half price. Look at labor rates in Tx vs say , Pennsylvania. Or even Iowa ! $10 to $15 less on the hr. Why ? Because the southern states employ 50% of all illegals. But stay tuned. They've infiltrated every state & continue to come. There's no bill to deal with it that will ever pass in Congress. Why? U.S. chamber of commerce loves the cheap labor . Period !
@Wendy Marcum In case you didn't know, those southern states that "employ 50% of all illegals" are REPUBLICAN run! You "right wing" nut jobs are just as STUPID as your fearless leader, "The Chosen One"!!!!
Okay, so I’ll take 2 of each build like off the first run (actually any run.) Then,10 black and red w/large block and standard shift. Then 10 any color combo. Then 10 with blems. Thank you.
The new ones coming out now are junk. Coming soon will be a chip in the computer that tells car it has reached maximum miles and guides it to a junkyard. Really! That's why it's driverless!
For those curious, these photos were NOT taken in Detroit; they were instead taken in Tarrytown New York. Tarrytown is on the Hudson River in Westchester County north of NYC. This plant closed in 1996, the last vehicles assembled there were the 'dustbuster' vans. It's crazy to think that chevy had such a market share to the point where plants in Atlanta, Baltimore Janesville, St Louis, Flint, Oakland, Los Angeles, New York, and Cincinnati were building them.
Cincinnati would be the Norwood Assembly right? I was unaware this photo set was Tarrytown, it’s pretty hard to find any pictures of that plant in the 80d or 90s. What’s even more crazy is that a lot of those plants were also making trucks along side, some literally had the car and truck lines side by side, and at least two plants I can think of had 3 different product lines.
@@TheMW2informer Yes Cincinnati would be Norwood. The full photo set from Tarrytown is on a site called xframechevy, they're really cool to look at. I hear there is a video somewhere of the dustbuster van assembly. I would really like to see what Tarrytown looked like in the '90s and compare with the 1959 photos.
I remember the '59 very well as a kid. We lived in a small neighborhood near the Pease airbase. I was riding my bike looking backwards and ran into the rear of the car, a faded blue Bellaire I guess. I was sprawled across the trunk after I flew off the bike. '65 or '66 I think? Car was built like a tank..
My late uncle's were engineers for GM /Chevy / Pontiac. This was the body that the Corvair came from and on the same assembly line if this was in Detroit
Worked in the GM North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow) NY plant some 30 years after these pics were taken and a lot of it looked familiar. Plant closed in 1996 and was demolished shortly thereafter
True, the '59 & "60 Chevy's didn't become desirable til 25 years later by that time most of them bit the dust. In 1972 I saw a '59 2 dr Impala for sale in mint condition for $800 & the '57 Chevy's were going for $3,000 & more. Because everyone wanted the tri-five Chevy's & the "61 to '64 Chevy's. my first car was a "59 2dr Impala in 1977 in mint condition for $1600 I wrecked it. My 2nd '59 2 dr Impala in mint condition in 1979 was $1375 & I passed on another '59 2 dr Impala in 1980 in mint condition for $1,200 I wanted it but I already had 2 before & it gets old buying the same car. i assumed the '59 Chevy's will always be cheap cars so I took the '59 Chevy's for granted. I've had many other old cars in the meantime I bought one more '59 2 dr Impala in mint condition in 1998 by this time the price was $11,500 i financed it. I used to go to classic car auctions in the 1970's & in 1978 a mint condition "58 Impala w/ 348 sold for $1,400 & in 1979 the same '58 Impala w/ 348 sold for $6,500, I think the movie "American Graffiti" in 1973 had a lot to do with it. Making the '58 Impala's desirable cash cows. But the '59 & '60 Impala's didn't become cash cows til about 1985 by that time they were very scarce. And lots of them were bought up by many foreign car buffs from Sweden, England & Japan & shipped back to their countries. I lived in England & worked in Sweden & I met a car buff who had a large collection of '60 Chevy Impala's he only liked the '60 Chevy's & no other year. Unlike the '55, '56 & '57 Chevy's popular & desirable since day one.
WOW! No safety shoes, no safety glasses or hearing protection either! I saw some guys running around in penny loafers on the assembly line. That would NOT be allowed today under any circumstances today.
You are right, I worked at Tarrytown N.Y. Plant for three years 57-60 did a multiple variety of operations and did them wearing the cloths and shoes I came to work in ,no one ever said a thing ,the concern was that you were at your post when the line started.
@@vitosanto3874 Yes, and sadly some of my old friends that I knew from the old Ford Talbotville Plant are no longer with us. They lived with unnecessary injuries and often times didn't even get to enjoy much of their retirement. It was all about the big bucks and not much of a concern about health and safety. I bet that the cost of insurance got to be so high that the car makers (and other industries) were forced into making things safer and better for the employees.
Wouldn't that be cool walking along the assembly line at every station, picking your cars options......Mine- Roman Red, 2dr ht, 348 4v, 4 speed, black interior, wonderbar radio, dual antennas (that's so cool) anything else?
I had 2 '59 2dr Impala's in 1977 & 1998 in mint condition Roman red paint & red interior. My first one had 283 powerglide power steering, power brakes, & 6 way power seats. Beautiful car until I got into a very bad accident & wrecked it after hearing the news Elvis died. My 2nd one didn't have power seats.
