Impalas are hot, right? By “hot” we mean popular, desirable, sought after. One of the most desirable Impalas is the 1958 model – a one-year-only body style and the very first year for Chevrolet’s newest high-end offering.

It was also the first year for the new high-performance engine – the venerable 348 ci. Couple that with a four-speed, and maybe three deuces atop the engine and it was a factory screamer, nearly every car guy back in the late 1950s wanted one of those “factory musclecars” but we’re not certain they were named that at the time.

Just the same, they were “hot,” right? Well, Joe Moyer of Shenandoah, Iowa, has a ’58 Impala he’d acquired from a good friend. He’d found it in the back row in a salvage yard in Nebraska and at the time, it didn’t have an engine or a transmission, but that wasn’t a huge problem – Joe had a 327 ci engine under the bench, saved for something!

The Impala wasn’t in bad shape, but the best part is the yard even had the original title for the car! Would you believe the Impala had been there for almost 40 years and no one had wanted it? Doesn’t get any better than that when looking for a car to rebuild, does it?

This side shot photo shows the hand-built skirts and Connie Kit extension. A new cover needs to be fabricated yet. The body has been epoxied and guide-coated.

Joe hauled the Impala home to Shenandoah after he sold his Chevy street rod and has been working on the car for several years now. One of the first things he did was remove the body so he could redo the entire suspension – new bushings, ball joints, brake lines, fuel lines, fuel tank and sender.

When he got done with that, he added new body mounts, disc brakes and air bags on all four corners and then painted the frame POR-15 black. A four channel air ride control was installed in the trunk with dual air compressors.

Front end shot shows the handbuilt tube grille. Park lights look askew but that’s easily remedied.

In the meantime, the body was bolted to a rotisserie to repair the show-me-an-old-MidWest-car-that-doesn’t-need-its-floors-replaced! Especially in Iowa! There were a few other minor spots that also needed some rust repair but all in all the Impala’s body wasn’t too bad.

Once the rust repair was completed, Joe shot undercoating on the entire floor and bolted it back onto the frame. Next up was removing the sixty-some year old paint – or what was left of it by sanding the body to bare metal and shooting it with epoxy primer.

It was guide-coated after that and is now ready for block sanding. The only thing Joe didn’t worry too much about repairing were the front fenders, they are fiberglass. Joe took a bit of extra precaution and reinforced them at the wheel arch and the edge that meets the hood, sorta stiffened them up a bit before he hung them on the firewall.

In this shot, the chassis has been rebuilt and the body is slowly being lowered onto the frame. The rebuilt 1968 Chevy 327 ci engine has already been set in place.

With the bodywork nearly completed, he decided to shave the hood, trunk, and remove the door handles – a good kustom has to be smooth, right? And a low kustom should be long and low, right?

To that end, Joe fabricated a Continental kit for the car but it needs to have the cover panel fabricated yet. To add to the low look, Joe then fabricated some bubble-style cruiser skirts. They need a bit of final finish work yet, but look good on the car.

Around front, he built a 5-bar tube grille that fits around the stock park lights and the bars will need chroming when the car gets closer to being finished.

Engine has dress-up goodies and a Cadillac air cleaner. Tri-Y headers have been installed and new shocks have yet to be installed.

Joe has recently purchased a new wiring harness that’s yet to be installed. He’s installed the sound deadening on floor and the interior roof and has plenty more to finish the trunk and quarter panels.

To go with the new look on the Impala, Joe has set in a new “Tru-Kool” aluminum cross-flow radiator and electric cooling fan. Behind that sits a freshly rebuilt 1968 327 ci engine. Behind that is a 700 R4 overdrive transmission.

The headers are custom built Tri-Y headers and Joe has a Holley four barrel on a riser manifold on the engine with an original style Cadillac air cleaner atop that.

Insulation has been added to the roof to cut radiant summer heat just in case the new owner decided to paint the car a dark color . Besides, aren’t all 1958 Chevy Impalas supposed to be painted black?

A new carrier bearing is ready to be installed on the drive shaft and will need the u-joints installed. The 3:55 rear gear ratio has been inspected and new axle bearings have been installed.

Unfortunately, as with any old car, age creeps up on all of us and Joe has become disabled and cannot work on the car any longer.

Therefore, the car is now for sale as he does not have the capacity to finish it. The car, as you see it in these photos, is for sale at an astounding price of $15,000.00. If you’ve ever had a desire to own one of the “hottest” Impalas of all time, this is your chance. Please contact the author via “Street Muscle Magazine” and we’ll put you in contact with Joe.

It all starts with a project, and if you’ve got one you’re working on, share it with us! Send us an email and yours could be the next project featured in “What Are You Working On?”