The 1958 Chevrolet Impala that belonged to the character played by Ron Howard is one of the most loved cruisers of all time. Photo from unofficialamericangraffiti.weebly.com

When it comes to classic street cruisers, American Graffiti takes the prize for having the most iconic cruisers in one movie. The film covers one night in the lives of four long-time high-school friends set in Modesto, California, in 1962.

One of the least talked about cars in the movie, but most loved hot rods, was the white 1958 Chevrolet Impala. In the movie, Howard’s character loans the Impala to one of the other central characters, Terry “the Toad” Fields.

“I can’t believe it! I don’t know what to say! I’ll love and protect this until death do us part!” Photo from www.imcdb.org

Steve tells Toad that, “I’ve decided I’m gonna let you take care of my car for me while I’m away, at least until Christmas. See, I’m coming back for a couple of weeks at Christmas. Now, I’ve got some very simple instructions for you, here’s the keys. First of all, only 30-weight Castrol-R. Now, I’ve written the tire pressure and stuff on a pad in the glove… are you listening?”

The Toad is stunned and replies; “I can’t believe it! I don’t know what to say! I’ll love and protect this until death do us part! This is a super-fine machine! This might even be better than Darryl Starbird’s Superfleck Moon… it is! It’s better than Darryl Starbird’s Superfleck Moonbird!”

“The Toad” takes the Impala cruising and runs into a rebellious and wild girl named Debbie, who is played to perfection by Candy Clark. She asks if the car can lay rubber? Trying to impress her, Toad tells Debby “Yeah, I got a 327ci Chevy in it, it’s got six Strombergs!”

“I’ll let you feel it. I mean you can touch it if you want… um, I’ll let you feel the upholstery.” Photo from www.imcdb.org

Debbie: “That’s bitchin’ tuck-and-roll, you know I really love the feel of tuck-and-roll upholstery.”

Toad: “You do? Well come in, I’ll let you feel it. I mean you can touch it if you want… um, I’ll let you feel the upholstery.”

Toad and Debbie end up parked in the back woods where the social inept Toad appears to be on his way to getting lucky. All of a sudden the pair realize that the Impala is gone and they are left on their own.

Even in the low light filming done at night, the Impala still had a street cruiser look that couldn’t be topped.

According to the current owner of the car, Mike Famalette, “The car never did have a 327 with 6 Strombergs as claimed by Toad in the movie.”