Chevrolet Impala 348

This is a 1958 Chevrolet Impala two-door coupe, the first year the Impala name was used and a one-year-only body style. Strikes at General Motors cut production that year, and the coupe is scarcer still. It has the 348 ci (5.7-litre) V8.

The car was bought from a specialist in Denver, Colorado, chosen for its high-altitude, salt-free roads, and shipped to the UK. After several years of use it received a major overhaul. The engine and transmission were found sound and needed mainly seals. Changes include an Edelbrock carburettor, a Torquer manifold, electronic ignition, ceramic-coated short headers and a stainless exhaust with Flowmaster silencers. The radiator is now a four-core unit with an electric fan, and disc brakes with a heavy-duty servo replace the original drums.

The body was taken back to bare metal and repainted in a one-off red with gold flake that shifts towards orange in sunlight. The interior is trimmed in correct 1958 fabric with silver fleck, and the bumpers have been rechromed. It rides on 17-inch Cragar wheels, lowered at the front, with air shocks at the rear. It shows 55,000 miles, has one previous owner on the page's record and carries a large history file.