Featured is the popular 1966 Chevrolet Impala Hardtop. The Impala was one of Chevy’s most popular models and was a sales leader during it’s first decade of production. Prior to becoming it’s own model, the Impala began as a high-end Bel Air. The Bel Air Impala was only seen in Sport Coupe or convertible models.
The Chevy Impala was honored as America’s best selling automobile for the 1965 model year. The year 1965 was also a record year for the Chevrolet Division. It was in June of 1965 that the 56 millionth Chevrolet was produced.The model was just what GM needed to help it compete against Ford.
The Impala was first seen as a concept sports coupe at GM’s 1956 Motorama. When the Chevy Impala came out in 1958 it was distinguished from other vehicles with it’s triple horizontal tail lights.The 58 Impala was designed by a team led by legendary auto designer Harley Earl. After Earl’s retirement in 1958, Bill Mitchell was in charge of design teams for all GM models. In general, Mitchell departed from the designs put forth by Earl such as the 1950’s tail fins and lots of chrome to a more streamlined and cleaner look.This describes the look you see in the Chevy Impalas of the 1960’s.
The second year Chevrolet Impala, the 1959 model, received a completely new style change from the previous year’s model. The 59 Impala was also the start of the model’s second generation. The most noticeable change were the flat tail fins that had a wing like appearance. The 1959 Chevrolet did well but not quite as well as a few other Chevy models that year.