I contend that if any manufacturer had the balls to build a car with this styling today, they could not make em fast enough ! But for some damn reason we've been strapped with discustion European styling since the 1980 ! We're so conditioned to buy these "boxes" with no creativity ! A que might be the throwback styling we scarcely see. Dodge Challenger. Chevy Camaro. Ford Mustang. Retro look that sells like mad. Albeit sports cars. Made a damn coup or sedan like this beauty & watch ! Id buy 1 tomorrow ! But no...we buy what sells in Europe because thats the choice we have ! Note to GM , FORD , CHRYSLER, YOU HELD 60% OF THEIR MARKET (EUROPE) BECAUSE YOU BUILT CARS WITH IMAGINATION . To this day , ppl come from all over the world to buy old school Amarican cars . Sure as hell not buying our cars now !
I had 2 '59 Impala 2 doors in mint condition in the late '70's when they were very cheap. Nobody paid attention until the mid '80's when the '59 Chevy's became desirable cash cows.
+daisyroots Accualy the prices for 1959 chevrolets were between $2247 for no options 2door Biscayene 6 and $4265 for the fully optioned Impala hardtop V8.
Amazing time in auto manufacturing.. Now everything is based on european styling.. And we're being told its what we like.. No . Its much easier to build the wedge shaped ugly cars today. Look at the 59/60 line of auto's . Real style & truely innovative looks.
Thanks for posting this. THIS IS A RATHER LENGTHY POST SO YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! Now after reading thru the comments I'm going to give my take on some of them. First, yes these cars were made of metal. Not some 'snap together' full sized model like most of them are today. Second, whilst modern cars MAY be safer, i.e. better occupant protection, brakes, etc. and may be better for the environment the modern cars do NOT have any sort of styling. Getting back to the 'safety aspect' of old vs. new. It is of my opinion that we have safer cars to simply protect the inept ones who don't actually know how to drive. You may think I've lost my marbles, slipped a gear, am off my rocker or medications, etc. Well this is MY take on 'old vs. new'. So we have newer-ish vehicles that are safer. OK. What makes them safer? ABS? Seat belts? Air bags? Skid control? Crash avoidance monitors? Parking assist? Better brakes? Better tires? Which one(s) of these make a car safer than the 1959 Chevrolet? In 1959 seat belts were an option. Radial tires were not even a thought at the U.S. car manufacturing level. Computers were the size of small buildings or rooms. Car radios and heaters were optional. Automatic transmissions were optional. Drum brakes were standard on all of the U.S. cars and trucks. Single reservoir master cylinders were on all U.S. made cars. Power brakes were an option. Power steering was an option. Passenger side outside rear view mirrors were an option and I'm sure I'm missing some things to go in this list. Now, if we were to take ALL of the new safety equipment and convenience items off of modern vehicles including radial tires what do you suppose would happen? Well my guess is there would be a LOT more accidents and probably a lot more vehicle deaths. Even IF the population was the exact same as in 1959 that would still hold true in my opinion. Why? Because people either don't know how or have forgotten how to properly control their vehicle. They have a false sense of security because the vehicle allegedly corrects for any mistakes made by the inept operator. Also the safety features, i.e. seat belts and air bags (SRS) give them 'warm fuzzies' if they do get in an accident. IF people knew they could face imminent death if the got into an accident PERHAPS they would actually do what they are suppose to do when behind the wheel. Instead we have all sorts of distractions (I'm NOT including cell phones) in modern vehicles. Touch screens for simple items such as the climate control?? Really? What exactly was wrong with simple levers and knobs to control air flow and temperature? GPS?? Um yea, I've NEVER even operated a GPS let alone own such a device. They have these things called 'maps' which don't drop a signal or track my every move I find are pretty useful. Or I simply scribble down some directions on a piece of paper then drive. Yup. I'm simply an older driver (on the road 'legally' for 42 years) with no tickets or accidents that drives a 1993 Ford Festiva (death trap) pretty much every day. No cruise control, no ABS, no air bags. Would really like to have another 1960's era Impala (I've owned 8 of them from the 60's in the past) and may someday find another suitable candidate.
Back when America was great the 59 Impala was my first car & my favorite year design it was so radical even for 1959. I love the 59' Chevy's. I had 3 of them in my time. Back then there was a thriving middle class & financing & credit cards were not as common & needed back then. My dad paid cash for property & built a house in 1958 for 20 grand. He & his brother paid cash for a new 1957 Chevrolet he later bought his bro out. I recall looking at my dads old bank accounts from 1955 to 1958 & he had anywhere from $9500 to 10 grand in his account. He wasn't rich just a working man as he would always say. The only time he financed a new car was when he bought his first new Chevrolet in 1951 to establish credit. I worked at a new car store in 2015 & about 90% of all new & used car sales are financed & rarely is there ever a cash sale. I remember the cash sale for $20,000 in cold cash. Today there is too much financing & too many people in debt & bankruptcy's are all too common now .
The most shamelessly corny part of the extended singing earlier in this clip is the almost improvisational sounding lyrics. Sounds just goofy and as if the singers are just tossing up hail-marys hoping something makes rhyming sense. Everything today is ironic and cynical so commercials like these would be impossible. A more innocent time then when people actually thought about the common good of a thing including a car brand as opposed to our postmodern notion that what's important is constructed by the individual subjectively.
Just to say, I am British, so I am viewing this from a different standpoint. I don't want to get all political, so bear that in mind. I'm just going to come straight out with it... I adore American cars. But, in so many ways, I utterly hate the way the creators of these glorious works of art treat their employees. I'm thinking of GM, primarily here. All across the country, shattered husks of buildings stand, like Fisher Body 21. Quite deliberately before viewing this video, I watched a video on the closing of Lordstown Ohio. The contrast was chilling.
Henry Ford was much worse. You can do the research and learn how horrible he was to his employees, and even threatened to kill employees who wanted to start a union. The guys at GM weren't much better, but they did tolerate labor unions.
