In 1957, after holding Top Spot for 21 years without a break, Chevrolet was toppled from the throne by Ford. But in 1958, with a completely re-styled automobile, Chevy recaptured the sales ball from its perennial opponent… and judging from the 1959 styling changes, it looks as if the Chevrolet boys have made a truly extreme effort to retain possession of the mythical production trophy.

The car on which I ran most of my tests was the big Impala with the 348 cu in. V8 engine and air suspension. This is the Queen Mother of the camp and as wild a departure from earlier models as Santa Claus without a beard. The rear-deck treatment is pure Louis Armstrong… gone, man, gone! Instead of last year’s neatly sculptured, somehow sort of foreign-looking backside, the view from the rear is strictly Spaceship 1989. It carries tremendous horizontal fins which hover over teardrop-shaped tail light clusters to give the whole thing a kind of two-story effect. My first reaction when I saw this rear flight deck, which curves downward from either side in a slow V, was “what a spot to land a Piper Cub!” It’s crazy… but craziness is good taste.

Up front the treatment is also as different as anything you ever saw in a Chevrolet. The four-eyed look is gone. The dual headlights, which last year were mounted slightly above the front point of the sweep spear along the side of the body, have been lowered quite a few inches and are now placed at either end of the grille.

Another thing that will stop you dead in your tracks when you first see this 1959 Impala is the enormous area of glass, front and rear. The windshield curves way up and into the roof in really advanced Goldfish Bowl style. The rear window , also only slightly smaller than the big ones at Macy’s 34th Street bazaar, looks very much like the one on the new Buick we tested last month. As the lead picture of this article shows the combination of front and rear place glass provides tremendous visibility and a quick way to get suntanned.

In last year’s report on the Impala I mentioned the chrome fish-scaler on the front fenders and pointed out that they were so sharp they “could nick the casual do-it-yourself body polisher right across the wrists where the arteries are.” I recommended that they be remodeled with a sledge. I doubt if the Chevy stylists used a sledge but they did blunt the sharp edges and achieved a safer, sleeker, longer and lower look for the 1959 version of these ornaments.

To test the 1959 Chevrolet, MI Editor Bill parker joined Jim McMichael and me for out trek to the huge GM Proving Ground at Milford, Mich. After being escorted through the as-always-well-guarded gates, we headed for the Experimental Garage where we later spend some time yakking about racing at Dayton and Indianapolis with Mauri Rose, who competed 16 times at the Indiana Brickyard and won three of the 500-milers (in in 1941, 1948 and 1949). Mauri is a GM engineer and headed up Chevrolet’s successful racing team until the Big Three decided to get out of competition last year. Then, with one of Chevrolet’s young engineers and a GM security cop as escorts, we were turned loose on the test track itself.

On the first hard turn around GM’s handling course, the Impala shed hubcaps like confetti tossed at a gondolier’s

The hubcaps, incidentally, have been slotted for better brake cooling, a trick Chevrolet picked up from their racing experience.

This big Impala (and it’s bigger than the Cadillac of ten years ago) was equipped with air suspension, a system to which MI readers know I have never been lavishly devoted. It did take all the jolts out of the roughest test roads we went over. But it is my sad duty to report that this 1959 Impala with air bags is not, by a long shot, the best handling or most roadable car Chevrolet has produced. As you readers know, I have always preferred the firm ride to the softer ride. Why?

REAR LICENSE swivels out to reveal gas tank filler cap. Back end of 1959 Chevy has a “Spaceship 1989” influence.

In most auto camps this year… with the notable exception of one… they told me, “Motivational research shows that the average buyer is continually seeking a softer, more comfortable riding car.” I don’t know anything about motivational research but I do know that it is possible to have a top ride, top performance, and real comfort all in the same package. There is no reason for sacrificing any of them.

In performance, the 1959 Impala does not come up to last year’s car. My 1958 test showed a respectable zero to 60 mph time of 10.4 seconds. IN the 1959 car with the big 348-inch engine and three-carburetor hookup, plus TurboGlide transmission, I averaged 13.1 seconds. The high-speed track was not available when I made my tests so i cannot report what the 1959 Impala will do flat-out.