SIMPLE SEXY STYLE

Classic Factory Style Plus a Few Choice Custom Mods Make This 1961 Chevy Bubbletop Stand Out

- Taylor Kempkes

Remember the good old days when cars came straight from the factory with actual style? You know, back when the highways of America were lined with sweeping rooflines and oh so much chrome? Not like today where almost every automobile looks like a glorified bar of soap. There really was something special about car design in the 1950s and ’60s that we just don’t see today. Take, for instance, a 1961 Chevy Impala—a bubble top as it’s affectionately known. From a side view, it is perfect: a thin, sweeping A-pillar followed by no B-pillar whatsoever, then an equally lean C-pillar that blends in with that iconic rounded rear glass.

Styling features like these are what inspired John Huval to build a 1961 Chevy Impala for himself. “I’d always loved the classy styles and sexy lines of the Chevys from the early 1960s,” said John. “My favorite of all the X-frames had always been the bubble top Impala. I searched the web every night for more than six months looking for the right car.” Just when he started to think the perfect candidate didn’t exist, an Almond Beige 1961 Chevy Impala came up.