@Nicholas Maxim If you like seeing old assembly plants and what’s left of them Look at some of my videos on the local GM plant that was at its time of closure, the largest and oldest plant built 1919 idled 2009, not officially closed until the end of 2015, demolished 100 years after it was opened. It was by far the the number one employer in the area and it is what my hometown is known for. Unlike many other cities that had plants we are building a museum just for that factory. Everyone here knows someone that worked there, and most of them look back at that place with fond memories.
We're these photos featured in a regular issue of Life magazine and if so do you know what month and year ? Looked online but not able to determine origin. Thank you
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When America was a proud productive country! Real cool video , beautiful cars! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 wow Look at all the small blocks and look at all those 348s
From the steel, to the sparkplugs, to the tires. Every single part,.......was
MADE IN THE USA !! I wanna go back in time !!
I was a kid in Detroit at this time. I remember that at 7am the side street was packed with cars taking their owners to work. No foreign cars. Hey buy American AND support your neighborhood. Cool
1959 Impala with the 348 engine beautiful American built American Steel at its finest .. U.S.A
So many curves in metal, so many different body styles, so labor intensive and so little plastic. Wow! How I love old cars. Thanks for the video.
Just don't hit your head on that all metal dash!
Yes there wer many great body styles during the 50's and 60's era, but build quality and materials used improved greatly later on in the 90's to current.
The tail light lenses may have been the only plastic on this car.
@@bobjohnson205 would not dent it, the dash that is😊
In the early '60s I got a pink Corgi Toy version of a 1959 Chevrolet and it immediately became my favorite of the model cars that I had. It made me pay more attention to the real '59 Chevys still being driving around. I still have it. I kept it in as good shape as possible and never intentionally banged it into anything to scratch it.
Beautiful cars notting like classic
North Tarrytown N.Y. assembly plant. 1896- 1996.
My father was a nurse who worked here from 1961-1969. He told me that he had a golf cart. If someone got injured, he would get a phone call. He would use the cart and drive to the area in the plant to assess the injury and take necessary action. I remember him telling me that most of the injuries were cuts and impacts. He said that he would "stitch the guys up right at their work stations" or "put a splint on" then most would go right back to work.
We had a Chevy when I was growing up that he knew was assembled in Tarrytown.
These are photos from a LIFE magazine article, I wish I could see them all.
When the cars were works of art. Magnificence, greatness, bold design, colorful. A dreams factory.
@Dan Jackson Chevy’s 283 was a magnificent little motor that you can actually get great gas mileage. The one in our 64 impala only had one rebuild because it was left outside without a hood and had gotten rain in it. In most cases reliability depends on how you hard you are on your vehicle.
@Dan Jackson damn son you don’t have to hate so much on a simple comment, of course they weren’t made as good as cars now a days but they sure did look a lot better then these ugly trucks and cars
@Dan Jackson you could say the same thing about some cars of today. Some of them are just udder trash.
Dan Jackson ....awwwwwww...now run along and jump in your hybrid
Jobs galore for people,not robots.Worse for the product,but people could afford to buy one.
That was absolutely wonderful. I loved the color images-seeing those 1959 masterpieces assembled. Thank you for putting that together with the beautiful voice of Dinah Shore.
bought my first new car,.. a 1959 convertible, 4 speed on the floor, with a optional 348 engine rated at 250HP...it was a beautiful beige. a timeless design.
My first car in 1969 was a 59 Chevy Impala 283 great car for $100 dollars. :) as I watched this I was wondering if my 59 was in one of the photos, that would be cool, some 50 years later to see your first car being made!
And just think back in the 80s you used to have to pay junkyards to take these cars.
This one made me cry. My dear father owned the 1959 Chevrolet Parkwood station wagon. It was a beautiful blue. He had that thing until a year before he passed away. It still ran beautifully. It would still have been in perfect shape, but it was crashed into by a truck carrying fertilizer. Of all things! But I miss that old car. And it was so easy to work on - all that room under the hood. You felt so safe in it and it was so well made. Haven't ridden in anything better since.
And by the way, I'm just about 5 ft tall and learned to drive on that great big car! Thank you so much for this video!
The man doing the commentary around 2:30 was a Canadian named Joel Aldred. He was a Squadron Leader in Lancaster bombers in WW II. He started with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation after the war and became the voice of many big, American TV shows including The Jack Benny Show and Bonanza. I met him about 10 years ago. He lived to be about 95.
Rob Mackenzie that is great info! :)
He did Matinee cigarete ads too.
Old times when America really was great. The nation had it‘s own industry like this one with nice cars.
59 chevy was coolest design ever! I always admired 1960 buick too.
thanks for sharing one photo looked like the tarrytown ny plant with the railcar in the background.
59's are cool looking 66's are my favorite i drag race 2 of them
When did our world go wrong? Orderly and disciplined, that was what drove society to be innovative and successful.
Amazing what we once built in this country. I suspect the buildings shown in the pictures are derelict and abandoned now if they still stand at all. Today it seems all we can do it take in laundry and turn out hamburgers.
You sure got that right! Having grown up around manufacturing and living in a General Motors family, what I see now is disgusting. I am so sick and tired of looking at ugly rec centers, parks, classrooms, and pregnancy clinics. I wish they would all close and turn into parking lots, just like our beloved factories did.
Don't forget fat kids..America builds great fat kids
That's globalism so much has been given up so that the globalist can have overall control!!!
"We love baseball. hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet".
"Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars" We had the ads with the same tune in Australia for Holden.
Holden??? What's that?
GM's marque in Australia
@ATCkeepsUsafe I use to own a Pontiac. It was the worst car I ever owned. Now I can relax, I have a Toyota and no more nightmares.
Dont forget the Cadillac.......America's Icon motor car
Good ol' Dinah Shore sings for Chevy.
