In the late 1950s and early 1960s, it didn’t take much to transform a new car into a mild custom. Just ask Kyle Severin, the owner of this 1959 Chevrolet Impala. Just like the customizers of yesteryear, he maintained all the car’s best elements—but he got it siting lower and riding much better than anyone back then could have ever imagined.
Kyle, 31, comes from a custom car family. “My brother and I grew up in the back seat of a chopped Merc going to car shows all our lives,” he says. “We’ve done lots of cars and had lots of fun with them.”
Around five years ago, Kyle spotted this ’59 for sale in a collection in Florida. It was a clean, semi-restored hardtop with a 348 and a four-speed. “The color is what made me fall in love with the car,” he says. “It’s very similar to a Crown Sapphire, which is a stock Chevrolet color. A little darker, a little more blue. It’s just different enough to look good.”
After the collection’s mechanic took them for a spirited test drive, Kyle was sold. Soon thereafter, he had the ’59 shipped to his place in Alexandria, Minnesota. Buying “finished” projects can often lead to difficult situations, but he was happy to report that this car didn’t have any evils lurking beneath the surface. “Just one good surprise,” he adds. “I got it home and we pulled the motor. I was told it was a 348 car, turns out it was a 409 car.”
Initially, he cut the coils and drove it around with a static drop. Then, when he decided to put the car on air, he installed RideTech StrongArm Control Arms and RideTech shocks all around. The end result is a car that looks traditional, sits low and can be driven just about anywhere. “I was trying to shoot for a clean, simple mild custom,” he says, “so it’s always in style.”
Click the video below for a closer look at Kyle’s incredible Impala.
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1958-1964 Impala | Bel Air | Biscayne | El Camino | Nomad | Parkwood | Kingswood | GM B-Body
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