Joe Previte's 1958 Chevrolet Impala Convertible

Photo by George Barris.

A photo of Joe's Impala taken at the World's Fair Auto Show in West-Springfield in October of 1959. Massachusetts is far away from sunny California, so back East, Joe decided to have a top made for the Impala. He took it to a black upholstery guy in Boston. He gave him drawings and told the upholsterer that he wanted the top to look like a 1958 or 1959 Lincoln convertible top with the rear window. Joe wanted a rear window that went up and down as well, but that never happened. Photo courtesy from The Ray Soff Photo Collection.

1958 Chevrolet Impala restyled by Barris Kustoms for Joe Previte of Belmont, Massachusetts. One day Joe told his mother he was going out for a while. He and 2 other friends from Belmont wound up in Juarez, Mexico and later Hollywood, California where they met George Barris. At Barris Kustoms the convertible top was chopped three inches. The car was nosed, decked and shaved for door handles. The side trim was reworked and the center section was removed. Six 1959 Cadillac taillight lenses were fit to the stock taillight mounting positions. A hand made tubing grille was made and the hood was louvered. The Impala was lowered by heating the coils all around. When the car appeared in Trend Book 197 Custom Cars 1961 Annual, it was fit with reversed chrome wheels on wide white walls. The body was painted Candy Apple red. Eddie Martinez was responsible for the interior.

Magazine Features

Trend Book 197 Custom Cars 1961 Annual
Gasoline Magazine 3/2019