I feel Pat Boone sang it better.
One of the most popular years ever ! Every car was unique and out there with styling. GM had a great line up .
The BEST line up especially those fine El dorados
Back when America was great...
+CEOkiller When Detroit was great!
+CEOkiller And will be great again real soon! TRUMP 2016!
mrearlygold Make DETROIT Great Again!!!
TRUMP 2016!!!! :)
Make DETROIT Great Again.....TRUMP 2016!!
It still is, as a Canadian your economy completely trumps us. Military expenditures for Canada in 2015-2016 are 14.42244 billion USD, the US allocated 580.3 BILLION USD.......
So yah, how many nuclear-powered super aircraft carrier`s do you have about 8 of the bloody things.......
I'd love to go back to 59 and buy a new Chevrolet.
Definitely!!
So would I , my first car was a '59 Impala in 1977 I've had 3 of them I wished I
still had them.
God no. Buy a Studebaker if you're going to time travel. GM was actually crap.
@@uptoolate2793take that back
Beautiful cars from a fantastic era in America.
First year of the El Camino, they showed one near the end. We have a couple sweet ones cruising around the Knoxville TN area. Go Chevy!!!
Back when Detroit Michigan was great!
Without spelling it right out, it's pretty obvious why Detroit was a better place in the 1950s.
Yes I fully agree with you! I had family that lived in Detroit and work at the auto plants there. Things really started turning bad during the late 60's and it never got any better up until now, sadly.
American made cars!
Beautiful cars made to last. If rust proofing was used back in the day,there would be still lots of these cars around.
Yes, if only more galvanized metal and aluminum were used on these classic's, there would be many more around as today's cars are.
Wrong.
These were junk at 100,000 miles even without the rust.
In the 1970s they were $50jalopies and demolition derby cars.
Today’s examples are rare and valuable because so few survived. They were painstakingly restored at several times their assessed value. And they are carefully trailered to events and driven only short distances on sunny days.
In a frontal offset collision with a 2009 Chevy Malibu... the 1959 Impala was completely destroyed in an IIHS safety test.
Bartonovich52 but that was a beautiful car.
Love the cat eye rear lights.
New cars were so much more exciting back then!
I agree. But honestly, they weren't built as well as cars are now for dependability, long life, and safety. But as its been said, they were selling us dreams back. And the public loved fawning after and obtaining these sheet metal dreams.
@@somersetdc I know you are right, today's cars really are much safer...
@@fleetwin1 what kind of proof is that?
@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar Proof of what buddy?
@@fleetwin1 surrending all of your ambitions just because he singled you out and made you feel bad for liking an older automobile. Don't pretend it isn't common to be insulted constantly for not liking Tesla's and modern SUVs. Anything past 2010 and people freak out. They are bunch of naive idiots, I drove these automobiles when they were brand new, not 1999 brand new I mean 1954 brand new (the first year of my first car). I have all my facts and experience of 70 automobiles from 1906 to 1970, I laugh when I see comments like these because I literally know all there is about them. I've driven a Ford LTD 1968, a Ford Thunderbird 1975, Cadillac 1961, Buick 1958, Nash 1941, Oldsmobile sedan 1906, Chevrolet Royal mail roadster 1913, Hudson sedan 1930, I spent one day in 1956 with a friend were we switched between all his Mustangs all brightly colored to 1950's paints such as Alpine blue to Matador red irid. He had one extremely wealthily painted by a talented Craftsman (most likely born around the 1870s) who painted one Champagne gold with a two tone of dark iridescent (metallic) sky blue. White wall tires and Cadillac hubcaps. It was prettier than a Imperial 1964 in that elegant signet Royal ruby color/hue. Now that people have tried driving these automobiles 40/50/60 years after their release, I'd like to give them the offer of driving them when they are brand new, instead of taking piles of beautiful now turned rusted ruined junk, and calling that a comparison to current cars.
These fabulous cars were brand new when I was born & I remember when the 1959 Chevrolets were everywhere. My first car was a 59 2-dr Impala in 1977. Exciting car.
Well I guess I was better off than you as I had a 1967 Malibu SS with a 327 and qudra jet carb. Dark blue with black bucket seats.
My 59 Impala , Bronze with white top!
Wow! Excellent retrospective! I have ton of respect for any guys who worked on these mass production lines, regardless of which company. They had a really tough job, especially since these lines could never stop moving, unless they broke down or in an emergency.
retroolschool 😀🍿😀🍿😀🍿😀🍿
Yes it was a tough job but the pay was good,It started at 100 dollars a week which for 1957/was a very livable wage, if you were transferred to the night shift it was 105 dollars a week. Unless the “ line” broke down it did not stop, you had about 5 feet to complete your “ operation” one of my jobs was to put the rear shocks on the 1958 model think about it, 500 cars a shift, two shocks per car that’s 1,000 shocks a shift, I’m not making this up and the shocks had to be in an open position ,I was 19 years old when I got home I was barely able to eat dinner I was so tired I hit the sack and slept like death warmed over. But it was a good time of my life. I had my youth.
@@vitosanto3874 if a shift is 8 hours work thats every 50 seconds one schock...i believe you felt a sleep instant,you did a good job.I wish i can travel in time and visit your workplace of that time.I like old usa cars.In the 90s i had a impala sport coupe 59,now i have a bel air 56 convertible,good cars built by good man👌take care,grtz from Belgium
@@peterducodil9890 Thanks for the compliment, you are spot on with your estimate of timing to install the shocks,it took about two minutes to install both the rear shocks.Its hard to. Imagine that it could be done in that short period of time,and remember the line is moving. When you are first assigned the operation you can’t imagine how it can be done ,but after a week or so you don’t even think about it, you just do it. Add to the mix the constant noise of all the air powered impact hand tools. Sparks flying from the welding ,smoke in the air,guys yelling ,but as I said before the pay was good and after about a year or so of seniority your job was secure from a lay-off.
