Car of the Week: 1958 Chevrolet Delray

[dodgechargerfan]

It’s long been believed that the first year for a full-size Chevrolet with a factory four-speed transmission was 1959. However, some late-production ’58s left the factory with four-speed transmissions. They were conversions, but conversions done at the assembly plant nonetheless. As such, these four-speed, full-size 1958 Chevrolets should be considered factory-installed.

Regular Production Option (RPO)No. 685 in the 1958 passenger car instruction manual dated Feb. 13, 1958, (illustrated on opposite page) shows the four-speed conversion on four pages. The conversion included a unique transmission and extension assembly, a floor-mounted control lever and bracket, specific control rods and adjustment; a four-speed transmission mounting; and a seal and retainer for the floor-mounted shift handle.

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[Not A Duster]

Time for my weekly "yuck."

 

[69.5CUDA]

UGH the delray..really?!?!?...gimmy the imp or the bel ....which i hate the front 8 inches of but the rest looks great the del just ruins it back to the rear window

 

[71ChargerRT]

Nope, all the way around.

 

[68R/T]

A couple of things went wrong here....normally I like anything blue, but this combo sucks. And knowing from first-hand experience, a 348, being a truck motor, does not know what the letters rpm stand for. They start fading off about 4400 rpm, so mating one to a 4:11 rear is a disaster. Swap it to a 3:36 and you might have a little fun. This car would look so much better in a solid dark blue or black. :hmmm:

 

[Dr.Jass]

I'm confused by the heading, "A Suspected Survivor". It plainly states the car is a full-on restoration, so I'm going to assume they have reason to believe a previous owner was thinking of putting this God-awful eyesore out of its (and everyone else's) misery by running it through the shredder. They should have. There is nothing appealing about this car whatsoever. It's the perfect example of rare not equalling desirable.

Chevrolet seems to have had some sort of internal mandate starting with the '56 to make each year's offering even more putrid than the previous. It must have seemed impossible to do after the rolling abortion they kicked out for '57, but they really got their shit together and pulled out all the stops with this retinal crime spree. This particular car must've been the poster child or prototype, because I can't remember an uglier '58 than this.