Dear friends:
Like all Team-BHPians, my passion for cars goes back a long time.
I would like to share with you some thoughts of my first model car.
I take you back to 1964, when I was about six years old and barely able to appreciate the strategic trade of homework done for material reward. I'd asked my mother for a beautiful model car seen on a shopping trip with her.
A general store that also kept toys stood where the Chembur Medical Stores stands today, behind the police chowky at Chembur railway station. Back then in 1964, my mother bought me an Aspen-Green, 1959 Chevrolet Impala 1:43 scale die-cast scale model.
It had an exquisitely moulded cream PVC interior and steering wheel and was my pride and joy as a kid. The 1959 Chevrolet Impala was made by a Calcutta-based company by the name of Morgan Milton Pvt. Ltd. They minted and sold 1:43 scale cars die-cast from dies and tools imported from Corgi, England. Morgan Milton's models were sold under the brand name, "Mini Auto Cars". I actually sought out the company when I was briefly based in Calcutta in 2001, but the company had folded.
Here's a pic of an Aspen Green 1959 Impala 1:43 scale model by Milton, Calcutta.
And a pic of a real 1959 Chevrolet Impala.
More about Chevrolet Impala Preamble
Bollywood was born in Chembur, Bombay before it relocated to Bandra and then to Lokhandwala. Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Geeta Bali, Dhumal, Om Prakash, Kishore Sahu, Surender Kapoor and his sons: Boney (Achal Kapoor), my classmate Anil Kapoor and his kid brother Mickey (Sanjay Kapoor) all hailed from Chembur. They all owned long low V8-powered Detroit iron of the 1950s and 1960s.
The name Impala is inextricably linked with the long wide low cars from my childhood.
Named after the sleek African slender-horned antelope, Impala was a concept car at the GM Motorama auto show in 1956. This sporty Chevrolet married the performance attitude of the Corvette with the luxurious flavor of the Cadillac. It debuted in deference to public reaction at the show, as the top-of-the-line Chevrolet in 1958.
Do you remember "Haathi Mere Saathi"? The heroine Tanuja drives an opulent red convertible MRZ 2233 which breaks down strategically (for the storyline) and is towed by an Elephant ridden by hero Rajesh Khanna. The movie was Chinnapa Devar's Hindi remake of his Tamil movie, Nalla Neram, starring MGR and K. R. Vijaya. The song, "Ahattumda Thambi Raja" became "Chal chal mere saathi" That car was a 1958 Chevrolet Impala registered MRZ 2233 owned by Raju.
The 1958 Impala, designed by GM designer: Carl Renner, was classy looking. It sported crossed flag emblems like a Corvette. Had "Impala" logos, and a sporty six-tail lamp arrangement, all design details that would be an Impala signature well into the sixties.
The standard engine was a straight six. However Impalas also came with a 283V8 and a 348V8. The car had coil springs at all four corners, which gave it a silky soft smooth ride quality. The Car could even be had with air springs as an option.
The 1959 Impala was a complete redesign.
The result was one of the wildest, most flamboyant automobiles to ever leave an assembly line. (
click on the pic)
It was wide, low and long, but the stunning focal point was the rear view - where dramatic horizontal fins and sleekly formed taillamps made this car absolutely unique.
In its time, the 1959 Chevy was the most recognized car on the road.
Friends, do any of you have a scale model 1959 Chevrolet Impala?
Do try to get yourself a 1:16 scale 1959 Impala convertible from Yat-Ming. (
click on the pic)
Ram