The painters were not wearing any masks and they were painting in open booths. Crazy.
Yes, life (very short) was great back then for those workers..
I painted cars for 25 years, never without a respirator! R.I.P. Chevrolet painters! 😞
Try and get two tone paint today.
You can't even find a good place on today's cars to even draw the line for two tone
You could only in a New 2019 Chevy /GMC but you had to extra and wasn't cheap
@Dan Jackson In Europe there are several manufactures that produce cars with two tone paint jobs! And their liked a lot!
@@eozcompany9856 name them then Mr cryptic. I'm sure their nothing like what I'm hoping for.
@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar Renault, Škoda, Citroën and Toyota just to name a few.
My 1st experience was a 1960 and 59 chevy's back in 1972. Love classics. Gr8 pieces of Art.
It was so exciting to watch a brand new car or truck then. Today you see a Lincoln from the back and if you can't see the logo you think it's a hunday or kia. Wtf
My parents owned a white '59 Chevy 4-door with blue interior, in 1964.
It crapped out on us somewhere in Indiana, on the way back to TN.
I still remember mom and I getting on a bus and seeing it sitting there as we pulled off.
I never did find out what went wrong with it... Dad apparently fixed the problem, since we still had it after my sister was born in '65.
Damn was that a long time ago. lol
I will always like the styling of the 59 Chevrolet.
I think her rear end is the sexiest of them all, as far as the 50s chevies go.
Bruce Bryant i love so many years of Chevrolet. Especially 58 belair or impala
When I was little someone in my neighborhood had one in their yard. I used to think the tail lights reminded me of an old Chinese dude lol
Such an UNSAFE vehicle. View the 59 Chevrolet crashing offset front end with a newer Malibu. The 59 crunches back into the front seat area, devastating design as to safety.
@@tapper701 Who would have thought a 60 year old car is not as safe as a new one?
I’m 63yrs old and when I was 5-7 yrs old my dad had a 59 Chevy Wagon two tone blue + white brings back memories 🤔👍😁
I bought a 1958 Buick as soon as I got out of Highschool. Jade irid.
I'm 64 and my dad bought a second hand torquois 4 door '59 Bel-Aire in '64 when I was five years old. Sure miss that car.
I've had a '59 Impala 2 dr htp, a '59 El Camino and even a '59 2 door wagon over the years. Wish I had them now!! ;-)
1959 baby!!!
1959 Chevrolets finest hour ;)
Painting in an open room on a conveyor belt without respirators. Gotta love it.
Haha I too noticed that!
Americans were Proud of they're Jobs .
They probably allowed smoking while painting too.
If it was made in the Tarrytown N.Y. Plant there is a 50-50 chance I helped build it,I worked there from 1957 to 1960 on the night shift.
That’s where the Life Magazine photos were taken.
that's real cool, did you buy a new Chevrolet from '57 to '60 ? That must've been
exciting. I bet you got a good deal, my dad bought a new '57 Bel Air & ordered it straight from GM because he said it's a better deal & cheaper than buying from the dealer.
the good ole days
Hard working Americans making great cars for their fellow Americans.
See the U.S.A. in your new Chevrolet 1959 Impala, a V~8 for the price of a straight 6!
Available in a rainbow of durability proven brilliant colors.
The stove bolt sixes were dark blue while the 283 and 348 v8’s were bright orange
This was 40 years before I was born (born in 1999) but I definitely have more appreciation for the cars from the 50’s to the 80’s than I do for the cars that are around currently. Wouldn’t loose a bit of sleep if ALL modern cars disappeared and were scrapped and were replaced with cars from the 50’s to the 70’s. Never really liked modern cars and they’ll never appeal to me since they don’t have any defining styling and are overall bland. They simply will NEVER make cars like these again with the combination of too much corporate greed, government intervention and careless consumers.
Be nice if the classics came back again but only the rich can buy them. Chevrolet was the poor man's Cadillac the working man's car. They were not luxury cars & you shouldn't have to be rich to buy a Chevrolet. America had a thriving middle class back then & now America has returned to the 1930's Rich & poor.
You're right we'll never see that again.
Chevrolet 1959 must be the most fantastic car of Chevrolet ever!!! 💯👍
Say what you want about build quality, but the styling of this era puts today's cars to shame! Now, every car, regardless of manufacturer, looks like an egg and you can't tell one model year from the next. Yes, as you moved into the 1970's every vehicle seemed to become a land yacht, but at least there was still some uniqueness of style from marque to marque!
Nah 70s cars were just bland cereal boxes that people had to deal with during the Oil Embargo.
Today's cars are not even that bad. I've looked at every new model and none of them are close to looking like eggs
Yes indeed! HARD BOILED EGGS!
@ddellwo Okay, I will say it, those car's build "quality" was sorely lacking! Very few of those cars would make it to 50K miles without MAJOR ENGINE work, unlike cars of today (even the econo-boxes) can easily make it past 100K miles with just routine maintenance!
Yeah, maybe so but for example the motor oils were not as good as today. That alone plays a huge role how engine will last.
@@otom20 Yes, the oils back then were terrible and provided little protection, and no friction modifiers at all. Also, the metallurgy was nowhere near as good as now. But, those old cars had character and the styling was great.
It's remarkable to look at all these zillions of Chevys being built, and then to realize that not more than a tiny percentage still exist today.
The horrible car crusher
@@ghsgtnayhmd4792 new car lovers nightmare
Because we can't get them anymore, sadly
@hebneh Those "wonderful" Chevys went back to their "natural" state (RUST) in about 5years.....
But they still do exist.
Ahh, The '50s, When TV was mostly black and white, But the CARS were in color!
Australia imported a few of these, my DAD had two of them and took them out to the trash, back in 1980, and now they are worth over 100K each, in original condition ? Also there were in Original condition at the time he thrown them out with the trah, all they needed was a little love and a polish and a little engine and transmission care and the things would drive, basically new oil's and battery and off you go driving a right hand drive 1959 chevy bel airs with rear indicator on each side of the large wings on the back, they were white and light blue in colour. :)
Yes that's right, I saw a right hand drive '59 Chevy Bel Air in England & I also saw
a '60 Chevy Impala 4 dr flattop in England both cars from Australia. I lived in England & I'd love to own a right hand drive '59 or '60 Chevy.
Awesome video. and I believe that was Dinah shore singing The last song.
Look at how many men it took to build a car. Many men had a very good paying job then, now it just doesn't take that many people to build anything.
Robert Tiscione - YEAH! Thank you computers, Unions and Robots for that. ):
Their children invented the processes and computers to eliminate the jobs.
Yeah...Unions wanted robots to take away jobs. Seriously?? BTW,those guys you see on that line had HIGH paying jobs which for most meant a NEW home,wife didn't have to work etc because of Union wages.
Not exactly. I have family working at Honda in Indiana. It Takes 500 people five hours do an 868 different processes to make a Civic roll off every 60 seconds. And there are 238 civics online at one time between five assembly lines. It is also non union and they still make good money.
Back in 1968 my first car was an 1960 Chevy. I've always thought the 1959/60 Chevrolet design was the beginning of the modern car era.
My entire family (mothers side) worked in auto plants.
They were not half as safe as todays cars.
But that technology could be easily built into a 59 Impala.
But you will not see it.
It boils down the profits.
To build that car today would put it right outta the price range for most.
Why ?
Stagnant wages since 1980 brought on wholely by illegals who came here by the millions .
How you say?
Because the drove & still drive wages down.
How?
Employers paid them much less because they could get them at half price.
Look at labor rates in Tx vs say , Pennsylvania.
Or even Iowa !
$10 to $15 less on the hr.
Why ?
Because the southern states employ 50% of all illegals.
But stay tuned.
They've infiltrated every state & continue to come.
There's no bill to deal with it that will ever pass in Congress.
Why?
U.S. chamber of commerce loves the cheap labor . Period !
@Wendy Marcum In case you didn't know, those southern states that "employ 50% of all illegals" are REPUBLICAN run! You "right wing" nut jobs are just as STUPID as your fearless leader, "The Chosen One"!!!!
Love that old chevy metal!!!!!!!!!
Okay, so I’ll take 2 of each build like off the first run (actually any run.) Then,10 black and red w/large block and standard shift. Then 10 any color combo. Then 10 with blems. Thank you.
My dad had a white '59 Chevy Impala and I remember it well. Too bad he never kept it and had it restored.....
rather have 1 of these than this computerized, gps, air bag, on star, track you where ever you pieces of junk they are building now
@allen blackman Yeah, you wouldn't want one of todays pieces of junk where you could actually WALK AWAY FROM A MAJOR CRASH! LOL.
The new ones coming out now are junk. Coming soon will be a chip in the computer that tells car it has reached maximum miles and guides it to a junkyard. Really! That's why it's driverless!
It's nice to see the building of my car :')
Célia H very nice! My first car was a 59 Impala 10 years old, hundred bucks and ran awesome. :)
For those curious, these photos were NOT taken in Detroit; they were instead taken in Tarrytown New York. Tarrytown is on the Hudson River in Westchester County north of NYC. This plant closed in 1996, the last vehicles assembled there were the 'dustbuster' vans. It's crazy to think that chevy had such a market share to the point where plants in Atlanta, Baltimore Janesville, St Louis, Flint, Oakland, Los Angeles, New York, and Cincinnati were building them.
Cincinnati would be the Norwood Assembly right? I was unaware this photo set was Tarrytown, it’s pretty hard to find any pictures of that plant in the 80d or 90s. What’s even more crazy is that a lot of those plants were also making trucks along side, some literally had the car and truck lines side by side, and at least two plants I can think of had 3 different product lines.
@@TheMW2informer Yes Cincinnati would be Norwood. The full photo set from Tarrytown is on a site called xframechevy, they're really cool to look at. I hear there is a video somewhere of the dustbuster van assembly. I would really like to see what Tarrytown looked like in the '90s and compare with the 1959 photos.
Great info! Didn't know that!
I remember the '59 very well as a kid. We lived in a small neighborhood near the Pease airbase. I was riding my bike looking backwards and ran into the rear of the car, a faded blue Bellaire I guess. I was sprawled across the trunk after I flew off the bike. '65 or '66 I think? Car was built like a tank..
My late uncle's were engineers for GM /Chevy / Pontiac. This was the body that the Corvair came from and on the same assembly line if this was in Detroit
Sounds like Dinah shore
Yes she is. In the 1959 comercial where she sings on a Impala Convertible.
This Is Excellent ! Wonderful stuff.
Makes me sad watch things like this American legend is gone
59 el camino for me please 😎👍
need a time capsule with a lot of loading space to bring all this beauty's back Home
I would bring back a 59 El Camino.WOW!
Lets bring the whole assembly line !
My first car 59 chevy biscyane payed 25.00 for it ran like a champ 283 engine had over150000 miles on it was a fuller brush man's car
Worked in the GM North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow) NY plant some 30 years after these pics were taken and a lot of it looked familiar. Plant closed in 1996 and was demolished shortly thereafter
solid cars
Not when they were involvled in a front end crash, crunches back into the front seat area ...
A car you actually loved!
Anyone know which Life magazine issue had this great 1959 Chevy Assembly Line photos. I would love to find this issue.
Just 10 years old when I seen those ugly trunk wings,
Some 60 years later OMG they are simply marvelous.
Thats car heaven....chevrolet did not know how it would be 50 plus years from them these cars are sought after like really bad
True, the '59 & "60 Chevy's didn't become desirable til 25 years later by that time most of them bit the dust. In 1972 I saw a '59 2 dr Impala for sale in mint condition for $800 & the '57 Chevy's were going for $3,000 & more. Because everyone wanted the tri-five Chevy's & the "61 to '64 Chevy's. my first car was a "59 2dr Impala in 1977 in mint condition for $1600 I wrecked it. My 2nd '59 2 dr Impala in mint condition in 1979 was $1375 & I passed on another '59 2 dr Impala in 1980 in mint condition for $1,200 I wanted it but I already had 2 before & it gets old buying the same car. i assumed the '59 Chevy's will always be cheap cars so I took the '59 Chevy's for granted.
I've had many other old cars in the meantime I bought one more '59 2 dr Impala in mint condition in 1998 by this time the price was $11,500 i financed it.
I used to go to classic car auctions in the 1970's & in 1978 a mint condition "58 Impala w/ 348 sold for $1,400 & in 1979 the same '58 Impala w/ 348 sold for $6,500, I think the movie "American Graffiti" in 1973 had a lot to do with it. Making the '58 Impala's desirable cash cows. But the '59 & '60 Impala's didn't become cash cows til about 1985 by that time they were very scarce. And lots of them were bought up by many foreign car buffs from Sweden, England & Japan & shipped back to their countries. I lived in England & worked in Sweden & I met a car buff who had a large collection of '60 Chevy Impala's he only liked the '60 Chevy's & no other year.
Unlike the '55, '56 & '57 Chevy's popular & desirable since day one.
WOW! No safety shoes, no safety glasses or hearing protection either! I saw some guys running around in penny loafers on the assembly line. That would NOT be allowed today under any circumstances today.
Sadly
ted marshall ....liberals ..yuck
You are right, I worked at Tarrytown N.Y. Plant for three years 57-60 did a multiple variety of operations and did them wearing the cloths and shoes I came to work in ,no one ever said a thing ,the concern was that you were at your post when the line started.
@@vitosanto3874 Yes, and sadly some of my old friends that I knew from the old Ford Talbotville Plant are no longer with us. They lived with unnecessary injuries and often times didn't even get to enjoy much of their retirement. It was all about the big bucks and not much of a concern about health and safety. I bet that the cost of insurance got to be so high that the car makers (and other industries) were forced into making things safer and better for the employees.
Horrible 1959 Chevrolet vehicles. Rusted out and were so UNSAFE in a crash. TOTAL JUNK !!!
no prob ..love doing it ....50s forever
No plastic here
Wouldn't that be cool walking along the assembly line at every station, picking your cars options......Mine- Roman Red, 2dr ht, 348 4v, 4 speed, black interior, wonderbar radio, dual antennas (that's so cool) anything else?
I had 2 '59 2dr Impala's in 1977 & 1998 in mint condition Roman red paint
& red interior. My first one had 283 powerglide power steering, power brakes,
& 6 way power seats. Beautiful car until I got into a very bad accident & wrecked it after hearing the news Elvis died. My 2nd one didn't have power seats.
Almost a hand built custom.
Amazing that no masks are worn in paint booth.
I contend that if any manufacturer had the balls to build a car with this styling today, they could not make em fast enough !
But for some damn reason we've been strapped with discustion European styling since the 1980 !
We're so conditioned to buy these "boxes" with no creativity !
A que might be the throwback styling we scarcely see.
Dodge Challenger.
Chevy Camaro.
Ford Mustang.
Retro look that sells like mad. Albeit sports cars.
Made a damn coup or sedan like this beauty & watch !
Id buy 1 tomorrow !
But no...we buy what sells in Europe because thats the choice we have !
Note to GM , FORD , CHRYSLER,
YOU HELD 60% OF THEIR MARKET (EUROPE) BECAUSE YOU BUILT CARS WITH IMAGINATION .
To this day , ppl come from all over the world to buy old school Amarican cars .
Sure as hell not buying our cars now !
The one car I have always wanted to own but can never afford...the '59 Impala.
I had 2 '59 Impala 2 doors in mint condition in the late '70's when they were
very cheap. Nobody paid attention until the mid '80's when the '59 Chevy's became desirable cash cows.
Detroit at its finest hour. 😢
sold new for approximately $1700.00
Yeah but the average worker was making around $2600 a year. Same thing.
true...but why does our money become so completely devalued ... it feels like we've been robbed...
+daisyroots Accualy the prices for 1959 chevrolets were between $2247 for no options 2door Biscayene 6 and $4265 for the fully optioned Impala hardtop V8.
+MrTheMiguelox Which would be between $27,000-$28,000 for a fully loaded new 1959 in today's price range
You could buy a new VW Type 1 (BEETLE) for $1700....
Bring them Big body's back Chevrolet. Too much plastic today. Focus on a MASTERPIECE not on savings.
Had a 59 Biscayne, 6/stick, light green/white, plain Jane, great work car,,, worked at Lordstown, Ohio, 66-67, before goingi into the ARMY,,,
SAme, light green/white, 6, stick, ran great,,,,
Amazing time in auto manufacturing..
Now everything is based on european styling..
And we're being told its what we like..
No . Its much easier to build the wedge shaped ugly cars today.
Look at the 59/60 line of auto's .
Real style & truely innovative looks.
Thanks for posting this.
THIS IS A RATHER LENGTHY POST SO YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
Now after reading thru the comments I'm going to give my take on some of them.
First, yes these cars were made of metal. Not some 'snap together' full sized model like most of them are today.
Second, whilst modern cars MAY be safer, i.e. better occupant protection, brakes, etc. and may be better for the environment the modern cars do NOT have any sort of styling.
Getting back to the 'safety aspect' of old vs. new. It is of my opinion that we have safer cars to simply protect the inept ones who don't actually know how to drive. You may think I've lost my marbles, slipped a gear, am off my rocker or medications, etc. Well this is MY take on 'old vs. new'.
So we have newer-ish vehicles that are safer. OK. What makes them safer? ABS? Seat belts? Air bags? Skid control? Crash avoidance monitors? Parking assist? Better brakes? Better tires? Which one(s) of these make a car safer than the 1959 Chevrolet?
In 1959 seat belts were an option. Radial tires were not even a thought at the U.S. car manufacturing level. Computers were the size of small buildings or rooms. Car radios and heaters were optional. Automatic transmissions were optional. Drum brakes were standard on all of the U.S. cars and trucks. Single reservoir master cylinders were on all U.S. made cars. Power brakes were an option. Power steering was an option. Passenger side outside rear view mirrors were an option and I'm sure I'm missing some things to go in this list.
Now, if we were to take ALL of the new safety equipment and convenience items off of modern vehicles including radial tires what do you suppose would happen? Well my guess is there would be a LOT more accidents and probably a lot more vehicle deaths.
Even IF the population was the exact same as in 1959 that would still hold true in my opinion. Why? Because people either don't know how or have forgotten how to properly control their vehicle. They have a false sense of security because the vehicle allegedly corrects for any mistakes made by the inept operator. Also the safety features, i.e. seat belts and air bags (SRS) give them 'warm fuzzies' if they do get in an accident.
IF people knew they could face imminent death if the got into an accident PERHAPS they would actually do what they are suppose to do when behind the wheel.
Instead we have all sorts of distractions (I'm NOT including cell phones) in modern vehicles. Touch screens for simple items such as the climate control?? Really? What exactly was wrong with simple levers and knobs to control air flow and temperature? GPS?? Um yea, I've NEVER even operated a GPS let alone own such a device. They have these things called 'maps' which don't drop a signal or track my every move I find are pretty useful. Or I simply scribble down some directions on a piece of paper then drive.
Yup. I'm simply an older driver (on the road 'legally' for 42 years) with no tickets or accidents that drives a 1993 Ford Festiva (death trap) pretty much every day. No cruise control, no ABS, no air bags. Would really like to have another 1960's era Impala (I've owned 8 of them from the 60's in the past) and may someday find another suitable candidate.
@Russ Davis So, you don't think that the C8 Corvette has style? WTF!
This video reminds me of the opening scene of christine.
good quality photos
To me 1968 was the last year cars had any drop of style and looks
WTF? Is this video intended to give people vertigo?
Back when America was great the 59 Impala was my first car & my favorite year design it was so radical even for 1959. I love the 59' Chevy's. I had 3 of them in my time. Back then there was a thriving middle class & financing & credit cards were not as common & needed back then. My dad paid cash for property & built a house in 1958 for 20 grand. He & his brother paid cash for a new 1957 Chevrolet he later bought his bro out. I recall looking at my dads old bank accounts from 1955 to 1958 & he had anywhere from $9500 to 10 grand in his account. He wasn't rich just a working man as he would always say. The only time he financed a new car was when he bought his first new Chevrolet in 1951 to establish credit. I worked at a new car store in 2015 & about 90% of all new & used car sales are financed & rarely is there ever a cash sale. I remember the cash sale for $20,000 in cold cash. Today there is too much financing & too many people in debt & bankruptcy's are all too common now .
The most shamelessly corny part of the extended singing earlier in this clip is the almost improvisational sounding lyrics. Sounds just goofy and as if the singers are just tossing up hail-marys hoping something makes rhyming sense. Everything today is ironic and cynical so commercials like these would be impossible. A more innocent time then when people actually thought about the common good of a thing including a car brand as opposed to our postmodern notion that what's important is constructed by the individual subjectively.
Just to say, I am British, so I am viewing this from a different standpoint. I don't want to get all political, so bear that in mind. I'm just going to come straight out with it... I adore American cars. But, in so many ways, I utterly hate the way the creators of these glorious works of art treat their employees. I'm thinking of GM, primarily here. All across the country, shattered husks of buildings stand, like Fisher Body 21. Quite deliberately before viewing this video, I watched a video on the closing of Lordstown Ohio. The contrast was chilling.
Henry Ford was much worse. You can do the research and learn how horrible he was to his employees, and even threatened to kill employees who wanted to start a union. The guys at GM weren't much better, but they did tolerate labor unions.
@Nicholas Maxim If you like seeing old assembly plants and what’s left of them Look at some of my videos on the local GM plant that was at its time of closure, the largest and oldest plant built 1919 idled 2009, not officially closed until the end of 2015, demolished 100 years after it was opened. It was by far the the number one employer in the area and it is what my hometown is known for. Unlike many other cities that had plants we are building a museum just for that factory. Everyone here knows someone that worked there, and most of them look back at that place with fond memories.
These are just yoo awesome to watch.Love it.Would be cool yo get on DVD.
Through fun is getting impaled by the steering column...
OR, get your skull cracked open on that beautiful STEEL dash!!!
We're these photos featured in a regular issue of Life magazine and if so do you know what month and year ? Looked online but not able to determine origin. Thank you